Paramount+ is gearing up again to boldly go where no one has gone before with the premiere of the highly anticipated Star Trek: Discovery spin-off series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Set in the years prior to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show will explore the adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the leadership of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Pike was first introduced in The Original Series, along with Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Doctor M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), though the roles were originated by different actors. Strange New Worlds is set to introduce new characters as well, including La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia).
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Rebecca Romijn discusses the similarities between Number One and Eve Baird from The Librarians, how soon she was made aware of Number One’s secret, and which episode she's most excited for fans to see. As with most of our interviews, you can choose to either read the interview below or watch it in the video player above!
COLLIDER: First of all, I want to say I loved you in The Librarians. I was so sad when it ended.
REBECCA ROMIJN: Thank you.
But I'm so glad to get to watch you in Strange New Worlds. Was there any carryover between those two characters for you, aside from them both being badasses?
ROMIJN: Oh, my God. I've been waiting for anybody to make that connection. You know what? Between you and me, yeah, just a little tiny bit. There are similarities between those two characters. I would say that they're both brawny, and they're both very good at their jobs, and they're both sticklers, they're fastidious, and they're meticulous. They're military, they both have a military background. I would say the big difference between Eve Baird from Librarians and Una Chin-Riley is that Una Chin-Riley is hiding something, which of course we're not allowed to say. I believe that she is fastidious and meticulous, and slightly intimidating to keep people at arm's length, because she's hiding something. Eve Baird wasn't really hiding anything.
No. But she was also a number one, basically, as well.
ROMIJN: Basically, she was the first officer as well. Yeah. Two Number Ones in a row.
How soon were you made aware of the secret that we're not allowed to talk about? Did it affect how you played the character from that point forward?
ROMIJN: Yes. The writers floated the idea to me, which made me very excited, in terms of character development, to have this thing that she's hiding. I think it's just such a nice color to get to play for this character who seems like she's perfect. But nobody's perfect, obviously. It was a really exciting idea. I was very excited the second they floated the idea. Yes, we will continue exploring that development. We're now in Season 2, and we're still working it out. I love it. I love the color that it adds to Una.
What episode are you most excited for fans to get to see this season?
ROMIJN: I really can't say. We've now made 16 episodes, and we love them all. They're all a little bit different. Like the original series, we're standalone episodes, we're not really serialized. But the funny bits are going to be funny. The horrific bits are going to be horrific. The sexy parts are going to be sexy, like the original series. I don't know. Personally, I can't wait for the secret of my character to come out, because that's going to continue. But, everybody's so good. The whole cast is so good. Obviously, we have all of these familiar characters that a lot of people know from the original series, and there's a lot of really good character development, so I can't say which one's my favorite.
Well, thank you so much.
ROMIJN: Thank you.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds begins May 5 on Paramount+.