Starfleet Academy actors researched TNG legends for their roles

Starfleet Academy actors are doing their homework on Star Trek history, but they are treating The Next Generation’s icons as launchpads rather than templates as they step into a 60‑year‑old franchise. Zoe Steiner and Karim Diane's research into TNG legends like Deanna Troi and Worf is helping them bridge the gap between legacy Trek and a new, Gen‑Z‑skewing Academy story without losing their own instincts as actors.

When TrekMovie.com asked whether they wanted to dive into the franchise or come in clean, Steiner described a deliberate split in how she approached Betazoid cadet Tarima Sadal. "For me, it was like both, I’d say, but not an equal split," Steiner said. "I’m going to say 80/20, like 80 percent fresh, trust my instincts, my intuition, the process I do as an actor and and trust my way into Tarima as a Betazoid, and then 20 percent deep dive, delve into Next Gen, Voyager, particularly Next Gen for me to see Deanna Troi. A bit of a balance between them both."

That 20 percent is where Steiner lets Marina Sirtis’ Deanna Troi guide her, but the bulk of Tarima is built from her own process rather than an echo of TNG’s most famous Betazoid. For Diane, though, who plays Klingon cadet Jay‑Den Kraag, the idea of “coming in clean” was never really an option. Diane said during the same sit-down:

"I did so much research. I’ve watched everything that has Worf in it. I watched anything that has like a Klingon in it. I went online. I went into the blogs. I went on to Reddit, I was on TikTok watching videos…" Diane said, explaining how he chased Klingon performances and fan conversations across multiple platforms.

That obsessive deep dive positions Kraag as a Klingon who exists in conversation with Michael Dorn’s Worf and decades of canon, while still leaving room for Diané to explore new facets of Klingon identity at the Academy.

Across the ensemble, there is an awareness that too much reverence can make the franchise feel “bigger and bigger” while the actor feels “smaller and smaller,” as castmate George Hawkins put it when discussing how much Trek he allowed himself to watch.

Steiner’s 80/20 split and Diane’s full‑bore research represent two different ways of honoring that legacy without letting it take over the work. Together, they underscore how Starfleet Academy is using Next Generation legends as a foundation while letting this new class of cadets, and a new generation of viewers, discover Star Trek’s ideals for themselves.

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