“This is a very big deal. It didn’t dawn on me until I said those words.”
Two actors, who’ve had the enormous privilege to boldly go and portray an iconic science fiction character, joined forces in a new interview to reflect on Star Trek’s 60th anniversary. Both James T. Kirks (William Shatner and Paul Wesley) spoke at length about their careers, and the latter explained how he didn’t even have to audition to portray Strange New Worlds’ incarnation of Kirk.
Wesley said (per Interview Magazine): “Suddenly, you get a call and something’s just put in your lap in this bow. And you’re like, ‘Kirk?’ I get on the Zoom with them and we’re chatting, and I’m just like, ‘Hold on a minute.’ I was like, ‘Guys, nobody has played Kirk on television other than William Shatner. This is a very big deal.’ It didn’t dawn on me until I said those words.”
Wesley, who first appeared on Strange New Worlds as an alternate version of Captain James T. Kirk during the season 1 finale “A Quality of Mercy,” continued telling his story to Shatner in the same sit-down by saying:
“Saying it made me feel this immense whoa, butterflies in my stomach kind of thing. In any case, it was a Zoom and I didn’t audition for it. They wanted to talk to me, and they wanted to just understand who I was, and they wanted to talk about the character and my connection to the character. That’s how the whole thing went down.”
For those who might be new to the Star Trek fandom, Wesley has actually portrayed three different versions of James T. Kirk on Strange New Worlds. After the aforementioned appearance in “A Quality of Mercy,” Wesley returned for SNW season 2’s time-traveling adventure, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.”
The must-see episode pairs yet another version of Wesley’s Kirk with La’An Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) as the duo tries to prevent a time-altering disaster in the past. Sadly, though, Kirk is killed, which affects the USS Enterprise’s security officer in a very profound way.
So much so that La’An uses a PADD to reach out and contact Strange New Worlds’ real version of Kirk (Wesley), at the episode’s conclusion — someone she has never met. Naturally, this led to a flirtation between the SNW characters because La’An had fallen so hard for the Kirk who died in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” which remains one of my favorite episodes of the prequel series.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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