How to Get Cast in a ‘Star Trek’ Production

Born from the creative mind of Roddenberry, “Star Trek” began as a sci-fi adventure focused on the USS Enterprise’s five-year research mission “to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Helmed by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), the crew takes to the sky after an alien race, the Vulcans, introduces technology that allows humans to travel faster than the speed of light. Though Kirk and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) only explored the stars from 1966 to 1969 on NBC, the series laid the foundation for a franchise that might just make it to the 23rd century in real life. In the years since, Trekkies have followed the journeys of subsequent crews, including the characters on “Discovery”—Paramount+’s most-watched original series.

While even the most casual “Star Trek” fans know that Shatner and Nimoy portrayed the now-iconic captain and first officer alongside George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Nyota Uhura), and James Doohan (Scotty), the franchise has added countless now-familiar faces to its roster over the years—even launching some to superstardom. 

“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which premiered in 1987, featured Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (William T. Riker), Michael Dorn (Worf), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), and LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge). Stewart returned to the franchise on Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Picard,” which premiered in 2020 and ended with its third season in 2023.

“Star Trek: Discovery” featured an array of newcomers and industry veterans, including Sonequa Martin-Green (as Michael Burnham), Anthony Rapp (as Paul Stamets), Doug Jones (as Saru), and Emily Coutts (as Keyla Detmer). “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” on the other hand, features Anson Mount (as Captain Christopher Pike), Rebecca Romijn (as Una Chin-Riley), and Ethan Peck (as Spock). And when “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” joins the mix, viewers can expect to see Holly Hunter (as Nahla Ake), Sandro Rosta (as Caleb Mir), Paul Giamatti (as Nus Braka), and franchise veteran Robert Picardo (as the Doctor), who originally starred on “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995–2001).

Meanwhile, in J.J. Abrams’ cinematic reboot franchise, which began with 2009’s “Star Trek,” Chris Pine stars as a young Kirk alongside Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), and John Cho (Sulu), as well as the late Anton Yelchin (Chekov).

When it comes to a franchise as massive and diverse as “Star Trek,” it’s hard to pin down one distinct casting experience. But as April Webster, the casting director for “Star Trek” (2009), said, putting the right ensemble together was challenging. 

“We felt so committed to the fans. These are very iconic figures, and we didn’t want to not please them in some way,” she said. “When we were looking for Kirk, to find that right balance of someone who had that bravado but [wasn’t] arrogant was a tricky thing to find.” 

The team discovered what it was looking for in Pine. “We had him there with Zachary Quinto—aka Spock—and they auditioned together. And I was like, ‘Oh, of course, it’s this guy,’ ” Abrams told the New York Daily News in 2013.

But when concepts don’t click with auditioners right away, Webster has a solution. “The way that I work with auditioning actors—because I’m also a director—is that I try to get a sense of where they’re blocking their energy, and…we’ll try to tweak that and make an adjustment. Oftentimes, people will separate their bodies and their heads,” she explained. “They stop breathing. They go right up into their brains and forget exactly what they’re saying. So what I try to do is ground them in some way so that they’re able to get back in the room.”

Margery Simkin (“Top Gun,” “Avatar”) noted that when working on “Strange New Worlds,” she was faced with the challenge of casting new faces to play old characters, which isn’t easy considering fans of the franchise already have an idea of what the actors should look like physically. 

“Years ago, I got asked to do a couple of biopics, which I shied away from. I was like, everybody knows what this person looks like, and I don’t want to be burdened with having to match them. You have to catch the essence of both the character as written and who that person really was,” she told us. “You have to do the same thing with the established characters in ‘Star Trek,’ because people really care. You have to honor that, and I think we have been able to.”

Simkin added: “With ‘Star Trek,’ you have the added element of a certain level of expectation when it’s a returning character. Then you try to do something surprising. One of the things I’m personally most proud of was having the idea of casting Carol Kane as Pelia on ‘Strange New Worlds.’ We had featured Tig Notaro on ‘Star Trek: Discovery,’ but now the creators wanted to see someone else in the engineering room. 

“It was an opportunity to add some comedy. I thought, Well, it should be an older person. Pelia is a species that lives for a long time. ‘Well, what about Carol Kane?’ I asked. It’s the biggest laugh I’ve ever heard from [producer] Akiva [Goldsman]. I thought, OK, it’s a good idea. It’s probably the thing people talk to me about most. Carol has gotten such a kick out of doing it.”

Of the series that have already debuted via Paramount+, only “Strange New Worlds” has been renewed for another season, which wrapped filming in mid-2025 and will drop sometime in 2026. “Starfleet Academy” will join the lineup when it debuts in January 2026, with the streamer already renewing it for Season 2. However, neither of these shows are actively casting at this time. 

We also know that, while “Star Trek 4” was cancelled, effectively putting an end to Abrams’ franchise reboot, Goldstein and Daley are developing an entirely new film in its wake. As Variety noted, this new film will not be connected to previous or present “Star Trek” films or TV series, making its subject a complete and total mystery. Stay tuned for more details as they become available!

While there are currently no open casting calls for any “Star Trek” productions, we recommend checking our main casting call section for all the latest updates on who’s looking for talent. You might also find our guide on how to audition for Paramount+ rather handy.

The franchise has brought in some big names to help cast the next generation of stars. CDs Margery Simkin and Orly Sitowitz have been hard at work on both “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds” in recent years. The two have worked together on other hit drama programs, including “American Gods” and “Into the Badlands.” Lisa Parasyn (“Schitt’s Creek,” “Wynonna Earp: Vengeance”) was also a CD for “Discovery.” Meanwhile, Kelly Boaz and Heather Jessup (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) have joined the party as the CDs on “Starfleet Academy.”

As Stewart once said, “One of the really nice things about being an actor is that no experience is wasted.” 

Pine noted that “there’s stuff that no acting school will ever teach you, and you just have to be a self-aware artist. Sitting in an audition room can be the most destructive experience ever, so you have to know how you operate. If it does you a service to talk to another actor in the room, to get comfortable and loosen up, then great. But if that dissipates your energy, if that makes you feel competitive, you have to be very vigilant; the combative egos that happen in an audition room can come across as quite nice and quite approachable. You just have to be conscious of that.”

When Quinto began his acting career, he never expected to become a film star. As he told Interview, he thought he would end up part of the New York City theater scene. But once he moved to L.A., he found himself attracted to the audition process. “I loved auditioning because it was just an opportunity to act. Whether or not I got the job was the next hurdle, but the idea that I would get to act that day was the thing that excited me the most about it,” he said. “I had to learn how to modulate my performances and interpretations of these roles in auditions for the camera. I would say auditioning was my real training ground. The technical aspects—like hitting marks and pacing yourself and preparing and dealing with the downtime—the first recurring role I had on ‘24’ was probably the way I learned that stuff.”

Webster advises not putting too much pressure on yourself at auditions. “When you come into a room, [be] present to what you’re actually doing there, which is the audition; it’s not impressing me, it’s not trying to be the character necessarily, or getting the job,” she said. “It’s really just to come in and do the audition. Don’t talk too much unless they ask you questions. I’ve seen people talk themselves out of jobs. You want to come in and do your job and affect the room. Spread your energy in the room, as opposed to letting whatever is going on there make you more crazy or nervous.”