The new “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” series on Paramount+ has cast Holly Hunter in a lead role. She will play the captain and chancellor of the Academy, overseeing the faculty and a new group of Starfleet cadets as they explore the galaxy in the 32nd century.
“It feels like we’ve spent our entire lives watching Holly Hunter be a stone-cold genius,” said co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau.
“To have her extraordinary authenticity, fearlessness, sense of humor, and across the board brilliance leading the charge on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is a gift to all of us, and to the enduring legacy of ‘Star Trek.’”
“Starfleet Academy” will start filming in Toronto later this summer, featuring the largest contiguous set ever built for a “Star Trek” series.
The set includes a two-story academic atrium with an amphitheater, classrooms, a mess hall, and a tree-lined walkway.
The show will focus on higher education, exploring themes like budding romance, academic pressures, and self-discovery, as part of a strategy to broaden the scope of “Star Trek” series.
“These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before,” Landau told about the future of “Star Trek.” “They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”
Holly Hunter joins an elite group of Academy Award-winning actors who have appeared in “Star Trek,” such as Whoopi Goldberg, Louise Fletcher, and F. Murray Abraham.
Hunter won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “The Piano” (1993) and received nominations for “Broadcast News” (1987), “The Firm” (1993), and “Thirteen” (2003).
Her five-decade career includes notable performances in “Raising Arizona” (1987) and as the voice of Elastigirl in “The Incredibles” (2004) and “Incredibles 2” (2018).
“Starfleet Academy” is a new addition to the “Star Trek” TV universe, with Hunter starring in it. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.
The show, co-run by Kurtzman and Landau, explores the prestigious academy where future Starfleet officers train.
Alongside this, updates on other “Star Trek” projects include the upcoming “Section 31” movie, the conclusion of “Lower Decks,” the end of “Discovery,” and the renewal of “Strange New Worlds.”
