The upcoming Star Trek series Starfleet Academy will have some serious star power behind it. We already knew that Holly Hunter was on board to serve as captain and chancellor of the school, and today, we found out that Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Billions, and pictured above in 2023’s The Holdovers) has joined the series in a recurring guest role as the season’s main villain who, according to Variety, has a “sinister connection” to one of the cadets.
“Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge Star Trek fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us. The sheer delight with which he dove in on Starfleet Academy is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast,” co-showrunners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau said in a statement shared with trade publications like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
Hunter and Giamatti will likely join Star Trek: Discovery alum Mary Wiseman on the new show, as Discovery has teed her up as being a teacher at the academy. In a roundtable discussion Reactor attended, Doug Jones—who plays Saru on Discovery—also teased that he might make an appearance on the show as well.
Starfleet Academy is set to start filming in Toronto this summer. No news yet on when it will make its way onto Paramount+.
