Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars say the show’s new horror direction ‘was a bit overwhelming’

A core part of the successful formula that drives Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the choice to alternate between heavy science fiction drama and zany romance. But the start of season 3 leans into a frontier the optimistic franchise has often avoided: horror. The season premiere continues the season 2 cliffhanger finale, focusing on the threat of the monstrous, parasitic Gorn. Episode 3, “Shuttle to Kenfori,” which premieres on July 24, involves the crew of the USS Enterprise traveling to a zombie-infested planet.

“For us as actors — which is why it’s so fun to be on this show — we jump from horror straight into straight-up comedy, then into some other crazy genre,” Rebecca Romijn told Polygon during a Zoom interview. Romijn plays the Enterprise’s second in command, Una Chin-Riley. “We are bouncing around so much that it doesn’t feel like we’re stuck in horror. It just feels like we’re visiting horror, and then we’re going to visit a musical, and then we’re going to visit this next strange new world. It’s really fun. Keeps us on our toes.”

Martin Quinn joined the series at a particularly harrowing time, playing engineer Montgomery Scott, who is forced to use all of his ingenuity to hide from the Gorn and find a way to stop their invasion of United Federation of Planets territory.

“I’m a big scaredy-cat,” he said in a separate interview on the same press day. “I’m not very good with watching horror. I think it’s [more fun] to be in it. Then it’s not as scary as it comes across to the viewer.”

Cecilia Rose Gooding, who plays Enterprise communications officer Nyota Uhura, told Polygon she relied on the rest of the cast and the crew to get her through the scary stuff.

“As someone who doesn’t really watch horror movies, as a very naturally anxious person, to be able to play in the horror genre was a bit overwhelming, to know that was coming at first,” she said. “But we work with such incredible people. Our cast is very strong, our chemistry is incredible. Our writing is very strong, and our crew is some of the best, in my opinion, in the world. And so we have all of the best ingredients to make a really lovely, scary meal. I enjoyed it in the end.”

Jess Bush’s biggest moment of the season so far involved the magical wedding of nurse Christine Chapel, but she told Polygon she also enjoyed the scarier episodes where Chapel has to perform emergency surgery to keep Gorn babies from devouring USS Cayuga captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) from the inside out.

“I love playing in horror as an actor,” she said. “I think that embodying fear is so fun. Just the sensation of being at full fear is invigorating, almost. I love it. I think that it’s really fun that we’re pushing harder into these genres.”

This season also deals with the lingering mental effects that horror has on the characters. Helmsman Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) was nearly killed by the Gorn, adding to the trauma she already experienced as a veteran of the war between the Federation and the Klingon. She has a flashback to the Gorn attack at the end of season 3’s second episode, and her psychological state becomes a bigger issue in “Shuttle to Kenfori,” when it leads to her disobeying orders and putting the crew in danger. It’s a big shift for a character who has traditionally provided comic relief even in dire situations.

“She suddenly can’t find the lightness in it,” Navia told Polygon. “I think that’s why it rattles her so much, because she’s been through so much already. But she’s always kind of able to find the other side of it, ‘We’re going to make it through. We’re going to find a way to overcome it.’ And right now, she’s dealing with something where she realizes she’s not invincible. And what does she do with that if she can’t be the rock for her friends and her crew members to lean on? We will find out.”

The first three episodes of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are available to stream now on Paramount Plus. New episodes release on Thursdays through Sept. 11.