Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Yetide Badaki on Her Star Trek Crushes, Starfleet Legal Drama, and Neera's Future (Exclusive)
Some may know Yetide Badaki from her roles in series like American Gods, but this week she joins the Star Trek Universe as Neera in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and she makes quite an impression. SPOILERS follow for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 2, "Ad Astra per Aspera." Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2's second episode follows up on the season finale's cliffhanger ending when Starfleet arrested Number One, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) when her identity as an Illyrian with genetic enhancements becomes known. "Ad Astra per Aspera" sees Una on trial and her Starfleet-provided counsel compromised.
After mostly missing the season premiere, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) risks his life to get Una capable representation. That comes from Neera, another Illyrian, and one of Una's old friends, though they did not part on good terms. Despite decades passing since they last spoke, and Neera resenting many of Una's choices, she gives an incredible defense in an episode that harkens back to Data's fight for his status as a person in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Measure of a Man."
It turns out that Badaki was thinking about that episode while filming "Ad Astra per Aspera." ComicBook.com had the opportunity to speak to Badaki about her Star Trek debut. We learned that she's a longtime Star Trek fan as she told us about her early Star Trek crushes, how Star Trek handles relevant, contemporary themes, and her hopes for Neera's Star Trek future. Here's what she had to say:
As an actor, you're new to the Star Trek universe. What is your history with Star Trek as a fan?
Yetide Badaki: I'm glad you asked me, and I wish we had hours because I could wax poetic on my love of Star Trek for days, actually. I always tell people, "Star Trek formed my worldview." I remember watching it as a kid in Nigeria, and I was introduced through Next Generation, and I have an undying love for the franchise. This has literally been a dream come true. I mean, I'm so much of a fan that it's my comfort watch whenever I'm traveling, wherever I'm going. I have watched Next Generation, all the episodes, at least twice. So, I'm a lifelong long fan. It has shaped my worldview, and this is literally a dream come true.
I have to know now, do you have a favorite character? Or one that you connect with the most?
Okay, I'll tell you, my first crushes were Data and Captain Picard. But of course, I mean, I love the whole bridge crew. I mean, everything about Deanna and her empathy, and then everything with Riker, I love watching the compilation of the Riker sit. And then you have Worf, all of the experiences that he's going through. Crusher. I mean, La Forge, come on, we've got to talk about La Forge. Yeah, it's hard to name one, but I can tell you, those were my first two crushes.
Did your familiarity with the franchise help prepare you for acting in it? Because I know that sometimes actors can be a bit overwhelmed by everything that goes into making a Star Trek show.
I mean, there was a learning curve, mainly because of the new space that you are in, and also because there were a lot of lines, a lot of speeches, which I love because that was one of my favorite things about watching Star Trek were those wonderfully impassioned speeches about ideals. But it was a lot of lines to work with, and that was the part that took me aback.
Familiarity-wise, they can all tell you on set, I walked on, and they're going, "Oh, oh, that's a geek," because even as soon as I read that script, I went, "Oh my goodness. This is 'The Measure of a Man'," one of my favorite Next Generation episodes, written by Melinda Snodgrass. Yes, "The Measure of a Man," is one of my favorites, and the other one is "The Inner Light" by Morgan Gendel. But immediately, I saw "The Measure of a Man." That's the one, if people are not familiar, where Data was put on trial, and Riker had to be on opposing counsel. There were a lot of similar flavors in this. Also, TOS people would refer to "Court Martial." So yes, it prepared me, all of that, and for, as you said, the grand epic scope of the Star Trek worlds, I was already familiar with that. So yeah, being a geek does pay.
Your character is interesting because the Federation typically butts heads against rival alien empires or bad actors within a polity, but you're challenging them on moral grounds. What was it like getting your handle on this character and, given that you're familiar with Star Trek, did you see her as this different kind of character?
For me, it felt like Star Trek. That was one of the reasons I used to love the show. There were two reasons. One, I dare anyone to name another show or TV series with this kind of scope that depicts a positive possibility for our future. Star Trek did that and continues and that was one of the things I loved about this script. It felt like Star Trek to me, where what I always loved was that even though the individuals were not perfect, there was a striving to be better, to do better.
I loved the episodes when Picard, even himself, we all look up to him, but he has moments where he says, "I did wrong," and he admits to it and then he works to do better. So, this episode, to me, felt like classic Star Trek. It felt like what always made me so excited about the idea of Starfleet, that it was constantly examining itself and was willing to make shifts and changes when they find wrongdoing.
This episode is talking about genetically enhanced aliens, but like with most good Star Trek, it's also meant to resonate with real-world issues. You're an immigrant yourself and it only takes a glance at your social media accounts to see how near and dear immigrant causes are to you. We look for more nuance, I think, in these kinds of shows and stories these days, and want them to treat the topics they're trying to discuss and elevate them in more respectful ways rather than simply preach. What goes into that as an actor? Or is it about what's there on the page?
Right. I mean, that's why we love science fiction and fantasy. We're able to look at real-world issues through the lens of fiction, and that's one of the things that Star Trek does so well. It automatically gives us that lens that we can view it through without feeling preached at, and it gives us what feels like a safe space to explore these ideas and to discuss ideas.
I can't say that I was making sure of it, as this incredible team, including Henry Alonso Myers, Chris Fisher, Akiva Goldsman, and Alex Kurtzman, this was written by Dana Horgan, it was already a space that I walked into, directed by Valerie Weiss, who has a science background, a very interesting one, and then moved into directing. So, that framework was already there. I didn't have to sit there and say, "I need to make sure that I'm not doing that." That framework is already there. That's what Star Trek, I think, is one of the things it does best.
I found the dynamic between your character and Rebecca Romijn's compelling. Can you talk a bit about building that friendship by working with her? Do you think that leaves the door open for seeing more of this character going forward?
I love that you asked that question. Listen, Rebecca Romijn, she's incredible, and I can't wait for everyone to see the beautiful work that she does in this episode. And I had mentioned our director, Valerie Weiss, who very wisely, as early as she could, had us sit down at dinner and just talk, and talk over the things that bond us.
For example, we both were able to share, well, Rebecca speaks about how her mother introduced her to Star Trek. My connection with that is that my family loved Star Trek so much so that when I got to see this screener, I was at home for my father's 70th celebration, and he hears my voice, he goes, "Is that you?" And then we get to sit down and watch the episode together. I got to watch it with my father. Those kinds of things really bonded us. And then we were able to spend more time talking about, okay, what is the history between the two? And so, there was a lot put into building this relationship, and I do hope that the way it came across, that means that yes, she'll be back for her friend at some point in the coming seasons.
How to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 debuts new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the United States, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The second season will stream on Paramount+ in South Korea, with a premiere date still to be announced. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Central and Eastern Europe
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is also streaming on Paramount+. The season is also available as home media on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4k UHD.
