Editor's note: The below article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.The Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds delivered a lot of unexpected twists and turns as Captain Pike (Anson Mount) was given a glimpse into a future that could be, were he to alter the course of his destiny. With Pike avoiding his date with death, Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley) never became the captain of the USS Enterprise and instead moved up the ranks aboard the USS Farragut to become captain to an entirely different crew. Pike ultimately learns that by saving himself, he puts everyone he cares about at risk, forever altering the courses of their fates and inadvertently causing a deadly war with the Romulans.
After fans spotted Wesley on the set of Strange New Worlds Season 2 back in March, Paramount announced that the actor had been cast as Captain Kirk in the series, though most Trekkies assumed that he'd be beaming up to the series starting in the second season. Ahead of his debut as Captain Kirk, Collider had the opportunity to talk with Wesley in one of his first interviews since the announcement. In our 1-on-1 interview with Paul Wesley, he spoke about growing up with Star Trek, sitting beside William Shatner on a flight after being cast as Kirk, whether his Captain Kirk is more like Shatner or Chris Pine, his first day in the Captain's chair, what he can tease about Kirk in Season 2, and he discusses the end of The Vampire Diaries franchise and the impact it had on fans.
COLLIDER: First of all, I just want to say congratulations on being cast as Captain Kirk.
PAUL WESLEY: Thank you.
Star Trek was very much something that was part of my childhood. Was it something that you grew up with and were a fan of before the audition?
WESLEY: Yeah. It's funny, I was born in the '80s, so obviously I didn't watch it live, but I've always [been] someone who watches films and series from the '60s, the '70s. I enjoy it. I think there's something about it. There's something about the nostalgia of not having 18,000 streamers and a bazillion special effects artists. There's something about the purity of the shows that were created in the '60s and '70s.
I think that, for me, I watched Star Trek and I always envision myself watching it live and having a limited amount of television channels. We didn't have the same technology that we have now, and so it was really the most incredible form of escapism for people. It was a way for people to see. I love the title of this new series, Strange New Worlds, because it really is. It truly encapsulates what the show is about, which is about exploration. It's [a] space adventure. It's about this crazy little community of people that are exploring worlds, and that is really what this show is. I love that there's an optimism. Again, it's fun, but at the same time, there's a lot of meaning [and] there's a lot of metaphor. We get to analyze our own behaviors on planet earth through the actions of this crew.
I remember when you were cast back in March, you mentioned that you ran into William Shatner on a flight. Did you get any advice from him?
WESLEY: No, because I was still playing a little bit coy about it. I was under this sworn secrecy, NDA madness, so I wasn't able to be like, "Hey, so, as you know, I'm playing Kirk, give me the tips." I had to kind of tiptoe, and I had to really play it dumb in a way. I wanted so badly to just talk to him about it so openly and I [also] didn't want to bother him. He [had] literally just got back from space, and he was on this plane, and we happened to be sitting next to each other. I also didn't want to sit there and talk his ear off for four hours.
We talked a little bit, but it was really less about Kirk. I'm sure he's been talking about Kirk for the last however many years and I think it was really more about just sort of chatting. We've actually spoken before very briefly. He's a classy guy. When the announcement came out that I was playing Kirk, he tweeted, "Congratulations." I just thought that was such a classy move. He didn't have to do that at all.
Kirk is such an iconic character. You're now one of three people who have gotten the chance to play him. When you took on the role, were you aiming to emulate Shatner or Chris Pine, or did you approach this as a completely fresh character?
WESLEY: No. What William Shatner did is not touchable. You cannot mess with William Shatner. He created Captain Kirk. Period, end of story. For me to try to imitate William Shatner in any way would be, I think, an insult to Captain Kirk. Right? I think it's important to just understand who Kirk is, what his childhood was like, what he wants, what he doesn't want, what the pillars of his personality and his character traits that are important to the development of that character. With that in mind, you can then play and create your own interpretation, because it is. There's a different Spock, there's a different Uhura, there's a different everything. You have to just create your own things. You can't just do an imitation, because that would be too shallow.
I would say he's somewhere in between, because this is a younger Kirk. In the Season 1 finale, it's like an alternate timeline that really has never been done before, and so there's a little bit more room for interpretation. But as we get to know Kirk in Season 2, it's a younger Kirk, it's pre-Enterprise Captain Kirk. It's a little bit of that... He's a little bit more of that, I guess, in that Chris Pine world. But Chris Pine was the Kelvin. He's sort of in between all of it, but at the end of the day, it's a different Kirk. It's a different Kirk than we've seen. I think that was really the only way to do it, frankly. There's no other way.
You mentioned the finale. You get to be in the captain's chair. What was it like the first day you got to be on the bridge of the USS Farragut and got to sit in the captain's chair?
WESLEY: TV schedules are crazy, right? You don't get to prep for two months. It's daunting showing up on set [the] first day [like], "Oh my God, I got to sit in this chair that presumably I've been sitting in for, comfortably, hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of times, and I'm sitting in it for the first time." It's like all of those things are just so pivotal, and so I was just trying to be as comfortable as possible, trying to get out of my head that I was playing Kirk. You just have to try your best to just get that out of your head, have fun, explore, because ultimately, the reason people fell in love with Captain Kirk is because William Shatner was having fun. He was using his instinct, he was charming, he got to do so many different things, and if he wasn't using his instinct, then using some of his own personality in that role, maybe people wouldn't have appreciated it as much. I think I really just wanted to be myself in some ways while paying respect to the character.
Season 2, we get to explore a little bit more of Kirk. The Season 1 finale is plot-driven, it's Pike's episode. I mean, it's Pike's show, let's be honest. But really, I am sort of part of this plot. It's a little less getting to know Kirk, and it's a little bit more about the dynamics between the two captains. It's about the action that's taking place. There's a lot at stake. Season 2, we get to have a little bit more of exploration, I think.
I'm sure you can't say much about Season 2, but we do get a tease in the finale of Scotty, which I was really excited about.
WESLEY: Isn't that great?
Are there any Original Series characters that you would love to see in Strange New Worlds?
WESLEY: Well, the Gorn.
That's a good answer.
WESLEY: Right? Yeah. That's the most iconic. We'll see whether that comes to fruition.
Before we wrap up, I feel like I would be remiss not to at least cross the IP streams a little bit. Legacies just got canceled, bringing the end of The Vampire Diaries era on television. What is it like for you to be part of something that has had such a long-lasting, overarching reach for audiences? It's a lot in the same way that Star Trek has been around for so long. It's such an integral part of people's lives.
WESLEY: When I was first cast in The Vampire Diaries, we all knew that there were some special things there. We didn't know that we were going to create this universe. I had no clue there would be spinoffs, and I didn't know that these characters would become so iconic and that the series would become so iconic. I had done God knows how many pilots at that point, and you're just doing your best, hoping something sticks.
We put a lot of time and effort into The Vampire Diaries. I'm just glad it resonated with people. I think that show, particularly Seasons 1, 2, and 3, it's pretty high-level stuff. I know it was on the CW, so it's a little bit more like, "Well, it's Vampire Diaries, and it's these 'attractive young people biting each other in the neck.'" A lot of people think it's not for them, but at the end of the day, when people watch Vampire Diaries Season 1, 2, and 3, it's really pretty good stuff. I'm really proud of what we created. Who knows? Maybe there'll be another spinoff in the future. I certainly won't be a part of it, because at Vampire Diaries you don't age, and I do age, unfortunately. I can't play Stefan's dad. Nor do I want to.
But yeah, I'm grateful. It's a needle in a haystack. It's extremely rare as an actor to be a part of something that becomes a cultural phenomenon. To do that twice now, to play this character that has been such a huge part of people's lives, I feel very blessed to not only have been a part of creating The Vampire Diaries universe, but now to be jumping into this even bigger, more important universe in many ways with this iconic role. I don't know. Karmically. I feel quite blessed.
You can stream the entirety of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+. Check out Paramount's special bonus content about the finale below: