‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Ethan Peck Reveals How He Felt Putting on Spock’s Ears for the First Time

Ethan Peck is playing the role of Spock in Star Trek: Discovery. The role was originated by the late Leonard Nimoy and Peck is fully aware of the magnitude of the shoes he’s stepping into.

Peck wasn’t aware that he was auditioning for Spock when he tried out for Star Trek: Discovery. Of course, he learned the truth eventually. At the TCA Winter 2019 Press Tour, Peck told ComicBook.com about the emotional reaction he had when he got into Spock’s Vulcan makeup, complete with pointed ears, for the first time.

“That was crazy,” Peck says. “So I flew out to Toronto for my first makeup test and everything went on and I was just like,’Ooh my gosh, this is so immense. How am I going to get through this? How am I going to accomplish this?’ And as I said before, I just couldn’t have come into a more supportive and nourishing situation with the cast, with the crew, with the writers and producers and I came into it wanting to be perfect obviously, because as much as they want it to be good, I want it even more and it’s like my blood and my tears, my sweat, and I’ve done my absolute best and poured my heart and soul into it, and there will be moments that I’m sure miss, but I hope there will be some that really stand out.”

Peck also spoke about the pressure of stepping into a role that is such an icon of pop culture.

“Yeah, well it starts with a panic attack and then maybe I should quit and then showing up and maybe they’ll fire me,” Peck says. “And then being like, you know, there was a long process of sort of alignment that I had to go through. I had probably a month from when I found out to when I had my first makeup test, and just being like, you know, I’m sure you’ve heard actors tend to be self-deprecating and unsure of themselves, because we’re acting in this, no pun intended, we’re behaving in this sort of nebulous void where we expend this energy and it doesn’t land anywhere. We’re not getting paid for it. So there was like a period of building myself up and being like, ‘Yeah, you can, let’s do this. Let’s do this. Take a risk, get out there, be vulnerable. Share your heart through this role’. And that just became a more acceptable thing throughout the process. I mean, even up until the very last day that I worked, I was learning and becoming more confident in the character and I’m sure it’s true of anybody taking on something new.”

Are you excited to see Spock in Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know in the comments.

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.