It looks like the Star Trek: Discovery spinoff has added to its cast for its second season in the form of Vampire Diaries‘ Paul Wesley. Not only will he join the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds but also take on quite an important role, as he will play the series’ version of James T. Kirk. the producers have shared the following statement on his casting:
Paul is an accomplished actor, an astonishing presence and a welcome key addition to the show. Like all of us, he is a life-long Star Trek fan and we are excited by his interpretation of this iconic role.
Alex Kurtzman/Akiva Goldsman/Henry Alonso Myers
He’s the third actor to take on the role after William Shatner made him famous before the Kelvin universe introduced a rebooted version of the character played by Chris Pine. During the timeline that this series takes place, Kirk was an instructor at the Starfleet Academy before he would take over from Pike, played by Anson Mount. It’s unclear if the project is hoping to explore his take over across multiple seasons, or he might generally take over the series as a lead.
Either way, it’s great to see these new series explore more from the timeline and offer a glimpse at how the iconic characters that we’ve come to love became who they are. There’s a chance that he only has a temporary role in the second season, as they don’t highlight if he is a recurring guest character or part of the main cast moving forward. We’ll see if he might even have a brief appearance in the end of the first season.
Source: Decider
