This week, I'm joined by Michelle Hurd and Evan Evagora
to talk all about their character's evolution this season.
We take a look at some of the incredible stunts
that went into Picard Season 2.
And I'll show you an exclusive look
at the series premiere of
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Wow! You do not wanna miss this.
Report to The Ready Room immediately.
Hey, nerds. I'm Wil Wheaton.
And this is The Ready Room,
your official behind-the-scenes hub
for all things Star Trek Universe.
Today, we're looking at Episode 9 of
Star Trek: Picard Season 2, "Hide and Seek."
This is an action-packed, penultimate episode
as we gear up for the season finale.
So please, go and stream it first if you haven't already.
Because--
Red alert!
There will be full spoilers from here on out.
And if you're not caught up, it's gonna feel a lot like
getting lost in the dark basement of Chateau Picard.
In this week's episode, Elnor and Raffi
have a reunion of sorts, which is why I'm so excited to have
Evan Evagora and Michelle Hurd here
in The Ready Room to talk about it.
After our chat, we'll take a look
at some of the great fight sequences and stunts
from this season of Picard.
Like when Seven of Nine went all Seven of Nine on a gate
and rammed it with a LAPD car.
Plus, we'll have an exclusive sneak peek
at the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,
which drops next week.
But before we get to any of that,
did you hear what I just said?!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is premiering next week!
That's right, we're getting a Picard finale
and a Strange New Worlds premiere.
That's double the Star Trek and double the nerdiness
right here in The Ready Room.
There will only be one of me.
Now Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
has sorta, kinda, been in the works
for about as long as it takes to get from
the Delta Quadrant back to Earth.
And we've got the inside scoop.
Let's take a deep dive into what's become known as
the 55-year pick-up.
Control room? Engage.
What's the mission?
We explore. We seek out new life and new civilizations.
Cool.
Reuniting with Anson and Rebecca on our own series,
it's a dream.
We do wanna get back to a classic feel in every way.
Not just the sets, not just the costumes,
but in the structure of storytelling
that we discovered with The Original Series.
The fun thing about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
is every episode stands alone.
And we will literally be visiting strange new worlds
in every episode.
Welcome back and welcome aboard, everyone.
There's many steps along the way to a show getting made.
The first is that you pitch it.
Then if they bite, you write a script.
And then if they like the script, you get to make the pilot.
And then oftentimes, the pilot can get made,
but not picked up, which means they decided
not to go forward with the show.
Or they pick it up and now you're a series.
Definitely something out there, Captain, headed this way.
So if you really think back
to the history of this particular story,
Kirk and Spock and Uhura,
they went on to The Original Series
and then many iterations of Trek.
Captain Pike, however, and Number One, didn't.
Let's get back to the ship.
If you consider "The Cage,"
the original pilot of Star Trek, to be the pilot,
which is basically what we're doing.
It's the story of Captain Pike and Number One and Spock
on the original Enterprise,
this is the longest pilot to series pick-up
in the history of television, something like 55 years.
The creation of Strange New Worlds
really began on the set of Star Trek: Discovery.
Alex Kurtzman is an old friend of mine
and he asked me to come in
and I knew nothing about what the show was.
And the internet speculated that it would be a show about
Pike and Number One.
So I got to set and discovered that Discovery had
nothing to do with Captain Pike or Number One.
And at that moment, I said, that's what we should do.
By the end of Season 1, we got the Enterprise in.
And by the top of Season 2,
Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock
suddenly moved into the show.
It was not lost on me that when you
went down to the Klingon moon of Boreth,
you returned a changed man.
So at the end of Season 2 of Discovery,
Christoper Pike has been shown his future,
which is not what he would have hoped for himself.
But there was no time to deal with that
at the end of Season 2
because there's so much to deal with in the moment.
So at the beginning of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,
the question for us, really, was
how does a person move on with their life?
How do they play that game of life
when the outcome is already determined?
You saw the future?
I saw my own death, Spock.
That's obviously much more Captain Pike's journey.
But I feel that Spock is also helping him to process it.
You must seek out the good in knowing your own death.
Use it to be the man you most essentially are.
And who is that, Spock?
The captain.
Spock will still be wrestling with his humanity.
He's Vulcan and human, these almost adversarial qualities.
And he's constantly searching for balance between the two.
Is everything all right, Captain?
We're going back out. Number One's gone missing.
Number One doesn't do downtime very well.
The Enterprise has been at spacedock.
Everyone's trying to do downtime.
But Una has taken a mission on her own
and she gets herself into a little bit of trouble
and needs some help.
Uhura.
Chapel.
We're introducing these characters
that were pre-existing characters from The Original Series,
but this takes place before The Original Series,
so they're younger versions of those characters.
Cadet Uhura. Very happy to have you aboard.
Glad to be here.
So we all know Uhura as the
Communications Officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise,
but I have the joy of meeting her at the beginning
of her time on the Enterprise as a young cadet.
We know Uhura as someone who is very poised
and very sure of herself.
We see her in The Original Series
and I get the fun part to play everything before that.
I get to do the unsurety and I get to do the messiness.
And I think as an actor, that's where
a good chunk of the richness is.
Doc.
-Please dispense some wisdom. -Okay.
Never get the house dressing.
I'm playing Dr. M'Benga. He's a brilliant doctor.
He's quite confident.
What drew me to this character
was the vulnerabilities underneath.
I received your orders, Captain.
This is Nurse Chapel.
Nurse Chapel is the head nurse on the Enterprise.
Gonna mess with your genome.
You first.
She has an insatiable lust for life.
She's very curious, very playful.
Is it safe?
Almost every time.
I think that what drives her most is
seeking and celebrating the true core
of the people around her.
No sedatives.
Maybe I wasn't clear about the terrible pain part?
Maybe I wasn't clear when I said no.
La'An is the Chief of Security on the Enterprise.
She is a very guarded character
because of what she's been through in her life.
She's scared of opening up.
[Pike] Ready, Lieutenant Ortegas?
You bet.
Erica is the helmsman on the U.S.S. Enterprise.
She's really good at her job.
Fiercely loyal to her crewmates.
And she takes her job really seriously,
but you wouldn't necessarily know it.
Transporters don't do that.
[Ortegas] Chief. It's Ortegas.
Find a way to make them do that.
I really dig her.
Hemmer is the Chief Engineer. He is an alien.
An Aenar, which is a subspecies of the Andorian people,
who are the blue aliens with the antennae.
And Hemmer is a genius.
He knows it and he's not afraid to tell you so.
It's dead quiet out there.
Fascinating.
I'm all ears.
Figure of speech.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is in an episodic format.
Each episode, there's a new event or there's a new adventure
and they're disconnected from one other.
Except for the characters, right.
The characters are living all of these experiences out.
We're maintaining an emotionally serialized element
to the storytelling, but the episodes are self-contained,
just like TOS was.
That's what I enjoyed about the original,
was a different adventure every episode.
And I think there's something captivating about that.
To really pay homage to that,
I think, is really, really exciting
for old and new Star Trek fans alike.
Life can feel heavy and can feel like, you know,
you're just taking in a lot of information.
And so I, personally, appreciate being able to just
watch an episode and being like, cool.
It's really exciting as an actor.
We get to play different genres.
Every episode is just, it's so complete
and so satisfying.
[Pike] Energize.
Star Trek is this enormous
cultural institution.
And to be able to contribute to that, as an artist,
is just such an honor.
Strange New Worlds will reunite fans, new and old,
with the experience of commonality
and of adventure and of joy.
Because ultimately, Star Trek is, at its heart,
optimistic and foot-forward when it comes to the future.
That's sort of been our mission statement.
How to use a Roddenberry-style of science fiction
to tell stories that come from
an optimistic place about our future.
I almost feel like that's a braver thing to do
than to just say everything's terrible.
As a lifelong Star Trek fan,
there's a nostalgia to it that I appreciate.
I pinched myself because I wonder if
I'll have this again in my career.
I'm humbled every time I
walk on the set with these people.
They are so utterly committed and excited
about being a part of this world.
Hit it.
I am now joined by two wonderful and talented actors
from Star Trek: Picard.
They play Raffi and Elnor in Season 2.
Michelle Hurd and Evan Evagora.
Thank you so much for stopping by The Ready Room.
It is fantastic to see you together.
-It's good to see you. -Oh, it's so good to be here.
Thanks for having us.
Raffi and Elnor had just great moments in Season 1.
They clearly grew close to one another.
In Season 2, their mentor/mentee relationship
really blossomed until Elnor died.
So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit
about what these two characters mean to each other.
And then we're gonna get up to that kinda bad news.
Michelle, why don't you go ahead and start.
What's sort of beautiful about, for me,
with the Raffi/Elnor relationship,
is if we think about what Raffi has gone through
with her son, not having that connection anymore.
And how Raffi sort of walks around the Earth, or space,
with her heart on her shoulder.
-Mm-hmm. -She really
attached herself to Elnor.
-You know? -Yeah.
Elnor became the son that she
no longer has that relationship to.
And I think for Raffi, it was almost
necessary for her survival, or her sanity,
that there was somebody that she could, you know,
look to as somebody that might need her help,
or that she could guide, or that she could be a mother to.
And on a personal level, Raffi loves Elnor
and Michelle loves Evan.
It's really, I mean, that is very clear.
That is so unbelievably clear. It jumps off the screen.
[Michelle] I'm glad.
There's so much about Elnor that is so interesting
with him being part of the Qowat Milat
and there is, you know, all the just
super cool, badass physical stuff you get to do.
But this relationship is so incredibly interesting to me.
I was surprised that someone that has chosen Elnor's path
would be mentored by someone.
To me, even reading it on the page, it made perfect sense.
Raffi is such a strong, female character.
And you know, she's a natural-born leader.
And I think Elnor's background and how he grew up,
he was going to naturally gravitate to someone like that.
-Uh-huh. -Mm.
It's very much like family with Raffi.
And it is the same in real life, I mean,
our days on set together were so amazing
and, you know, they're some of my favorite days.
-Yeah. -And I think
their relationship makes so much sense.
You know, this mentor/mentee, mother/son, kind of dynamic.
-It's beautiful. -Yeah.
I was wrecked when Elnor died.
-No! -Elnor!
I'm thinking, people die on Star Trek all the time
and they come right back and everything's fine.
And I was like, just waiting. Everything's gonna be cool.
Don't worry about it. He's coming back. It's gonna be great.
And there was a point where I'm like,
"I think Elnor's maybe, really dead?"
You and me both.
Lea Thompson directed that episode
and was really there for you in those moments.
Would you talk a bit about
being directed by her in that scene?
[Michelle] It was really challenging.
Lea was great to give us the space and the time--
-[Wil] Mm-hmm. -and the support that way,
to let us just, you know, work it out, go through it.
[Wil] Mm-hmm.
But probably one of the most challenging,
emotionally draining, and, honestly,
heartbreaking, painful experiences.
Well, of course, 'cause Michelle has to say goodbye to Evan
the same way Raffi has to say goodbye to Elnor.
Like, there's a very real sense of loss
when someone from your cast moves on for whatever reason.
That's right.
Evan, you're working with Michelle, who you love.
And you wanna comfort Michelle,
but you can't 'cause you're dying.
What was your half of that scene like?
To be honest, with having Lea there--
and a lot of people don't realize
how many people are actually in the room with you--
-Right. Yeah. -while that's happening.
But I felt like we were given such a safe space.
And I remember during in between all the takes,
like, hugging you.
Like, we would just hug after.
Because it is so emotionally charged
and the longer it goes on--it's not necessarily
that those emotions are harder to reach,
or it's harder to get to that place.
It's just that it's taking such a toll on you
physically and mentally, even spiritually.
Yep.
I think that was our first scene
that we shot with Lea as well.
So I think her first day, well,
it was definitely her first day with us.
And you know, we were just given
such a safe and intimate space
to be able to work on and I'm just, like, forever grateful.
-But it is challenging. -Incredibly challenging.
And I'm glad that both of us, you know,
were able to deliver.
And I think it was the perfect pairing
to have Elnor's send-off like that.
Elnor comes back this week as a holo.
And just kicks every ass
that it is possible for him to kick.
Tell me that that was as fun as I think it was.
More fun.
I got to do all of my stunts this year,
so I was very much hands-on with everything.
Ooh, wow!
I love stunts. I love doing them all the time.
And you know, I'm glad there was
this kind of, like, moment in this episode
for him to, like, really, really kick off.
'Cause we hadn't seen it that much this season.
Hello.
This moment in the lockers when he finds a sword,
they kept calling it the Pulp Fiction Bruce Willis moment.
100%. I love that.
I have it in my headcanon now
that his sword is actually a Hanzo sword
and that it is descended, maybe, from...
That maybe it was made at the same time
as the Bride's sword was made for Kill Bill.
Extraordinarily niche content
for the 61 of you who are
as big of Quentin Tarantino fans as I am.
And also, the same level of Star Trek nerd that I am.
So, all 50 of you, hello, I'll see you at the meeting.
I'll see you at the meeting. I like that.
Evan, did you know you would get to come back as a holo?
Did you know that? That that was coming.
Or did you, like, get the call on, you know,
a week before, to go to rehearsal?
Did you know when it exactly happened?
Well, it was the call with Akiva when I found out I died.
He's like, "You're coming back.
And that's exactly how it'll be."
And he said, "You'll get your moment."
And so,
I'm getting every script
every week, you know, that comes out.
Reading it. Being like, is it? No. No, no, no, no.
Not this one. Next week.
I'm sitting there waiting for the next script to come out.
It arrived to my inbox. I'm reading through it again.
Is it here, is it here? No.
And then finally. Finally.
And I texted Akiva, just being like,
thank you for giving me such a badass, like, reintroduction.
Yeah.
You know, and especially on La Sirena.
And especially who I'm up against.
I just think it was the, like, smartest writing
because if he was gonna come back as any kind of hologram,
that would be what he comes back as.
100%.
A security hologram that just, like, destroys everyone
is perfectly fitting for him, I think.
I feel like the door's open for, like,
holo Elnor in the future?
-[Michelle] I do. -Like, there's no reason
he couldn't exist in the future.
Like, there's no reason for that to not happen.
I mean, his info's there,
-so, yeah. -Yeah. Right.
We have to face a reality.
Star Trek: Picard Season 2's finale is next week.
It's like, right here.
-Michelle. -Yes.
I have heard this story told
that when someone has their final day--
-Mm-hmm. -That Michelle Hurd
comes to set, whether she is on the call sheet, or not.
And I wanna say, sings them off?
Praises them.
Speaks for them. The crew gathers. And there is a moment.
If you feel this is special and private
and wanna leave that and not go into detail,
I super respect that.
But just as another actor, who knows how much
this touches the people for whom you have done this,
I wonder if you wanna share any of that with us?
With the audience.
Absolutely.
You know, the truth is, I've been an actor, as you have,
-for a long time, right. -Yeah.
A few decades now.
And I know--I mean, like, Evan and I
will always be in each other's lives.
Forever and ever, ever.
But there's a reality when a show ends,
-you know. -Mm-hmm.
People ebb and flow. People go, come.
You know, are in your lives and not.
And I've gotten into the habit now
that at the end of shows, or the end of seasons,
or the end of a certain character's,
you know, when they come and play with us.
I just want to tell them thank you.
-Yeah. -You know?
I just want them to know that they impacted my life.
I just want them to know--oh, my God. I'm getting emotional.
Sorry.
This seems like a thing that is
entirely appropriate to be emotional about.
I mean, what you're talk--
So, the reason I asked you about this is that
as hard as it is for us in the audience
to say goodbye to characters,
it's so much harder for us, as actors,
to say goodbye to our friends and coworkers.
That you choose to, like, commemorate those moments
and kind of ritualize it
in a way that makes the passing easier,
that makes the passing celebratory,
in addition to being sad,
I think that is a really beautiful thing.
I hope other actors on other series
will be inspired by that and carry that tradition forward.
It's so easy to be kind.
-It's so rewarding. -Yeah.
And you know, I just wanna say thank you.
And I wanna let people know that they touched my life.
That I appreciate them.
I appreciate the work and the effort and the showing up
and the support and the laughs.
-And you know, thank you-- -Yeah.
For being a friend, a family member, my scene partner.
For allowing me to be vulnerable in front of you.
And so, you know, I encourage any and everybody to do that
'cause it's important.
It's healing for me and I think it's good
for the person who you're telling it to.
I think it helps.
Yeah, I think so, too.
For my last day on Season 2, I think you stayed behind
and you gave the most heartfelt speech.
And we hugged and it was amazing.
And it's definitely something that I'll be carrying on.
It's just nice to feel appreciated.
Not only by people you regard as peers,
but people you also, like, look up to.
When I say Star Trek is a family--
-Mm-hmm. -This is what
I am talking about.
It is exactly this. This is what I am talking about.
This is what I am so grateful
to have been part of for 35 years.
Absolutely.
I appreciate you both. I appreciate your time today.
It has just been such a gift
and a pleasure to speak with you.
The only way this could be better
is if you were here and I could hug you.
Yes.
Thank you all very much. Stay safe and healthy.
And I'll see you the next time I see you.
-Thank you so much, Wil. -Thanks, Wil.
Here's a virtual hug for you, my dear.
-I love it. Thank you. -All of us.
-Guys. Okay. Bye. -Bye.
We already know that it takes
an entire starship crew to produce
everything that goes into a season of Star Trek.
And just like last season, this season's stunts
are enough to impress even a Klingon.
You know, Klingons are famously unimpressed by stunts.
Let's dive into the method behind
bringing these ass-kicking moments to life.
My team is amazing.
The car sequence was really great.
All the fight sequences are really great.
I'm very grateful and glad that I could
be a part of the Star Trek Universe,
to make these words from paper come to life.
Elnor, they're yours.
So the fight with the Confederation guards
I'd say was probably one of my favorite scenes to film.
I was lucky enough to be able to do
all the stunts in that scene and it looks amazing.
That was actually the first scene I started doing.
That was my first day of work here,
was immediately into fight choreography,
working with the head of stunts, Guy Fernandez.
Those reactions are what really sells it.
It's the performer's reaction. And timing as well.
If you throw a punch and you react too soon,
it's not gonna look as good.
We like to rehearse with the actors
and we get our time training with the actors,
if not on-set, off the set,
to really rehearse with them and work with them
to make sure they're doing it safely,
make sure they stretch and loosen up the right way.
And it's really just about the performance.
The Admiral said to improvise.
Whoo.
I think the one that I'm most proud of this season
is the car sequence.
It was my first major car action sequence.
It was actually really fun to get the toy cars out
and map everything out with the director.
We were in such good hands.
It was scary as hell. But it was really fun.
When we practiced it, you know, all the cars are parked.
There's a car and you would swerve around the car
and there's a car parked there
and you'd swerve around the car.
And we could sort of see glimpses of cars,
but we knew that they weren't moving.
And then they call action to roll picture.
And all the cars are moving at us.
It was a whole different experience.
And you can only get glimpses of them through the cameras.
It was real scary.
How may I be of service?
Hiya, Elnor. Let's play keep away.
With pleasure.
The holo-Elnor fight scene was great
'cause we actually got a chance to do
very quick, violent, throwing moments.
We shot the previews and it basically
gives us a blueprint to save time
and just know exactly what we're doing on the day,
so that everybody can be on the same page.
Director loved it, and we just brought it to life.
Working with Evan, he's got a great attitude,
and he's willing to do anything we ask him to do.
You know, he'll come in as much as possible
to better his craft and so that
everything looks great on screen.
It's really good working with him, too.
Because he kinda creates this environment of, like, trust.
And this, like, belief, this belief in you actually,
that you're capable of doing these things.
And although stunts is dangerous work,
he makes me feel very, like, safe and secure
when I'm performing.
I was so excited for this,
reading it on the page and then being able to
actually, like film it, you know,
who doesn't like seeing Elnor, you know, kick ass?
I think everyone likes that.
It feels like it has been a decade since Christopher Pike
walked onto the bridge of the U.S.S. Discovery,
but next week, Strange New Worlds
is going to have its series premiere.
And in case you weren't as excited as I am right now,
here is a sneak peek that I think is gonna
help get you a little closer to where I am.
Enjoy.
Enterprise, this is Shuttle Stamets,
incoming to transport coordinates.
Stamets clear to transport.
All scrubbed up and good as new, sir.
Wish it were that easy.
Sir?
Energize.
Everyone, thank you so much
for watching this week's episode of The Ready Room.
Next week, we'll be taking a look at the
Season 2 finale of Star Trek: Picard.
And we'll be breaking down the series premiere
of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,
with the illustrious Anson Mount
and Executive Producer Akiva Goldsman.
There are two huge episodes of Star Trek next week
and I am so excited.
We will get to see if Picard and the others
managed to save their future
and jump into the pre-Original Series world
of Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew.
It's all happening! I'm so excited!
Wheaton, you gotta dial it back
and bring it all just back in here.
Be cool, man.
Sorry about that.
Until then, I'm Wil Wheaton. Live long and prosper.