Paul Giamatti has stepped into the Star Trek universe, and he is having the time of his life doing it. The actor appeared at CCXP in São Paulo to debut the first footage from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and to talk about Nus Braka, the half Klingon, half Tellarite antagonist he gets to unleash on the series’ young cadets.
Giamatti has always been open about wanting to play an alien in Star Trek, so when Paramount invited him to dive in as the show’s big villain, he embraced the assignment with gleeful commitment.
At the event, the crowd got to see him on two stages as he shared what it was like shaping a character designed to be chaotic, dangerous, unpredictable, and absolutely fun to perform.
“You’re supposed to have more fun playing a bad guy. And they came to me and said they wanted me to be really over the top, and I’m playing a half Klingon, half Tellarite.
“And those are really, really aggressive aliens. So I said, I’m going be REALLY over the top, are you okay with that? And they said, sure. So I’m really over the top. I had a lot of fun.”
Part of that performance came from embracing what makes Klingons and Tellarites distinct. Giamatti leaned into physicality and attitude to create something new for the franchise.
“They said to me, you can’t be a full Klingon, because we have a full Klingon. So you’re going be half. So one thing I really remember… They talked about how Klingons have no sense of personal space. So I was always too close to everybody.
“I would get way too close to everybody all the time. That was the big Klingon move that I wanted to have. And the Tellarites are incredibly argumentative, so there was that. But he’s interesting because he’s not entirely either one of those things, and he’s his own sort of aggressive hybrid. So I was free to actually make up a lot of what I was doing.”
Since Starfleet Academy revolves around a group of young cadets, Braka becomes a force they’ll have to reckon with. Giamatti teased that this tension taps into something personal for the villain.
“Yeah, he’s very mean to the kids. I think he envies the kids. I think he wishes he had people supporting him and being nice to him the way everybody is to these kids. So I think he hates and envies these kids.”
Braka isn’t just an antagonist with a bad attitude. He’s entrenched in the galaxy’s darker corners, running with a group of space pirates while cultivating a warped sense of self-importance.
“Well, he’s a pirate, kind of. He’s a little bit of a pirate. He’s a kind of he’s got his finger in every kind of criminal activity. He’s a smuggler. He’s a trafficker, of all kinds. And he leads a group called the V’Nari Raal [sp?], who are pirates, basically.
“So he’s been all over the galaxy. And he’s a lowlife. And he’s a nobody who thinks he’s a somebody. And he likes to clown around and play the fool and stuff. But he’s a very dangerous psychopath underneath it all.”
There’s also history between Braka and Holly Hunter’s Chancellor Nahla Ake. Giamatti hinted at a twisted emotional component connecting the two characters.
“He’s a very damaged human being. I think he has mother issues. I think he needs a mother, which is why I’m fixated on Holly Hunter so much. I have a strange fixation on Holly Hunter.”
For fans curious about Braka’s crazy look, Giamatti said the makeup process was a blast, even at two hours per session. The latex, prosthetics, and alien detailing helped him discover new layers of the character.
“I like wearing that stuff. It makes you feel totally different. I look kind of like a Klingon. I look kind of like a pig, and it’s fantastic. They let me have a lot to say in the character.
“So I wanted him to have all these like–he’s got ritual scarring on his face, because… he’s a pirate, basically. He’s been all over the galaxy. And he’s got his ears clipped and shaped. And he’s got these steel things on his hands from all these different alien cultures.”
Giamatti also reflected on why Star Trek has meant so much to him since his childhood. He then shared what the franchise represents on a deeper level.
“What about it is so appealing? I know that when I think about it now, it makes me feel good. It feels very comforting. I feel very safe when I watch it or think about it, and I always have.
“It’s adventure, but it’s positive adventure. It’s good, it’s decent. All the values are right? I just feels comforting to me, every aspect of it. It’s good, decent values. And I like that.”
According to him, Starfleet Academy fits right into that legacy while also welcoming newcomers who may be stepping into the universe for the first time.
“It’s a good entry point, because you don’t need to know a whole lot. You can watch it without needing to know a lot, and you’ll learn a lot. Starfleet Academy–throughout all the other series–is the basis of everything about the Federation.
“All the values of the all the adventuring and boldly going. All of this stuff comes from Starfleet. So you’ll learn about the whole [franchise] if you watch it. But it’s its own thing. So it’s a good entry point.”
With Giamatti bringing this unpredictable pirate psychopath to life, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is going to introduce a villain fans are sure to enjoy.
Source: Trek Movie
