Trekkies will have to wait until Jan. 15, 2026 to finally watch Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but one of the showrunners behind the upcoming series is touting star Kerrice Brooks months in advance — and for very good reason.
Brooks portrays SAM (Series Acclimation Mil) in Starfleet Academy, and, as it turns out, Kurtzman and co-showrunner Noga Landau had to completely rewrite the hologram role because Brooks absolutely killed it in her audition. Kurtzman made the revelation just ahead of this year’s New York Comic Con in which he said (per Entertainment Weekly):
"The character of SAM was not written for Kerrice in any way. She was a very different character originally. In the very first round [of auditions] for SAM, we saw a bunch of actors and none of them were quite right. Then we saw Kerrice, who had a very different voice than the character that was written. Noga and I called each other, and we were like, 'We are in the presence of a genius. We actually need to rewrite the character for her.' And so we did. We cast her right away, and then we adjusted the voice for Kerrice."
Brooks was visibly moved during this year's Star Trek universe panel at NYCC. She kept crying tears of joy, and it was obvious to the fans in attendance how happy Brooks is to be a part of Starfleet Academy. However, Brooks' SAM is but one of several compelling characters who will appear in the upcoming show.
The new Star Trek series focuses on five Starfleet Academy cadets. In addition to the hologram SAM, there is the orphaned Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta), and the only human member of the core-five cadets has a troubled past that appears to be connected to Paul Giamatti’s part Klingon, part Tellarite villain, Nus Braka.
Caleb’s mother shares a major scene between Giamatti and Holly Hunter’s character, Nahla Ake, in the pilot episode, so the connection between Caleb and Nus Braka is even more likely given the footage shown off in the official Starfleet Academy trailer.
Among the other cadets, there is the Klingon student, Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diane), who yearns to become a medical officer. And rounding out the group are cadets Darem Reymi (George Hawkins), who aspires to be the next James T. Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard, despite his family's vast riches, and Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard). Genesis is also focused on command like fellow classmate Darem.
Are you familiar with Kerrice Brooks’ work? If so, do you think she’ll shine as one of the cadets in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy given Alex Kurtzman’s glowing praise in his recent interview? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!