Holly Hunter is drawing on some serious old‑Hollywood energy as she joins Starfleet Academy, and the actress makes that crystal clear in a new interview clip where she name‑checks screen legend Gary Cooper.
Hunter compares the acting legend with how The Original Series characters looked on screen. It is a striking comparison that immediately reframes how fans might look at Star Trek performances, putting the franchise’s captains and icons in the same artistic conversation as one of classic cinema’s most revered leading men. Hunter said via CBS News:
"It's iconic [The Original Series]. You know, it was such a visceral show. How they looked, standing like marble statues with those... with the uniforms on. They were iconic, and like, almost like Gary Cooper."
Those larger‑than‑life yet deeply human performances are the standard Hunter refers to, the kind of benchmark fans might now associate with the best Star Trek captains, from Kirk and Picard to Sisko, who brought that same understated intensity and moral weight to the franchise.
Hunter has already spoken about the amazing and daunting weight of Star Trek’s history and how she approaches her 422‑year‑old chancellor, Nahla Ake, through patience and empathy, so invoking Cooper here is another way of signaling that she sees Trek not as camp, but as a place where performers are expected to reach for that same level of classic, character‑driven gravitas.
Trek at its best has always depended on actors who can suggest whole inner lives with a glance, Avery Brooks’ quiet steel as Sisko, Patrick Stewart’s weary compassion as Picard, or Kate Mulgrew’s resolve as Janeway, and Hunter’s comment validates that tradition by measuring it against a Hollywood icon rather than dismissing it as sci-fi excess.
It also sets a tantalizing expectation for Starfleet Academy: if Hunter is consciously chasing that Gary Cooper‑level presence in the 32nd century, the character drama might end up being just as compelling as the ships, phasers, and Academy politics that surround her.
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