Star Trek: Picard Star Shares Behind-the-Scenes Video

Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star Jonathan Del Arco returns in Star Trek: Picard on CBS All Access in 2020. Del Arco played Hugh in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes “I, Borg” and “Descent.” Hugh was as Borg drone, Third of Five, that the Enterprise crew captured and then freed from the Borg’s collective consciousness. With his individuality restored, Hugh chose to return to Borg space and free others from the collective. Data’s brother, Lore, took advantage of these free Borg, but Hugh teamed with the Enterprise crew to stop Lore’s plot. Now Picard will catch up with Hugh decades later.

In observing the anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s debut, Del Arco went to Twitter with a behind-the-scenes video. The timelapse video shows the Star Trek: Picard effects team creating a plaster mold of Del Arco’s head. “You’ve all been asking for it but I CAN’T show you Hugh’s new look HOWEVER since it’s TNG’s Birthday here’s what I had to go through to get there…” Del Arco tweeted. You can take a look above.

The video has led to some to speculate about Borg’s fate in the future. Jeri Ryan is also returning as her former Borg character Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager. Seven appears more human and less Borg than she did at the end of Voyager. But Del Arco getting a new head cast — especially one that covers his left eye, a distinctive feature from Hugh’s appearance — have led some to speculate that Hugh will still be more Borg than human when Star Trek: Picard takes place.

Del Arco tried to quell that speculation, stating that these kinds of head casts are standard procedure. “This does not confirm anything about Hugh’s make up pretty much everyone on StarTrek (aliens in particular) have these done before final design is complete and approved – sometimes it’s never used… but you’ll have to wait and see,” he tweeted.

In a recent interview, Star Trek: Picard star Patrick Stewart suggested that fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation may be surprised by what they see in the new streaming show. “We are looking at a new world with new objectives, problems and issues that could not have been raised when we were making The Next Generation and I found that very exciting,” he said. “It’s very exciting and people will be surprised and perhaps even shocked.”

What do you expect from Hugh in Star Trek: Picard? Let us know in the comments. Star Trek: Picard has completed production on its first season. The series is expected to debut on CBS All Access in early 2020.