Paul Giamatti’s time on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy may be done, but the star has no regrets over being part of the franchise. At Trek Talks 5, the award-winning actor discussed his short time portraying villain Nus Braka in the series. Giamatti made it clear that, despite the show’s sudden cancellation, he’s happy to have been part of it all. Giamatti said via TrekMovie.com:
“I’m on Star Trek. That’s, I mean, if that’s all, that’s all I needed, I just needed to be on. If I’d been on for 13 seconds on an episode, that would have been enough for me. So it’s like, yeah, man, I got to be on Star Trek, which is blood still blows my mind.”
It had already been confirmed that Giamatti would not return as Braka in season 2 of Starfleet Academy. With the show unexpectedly ending, that means there’s no chance of the scene-stealing space pirate returning for more episodes, which likely would have happened if the show had gone on longer.
Braka played a major role in the plotlines involving Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) and his mother, Anisha (Tatiana Maslany), and it’s hard to believe the writers didn’t have more planned for him.
Braka was a terrific villain, over-the-top and crazy, yet also very dangerous, with a goal of bringing down the Federation. One can only imagine how he’d have upped the stakes when he inevitably returned.
It’s among the many reasons to be saddened at Starfleet Academy’s cancellation, but at least Giamatti got to live out his dream of being a Trek baddie.
Share your thoughts and comments about Paul Giamatti's portrayal of Nus Braka on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 is now streaming on Paramount+.
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