‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Rainn Wilson Reveals Moment That Made His Inner Trekkie Go Crazy

Rainn Wilson plays Harry Mudd on Star Trek: Discovery. Before he was a star, he was a Trekkie like so many other Star Trek fans. There was one moment working on Discovery that made that inner Trekkie sing.

Wilson spoke to the official Star Trek website about playing Mudd in two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season. He revealed that moment from the episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.”

“I got to fire a phaser. My inner Trekkie went crazy,” Wilson said, though that wasn’t all. “I got to fire phasers. I got to be beamed up, beamed down. I got to sit in the captain’s chair. I got to be captain for a while. He controlled the ship. When you have the poster of all the Star Trek captains, I want Harry Mudd on that.”

Wilson is joking about Mudd be considered a captain (we think), but Mudd will be the lead character of an upcoming episode of Star Trek: Short Treks. The CBS All Access micro-series is made up of four 10-15 minutes short films spotlighting characters from Star Trek: Discovery.

“There’s going to be that 10-15 percent of fans that go, ‘Oh, no way. I’m not going to watch a short film about Star Trek. This isn’t how it works.’ But I love that they’re breaking molds and breaking new ground, and it’s a terrific mini Harry Mudd adventure,” Wilson teased. “It goes to a lot of different places, from different aliens, lot of fun situations, some great twists and turns, and I get to direct it and star in it. It’s like a dream come true. It’s like, ‘Write me a dream job.’”

Wilson is starring in and directing the short film. Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan wrote the script. Production began over the weekend and Wilson has teased a big Star Trek announcement coming tomorrow.

Wilson also noted how much influence Roger C. Carmel, who played Mudd in the original Star Trek, has had on his own performance.

“Everything that I’d done is really a testament to his performance,” Wilson said. “He cracked this character. He has the comedy, charm, loquaciousness, kind of the dark edge. He’s willing to sell people out. That mercenary streak that you…Because so much of the Federation, let’s face it, it’s goodie-goodie two-shoes. Like, ‘Oh, the Federation, we can’t do this, and we’re so law-abiding.’ It’s refreshing sometimes seeing someone playing with the rules. Carmel nailed all those elements. So, I wanted to make him my own and take it to the next level and modernize what he did.”

What do you think of Rainn Wilson‘s performance as Harry Mudd in Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments!

The first season of Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream in its entirety on CBS All Access in the U.S., through CraveTV in Canada and through Netflix in other international markets.

Star Trek: Discovery Season Two is now filming in Toronto and will premiere in early 2019.