Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Paul Wesley Opened Up Making Sure His William Shatner Impression In Latest Episode Was A ‘True Wink To The Fans’

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Similar to how Season 1 offered a captivating fairy tale narrative, Season 2 introduced a crossover and musical episode, and Season 4 promises a puppet episode, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 presented an eccentric plotline this week on the 2025 TV schedule. To experiment with an early prototype of the holodeck, La’an Noonien Singh stepped into a murder mystery scenario centered around the cast and crew of a 1960s television show named The Last Frontier. This was undoubtedly designed as a humorous nod to Star Trek: The Original Series. Paul Wesley, portraying James T. Kirk in Strange New Worlds, shared his excitement about channeling William Shatner for the happenings of “A Space Adventure Hour.

In “A Space Adventure Hour,” Wesley’s portrayal of Kirk was typically understated. However, this show offered him a chance to step into exaggerated, caricature-like acting when his character, Kirk, was used as the template for Maxwell Saint in the holodeck production of The Last Frontier. During an interview with TVLine, Wesley shared his thoughts on embodying the original series’ Kirk (TOS), but without overdoing the impersonation.

It struck me right away that this moment presented a chance to offer the audience a more playful, humorous take on what could have transpired. Given that many people might ask, ‘W I didn’t want to go overboard, but I wanted to give just enough to acknowledge the dedicated fans out there.

As a movie enthusiast, I highly recommend keeping up with the latest episodes of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” by subscribing to Paramount+’s Essential plan at just $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. For an ad-free experience and double the content, consider their Premium plan for $12.99 a month, which also includes Showtime. Or, take advantage of 10 months free by opting for their annual plan! Don’t miss out on this fantastic deal. Check it out now!

People who have watched the original Starship Enterprise series that aired from 1966 to 1969 will undoubtedly recognize the slow, sometimes overly dramatic dialogue style. This manner of speaking is often mimicked in William Shatner impressions, and now Paul Wesley has had the opportunity to employ it within an authentic Star Trek production. However, during the filming of “A Space Adventure Hour” (which also established a new romance for La’an), Wesley needed to tone down the Shatner-like dialogue at times, reminiscing about:

I performed multiple recordings, resulting in differences in the length of pauses that left uncertainty about when the next line would be spoken. Ultimately, we chose a moderately long pause as the final option.

In a delightful and nostalgic tribute, “A Space Adventure Hour” blended humor with sentiment as Paul Wesley’s William Shatner impression paid homage to the original “Star Trek: The Original Series,” along with the backstage events of yesteryears. Other instances included Anson Mount portraying a figure reminiscent of Gene Roddenberry and Rebecca Romijn depicting a character who championed the launch of The Last Frontier, much like Lucille Ball supported “Star Trek.” Regrettably, the holodeck in this episode turned out to be more problematic than beneficial, so it’s unlikely that “Strange New Worlds” will revisit this simulation by the end of its five-season run.

Absolutely! The current running “Star Trek” TV series already has an ending planned, but we’re still quite a distance away from reaching it. In the meantime, catch new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+. And let’s not forget that another “Star Trek” TV show, titled “Starfleet Academy,” is scheduled to debut in early 2026.

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2025-08-02 20:38