Star Trek: Starfleet Academyactors Kerrice Brooks and Bella Shepard discuss the vibe of the nextStar Trekseries in production for Paramount+. Shepard and Brooks are part ofStar Trek: Starfleet Academy’s young cast, with the series headlined by Academy Award winner Holly Hunter. Meanwhile, Academy Award nomineePaul Giamatti plays the mysterious villain in Star Trek: Starfleet Academyseason 1, which has wrapped filming and is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in 2026.
TrekMoviechatted with Kerrice Brooks and Bella Shepard aboutStar Trek: Starfleet Academyon the red carpet of Universal Studios Fan Fest in April, where the young actors promoted Universal’s Star Trek: Red Alert experience. DiscussingStarfleet Academy’s aim to attract new fans and older Star Trek diehards,Shepard and Brooks described the tone of their upcoming serieswhile remaining spoiler-free. Read their quotes below:
Kerrice Brooks:Hormonal [laughs]
Bella Shepard:[laughs] It definitely throws you for a few loops.
Kerrice Brooks:I say hormonal because we’re young, and we’re figuring it out, as we are in real life. Definitely on the show, we’re figuring it out.
Bella Shepard:I would say it’s comforting, too, because we have a lot of throwbacks and Easter eggs to earlier generations.
Kerrice Brooks:I would also say it’s very championing. I wouldn’t say other shows aren’t that way, but I think it’s very championing towards finding a brighter future for everybody.
Kerrice Brooks:I would say it feels, in a sense, like a passing of a baton, but not to say that the older generation is done, because I think that’s the wrong message.
Bella Shepard:It’s like a handholding…
What Starfleet Academy’s Actors Mean About Star Trek’s Next Show
Starfleet Academy Has A Different Vibe For Star Trek
Star Trek: Starfleet Academyis a shift in tone forStar Trekas it centers on characters in their late teens and early 20s enrolled at Starfleet Academy.Star Trekhas traditionally been about professional and experienced Starfleet Officers having adventures onstarships like the USS Enterprise.Starfleet Academyis more about learning the ins and outs of Starfleet and having experiences that will cause them to grow into Starfleet Officers of the future. But the younger cast will also have that"hormonal"element, sinceStarfleet Academyis basicallyStar Trekcollege.
Set in the late 32nd century after theend ofStar Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Starfleet Academyhas the benefit of having the entire history ofStar Trekto draw from in terms of Easter eggs and throwbacks to prior shows. Indeed,Robert Picardo reprises The Doctor fromStar Trek: Voyageras one of the instructors at the Academy, and other characters fromStar Trek: Discoverywill also appear.Starfleet Academywill balance the"comforting"aspects of classicStar Trekwith the challenges of being the first Starfleet Academy class after The Burn.
Our Take On Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy Is Literally Creating Star Trek’s Future
Star Trek: Starfleet Academyhasa few stigmas to overcome, including the perception that it’s a YA show, as Kerrice Brooks and Bella Shepard discussed withTrekMovie.WhileStarfleet Academyis about young characters, it’s about redefining what Starfleet is about in the late 32nd century as the first class of the reopened Academy in a hundred years. In addition, Starfleet Academy takes place both on Earth and on a starship in outer space, as a new threat to the United Federation of Planets arises in the form ofPaul Giamatti’s mystery villain.
Star Trek: Prodigyconveyed the values and understanding ofStar Trekto young viewers, andStar Trek: Starfleet Academyhopes to capture the sweet spot of finding the same kind of young audience that flocked toBuffy the Vampire Slayerin the 1990s, while also pleasinghardcoreStar Trekfans.Paramount+ has already renewedStar Trek: Starfleet Academyfor season 2, demonstrating its faith in the nextStar Trekseries. Hopefully, a first look atStar Trek: Starfleet Academywill arrive soon to create excitement for the next show that’s literally charting the future ofStar Trek.
