Today is an exciting day for Star Trek fans. After an almost two year wait Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns to Paramount+ today with the first two episodes of its blockbuster third season. To celebrate we’re bringing you some of our interview with the cast to prepare you for 10 bold new episodes of the character-driven drama.
In this first interview Neil sits down with Melissa Navia, aka Lieutenant Erica Ortegas, the pilot of the U.S.S. Enterprise. After watching the first half of the season, Neil was keen to ask Navia about the unexpected journey which Ortegas is going on this season. Watch the full interview in the player below:
NB: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
NEIL VAGG: I feel like fans have been clamouring for more Ortegas us from day one right from the very beginning, and I feel like we’re really getting it this season, but in such an unexpected way. So I wanted to ask you to kind of just dive into a little bit of where Ortega says when this season starts and how it’s been for you as an actor diving into this story.
MELISSA NAVIA: We ended on this cliffhanger in season two. Fans are always very funny, they’re just like “why have you made us wait so long?” And I’m like, it’s out of our hands. Things happened in the world. We have no control over it. So where you see her at the top of the season she finally got this away mission, right? Things did not go to plan. So in many ways it’s a mirror of life and it’s something that so many people can relate to.
I remember in season two she had this this big part of, I believe it was season two episode four, where she has to remember who she is and what she does so well in order to save the Enterprise. It resonated so much for me at the time with the what fans took from that was so layered and beautiful. I hear from them all the time about what that has meant to them that moment and her discovering who she is and reminding herself how great she is at what she does.
When we come to season three, suddenly she’s not in control and she’s not able to save the day. So we see for the first time an Ortegas who is not super confident. I always joke in the musical episode that she didn’t get her own song. I’m always just like, you know, the showrunners owe me a song. Everybody had a song because they their emotions were overflowing. But Ortegas is always incredibly confident or incredibly sure of who she is and what she does. So in season three, we get to see somebody who’s been broken, and we’ve all been there. If you’re watching this and hearing this and you haven’t been there then just you wait. I think who you become in this life and who you are, you really learn so much about yourself when you are broken and you have to put the pieces back together. So that’s what we get to see with her throughout the season.
