As Captain Nahla Ake and Nus Braka, respectively, these two unexpected “Trek” stars describe their unique vibe on set.

Star Trek leads Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti talk Starfleet Academy: Like ‘heading for a cliff at 95 miles an hour’

As Captain Nahla Ake and Nus Braka, respectively, these two unexpected "Trek" stars describe their unique vibe on set.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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January 15, 2026 11:00 a.m. ET

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Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter in 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'. Credit:

Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.

- Holly Hunter explains the unique vibe of Captain Nahla Ake on *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy*.

- Paul Giamatti talks going "pretty big" with his role of Nus Braka and how he manifested his half-Klingon role.

- "Most of it felt in danger of going off the edge of a cliff, but I don't think I did," Giamatti says.**

Holly Hunter's Nahla Ake isn't your typical captain. Her energy feels more artsy theater kid than the head of a ship, a distinction Hunter herself finds amusing.

You can tell just by the way she sits (or doesn't) in her captain's chair in *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy*, the new *Trek* show that premieres today on Paramount+. She splays out in the seat of command, often times in some cross-legged or pretzel orientation, whether she's reading a book or verbally sparring with the hologram projection of Paul Giamatti's Nus Braka.

Her seating habits come from Hunter's research into the origins of the name Nahla, which has roots in the Arabic word meaning "first drink of water in the desert."

"I love the whole idea of being water," Hunter tells **. "So I thought maybe I can just be that kind of fluid, spineless, feline...You know how cats just kind of melt into their thing? So I started doing it and it was really fun. It awakened different impulses and it evoked different responses from people who I was doing scenes with."

Holly Hunter as Nahla Ake in 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'.

Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.

Comparably, Giamatti plays an atypical *Trek* villain as a half-Klingon, half-Tellarite. He and Hunter's Nahla have history on the series. Nus was involved in a situation that separated a young boy, Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta), from his mother (Tatiana Maslany). Years later in the present, Nahla, now the chancellor of the newly relaunched Starfleet Academy, gives a grown Caleb a chance to find his mom by becoming one of her recruits.

It's a new age for *Star Trek* on Paramount+, and Hunter and Giamatti are the stars leading the show into this future. (Season 2 is already moving ahead.) It's unexpected casting, for sure. Who would expect the just over 5-foot-tall star of *The Incredibles*, *The Piano*, and *Home For the Holidays* to headline *Trek* alongside the guy from *Billions* and a few Alexander Payne movies?

In some ways, showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau created the series around Hunter, while Giamatti manifested his casting.

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Hunter recalls the weekend she spent with Kurtzman and Landau that made her want to be part of this. "Before the sets were built, we were just hanging out, getting to know each other," she recalls. "I have been on a very small number of movies where I never met the director until I got to the set. There's something sad about that, but it does happen. This was the absolute total opposite. We got to know each other in a completely different way where there was no pressure."

The collaborative nature also struck Giamatti, whose *Trek* introduction couldn't have been more different from his costar's. While participating in press for *The Holdovers* in 2023, he told a journalist that a dream role would be to play a Klingon on *Star Trek*. The showrunners were paying attention and found themselves on a Zoom with the actor within 24 hours, during which they offered him five different roles and he picked the prime villain.

Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka in 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy'.

Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.

"I've always wanted to play a Klingon, but it was not something I actually thought was ever gonna come to pass," he says. "I can't think of anything else manifesting like that, that I've said and that it actually happened."

At various times, the actor felt he "was heading for a cliff at 95 miles an hour" with his performance as Nus, a direct result of the very few times the creators said no to one of his acting choices. "I had my pedal to the metal," he continues. "They really allowed me to be pretty big. I said to them early on, 'I'm playing this combination of two incredibly aggressive alien species. You okay if I really go for the aggression? And they said, 'Absolutely.' Most of it felt in danger of going off the edge of a cliff, but I don't think I did."

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The combination of Giamatti and Hunter is one reason why *Star Trek: Starfleet Academy* works so well. There's one scene in the premiere episode where the dynamic they formed is on full display: the two bouncing off each other on the command deck after Nus invades Nahla's ship (which doubles as the Starfleet school).

"There's something really excited about working with Paul," Hunter comments. "I just felt, I don't know, a kinship with [him] being on set. Paul's up for anything."

"I feel like I was having too much fun," he adds. "Occasionally, I thought somebody needed to come to sedate me."

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