Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Jess Bush on the Complications of Playing a Healer in Starfleet (Exclusive)

In Star Trek, it’s been said that risk is a Starfleet officer’s business. While that can often mean endangering their own life, it can also mean being put in situations where they are encouraged to act violently against others. While Starfleet takes these situations seriously, they can be even more complicated for Starfleet’s medical officers, who also have to weigh their oaths as healers against the harm they may inflict on others. While some of Star Trek’s doctors relish the opportunity to kick a little ass, others are more conflicted. Star Trek Strange New Worlds star Jess Bush told ComicBook.com about how this weighs on her character, Nurse Christine Chapel, and her colleague, Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), in the show’s second season. 

“Absolutely. You know, we see Chapel and M’Benga pushed to violence, and investigating what emotionally is going to take Chapel to that point, seeing as she’s a healer, is very interesting and like navigating and investigating that was really, really great, and how we support each other in that space too, because obviously, we understand each other as healers probably more deeply than anyone else with our shared history,” Bush told us during the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds press junket. “So choosing to enter a space that is going against our oath in that way is super complicated, yeah.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Cast

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley, Ethan Peck as Spock, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La’An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M’Benga. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 also brings back special guest star Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and adds Carol Kane in the recurring role of Pelia.

CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are co-showrunners. Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, Henry Alonso Myers, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Release Date

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres on Paramount+ in the United States, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria on Thursday, June 15th. The second season will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in South Korea, with the premiere date to be announced later. New episodes of the 10-episode season will then debut weekly on Thursdays.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is already streaming. It is also available as home media on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4k UHD.