Virtual immortality has its perks.
Academy Award winner Holly Hunter portrays a Star Trek character who is unlike any other starship captain Trekkies have come to love in the past. With all due respect to James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, and so many other beloved commanders, Hunter’s Nahla Ake has the advantage of being half Lanthanite. So, as a result of the race’s long lifespan, the captain of the USS Athena is over 400 years old! And the Oscar winner is thrilled to be playing the chancellor/captain in the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Hunter said while appearing at this year’s New York Comic Con (per TrekMovie.com):
“I was watching Star Trek with my father when I was eight years old. And it’s extraordinary that this franchise — this story is still being told. And people have a hunger for it, have a desire for it for all these generations. So just the pull of that was really exotic, and interesting to me.”
Nahla Ake is certainly comparable to Yoda of Star Wars fame, in regard to being an "old sage," full of knowledge — yet lacking the cool Jedi powers. However, another Star Trek character, is much more akin to the captain Hunter is portraying. Strange New Worlds’ Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) is a 5,000-year-old Lanthanite, who also taught at Starfleet Academy, and serves aboard the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) in SNW during the 23rd century.
So, what are the challenges Hunter faced trying to portray a 400-year-old commander and instructor during the 32nd century? The actress also said at the Star Trek universe NYCC panel: “I also believe that the challenge of playing the captain, and in this particular situation, she’s 422 years old, and that was so interesting. What kind of life you could live to see people be born and die and be born and die and go in and out of your life. "
"And what that could do to who you are and what you bring," Hunter continued.
"And so I think that the character is incredibly young. And it was such a great intersection for me to feel that way as the character and to be confronted with these people [actors playing the cadets] who are truly young and truly starting out and almost like being born in Starfleet Academy, the beginning of a new chapter of their lives. And it’s kind of a new chapter of my life too, as the captain. So, I just thought that was so provocative. And I thought the scripts were just beautiful.”
Are you excited to see such a talented thespian like Holly Hunter take the captain’s chair in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy? Do you think her character’s age will help her stand out even against the likes of such beloved starship commanders like Captain Kirk? Jean-Luc Picard? Pike? Janeway? Does she compare favorably to Yoda the Jedi Master in terms of having the potential to serve as the cadets' wise old sage?
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies! And check out the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy official trailer.