Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Casts Paul Giamatti As Main Villain

Paul Giamatti is enrolling in the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The Oscar-nominated actor will reportedly appear in a “recurring guest star role” as “the season’s central villain,” who is described as being “a man with an ominous past, with a connection to one of the show’s cadets. 

This is a major franchise entry for Giamatti, who has largely preferred to stay away from franchise universes; his biggest role in one was playing an outrageously over-the-top version of Marvel villain The Rhino, in Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). 

That said, Giamatti has been known to favor genre material – even if it isn’t the big comic book movie studios. His filmography has plenty of prestige work (12 Years a Slave, Sideways, his most recent Oscar-nominated film The Holdovers), but also plenty of B-movie genre films (Shoot ‘Em Up, Lady in the Water, Fred Claus, The Hangover Part II, Rock of Ages, San Andreas, Gunpowder Milkshake, Jungle Cruise). If anything, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for Giamatti to break the Star Trek/Star Wars barrier – and even more surprising to see him starting with Star Trek. 

Starfleet Academy co-showrunners and exec producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau stated casting Giamatti, which reads: 

“Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge Star Trek fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us. The sheer delight with which he dove in on Starfleet Academy is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast,” 

Giamatti has definitely played his fair share of villains. Shoot ‘Em Up cast him as the secondary henchman villain Karl Hertz, who was a gun-toting psychopath. His version of Rhino started out as a Russian gangster, with Giamatti chewing so much scenery there was barely any left for set dressing. That’s all to say: he can definitely exhibit menace as a Star Trek villain – and will probably delight in getting to dress up like one of the series’ alien characters. 

Starfleet Academy recently cast actress Holly Hunter (Batman v Superman) as one of the series leads; Hunter will play a Starfleet captain who becomes the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy. It’s another big character actor casting that has Kurtzman and Landau thrilled, and Star Trek fans raising eyebrows about how Starfleet Academy is coming together.

What is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy about?

According to Paramount’s official synopsis: 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

Kurtzman and Landau are Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s co-showrunners. They also serve as executive producers alongside Gaia Violo, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weberby. 

Violo wrote Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s premiere episode. CBS Studios, in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, is producing the series.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy joins Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the upcoming  among Paramount+’s Star Trek offerings (Star Trek: Prodigy ). 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is set to start production this summer. 

Source: THR