Melissa Navia joins Trek Untold for another Strange New Worlds Debriefing on Trek Untold! This time, it's all about SNW S2E4, "Among the Lotus Eaters." After I reviewed this episode, I chatted with Melissa to hear her thoughts on the fans rallying behind Ortegas so much, behind-the-scenes tales from filming "Among the Lotus Eaters" and how she performed some of her emotional scenes, including Ortegas' panic attack. Plus, the origins of the name Erica Ortegas, working with Carol Kane and Ethan Pe...
Jul 10, 2023•29 min
Patrick Kilpatrick has lived one heck of a life, and of course, it intersected with the Star Trek universe! Patrick explains his path from being a journalist to becoming a bodyguard for rock musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, and then a stuntman and performer in action movies. Patrick appeared three times in the Star Trek universe, first in "Star Trek: Voyager" as Razik in the second season episode "Initiations" alongside Aron Eisenberg, making a special non-DS9 guest appearance. After ...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 53 min
On this "Strange New World Debriefing," Christina Chong visits Trek Untold to discuss the latest episode from season 2, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," along with my thoughts on the first three episodes of the season. Christina explains what was different about this La'an Noonien Singh-centric episode, what made it so much more demanding than the typical SNW episode, shooting in Canada, working alongside the new Kirk AKA Paul Wesley, and the criticism he has received for his portrayal of t...
Jul 03, 2023•31 min
The Robbenberries are a sci-fi cabaret party band that combines genres of music with their love of geekdom to pump out some rocking jams! Beth Kellner, AKA Sister Spock, and Bill Tayoun, AKA Spocknik stop by Trek Untold to explain how the band got together, alternate names they almost went with, what exactly is sci-fi cabaret, performing with Star Trek luminaries like Ben Vereen, Chase Masterson, Robert Picardo, Rainn Wilson, and "their Klingon punk rock uncle" JG Hertzler to name a few. Plus, t...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Bill Blair is the Guinness World Record Holder for most special effect makeup characters portrayed in a career. With over 200 roles under heavy prosthetics, including dozens in Star Trek DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise, Bill's face is hardly recognizable for the amount of work he's put in on-camera. Bill talks about growing up in a small town and finding his way into Hollywood, cutting his teeth in commercials along the way. We discuss his time in the first "Robocop," working on "Diagnosis Murder" ...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Michael Berryman has an unmistakable look that has served him well for decades in Hollywood. His one-of-a-kind face helped him land two gigs in the Star Trek universe, but his career is certainly one where you've seen the man plenty of times, and now you get to know his story. Berryman was a Starfleet communications officer in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," and then Captain Rixx in the first season "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Conspiracy," where he played the first on-screen Boli...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Chris and Matt Cushman are the masters of the cutaway, a type of technical illustration that strips away the hull of an industrial-designed object to show its inner workings. Lucky for sci-fi fans, the brothers are hardcore Trekkies and have used their talents for decades to pull back the exteriors of starships to display every nook and cranny of their interiors. Chris and Matt explain how they went from reading Franz Joseph's technical blueprints in bookstores to creating them on their own. Fro...
Jun 08, 2023•1 hr 19 min
She's been a murderous psychic child, a holographic Victorian heiress, a recovering alcoholic country singer, and a whole lot more! While her time in Trek was limited as a child, Lindsey Haun's career has been filled with ties to the franchise that remain to this day, in a career where her talents always shined brightly. Lindsey appeared on three episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager" in two different roles. First, she was Beatrice Burleigh in the episodes "Learning Curve" and "Persistence of Vision,"...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 27 min
Alan Altshuld has not done many interviews before, and even fewer about his time on Star Trek, where he performed four times in two different series. This veteran has spent considerable time in the theater and in TV commercials, along with his work on shows and movies, which I'm excited to share with you now. Alan told us about how he got discovered by Jeri Taylor to make his first Star Trek appearance in TNG, the deceptively complicated makeup job for that "Starship Mine" role, getting physical...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Laura Banks is familiar to Trekkies from her role in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" as Khan's navigator aboard the USS Reliant. One of her earliest acting roles, Laura went from a model to a performer, starring in Roger Corman B-movies and eventually pivoting into writing. Laura takes us on a trip through her origins in Hollywood to her time in Star Trek, working with Ricardo Montalban and Nicholas Meyer, becoming an Augment who spent time on Ceti Alpha V in The Botany Bay, and later a Federa...
May 18, 2023•54 min
Bruce Horak played Hemmer for the first season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" on Paramount Plus. This Aenar (a member of the Andorians) was chief engineer aboard the Enterprise, serving under Captain Pike, and was a mentor to Uhura through his distinguished service on that vessel. On this episode of Trek Untold, we meet the renaissance man underneath all that makeup, Bruce Horak. Bruce made history as the first visually impaired actor to appear in a Star Trek series and brought a unique pers...
May 11, 2023•1 hr 43 min
Check out this behind-the-scenes look at the new off-Broadway show for Trekkies filled with ear worms - in more ways than one. "Khan!!! The Musical" is a Star Trek parody musical that retells The Wrath of Khan in a unique and hilarious way. On this episode of Trek Untold, we pull back the curtain on this show with a special "spockumentary" featuring exclusive footage and interviews with some of the people behind this show while we observe one of their final rehearsals before hitting the stage. I...
May 04, 2023•1 hr 2 min
J. Paul Boehmer has six Star Trek TV credits to his name, two in the video game world, and a long list of other credits in Theater, TV, and film. You may remember J. Paul as a Nazi officer in the two-part "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "The Killing Game" and another one in the Enterprise episode "Storm Front," the Borg named One from "the VOY episode "Drone," the Cardassian officer named Vornar from DS9 "Tacking Into The Wind," and the Vulcan who found a new home named Mestral from the classic ENT...
Apr 27, 2023•1 hr 33 min
Star Trek conventions don't just happen in Las Vegas, with plenty of events around the country occurring throughout the year. New York is getting their first major Trek con in years thanks to Trek Long Island, a new event debuting this May 20 and 21, 2023, in Hauppauge, NY. Event runner Stefanie Gangone, programming director Edwin Thrower, and lead talent liaison Rachel Hasenauer-Thrower stop by the show to tell us everything about this event, including the activities, panels, and enormous list ...
Apr 13, 2023•37 min
Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut played Sidney La Forge in the third and final season of "Star Trek: Picard," one of the daughters of Geordi La Forge. Ashlei stopped by Trek Untold to tell us all about being the helmsman aboard the USS Titan-A, the relationship she forged with LeVar Burton and his real-life daughter Mica, what she learned on set while being a fly on the wall watching the legendary TNG crew perform before her eyes, the story behind a change made to her character that happened mid-season, h...
Apr 10, 2023•20 min
Gates McFadden is making big moves in the Star Trek universe, and she's here to tell us about all of them! In addition to reprising her role of Dr. Beverly Crusher on the third and final season of "Star Trek: Picard," Gates just kicked off the second season of her podcast "Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?", and was recently part of "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" docu-series from The Nacelle Company. Gates talks about what's happening with her 2nd season of the pod...
Apr 06, 2023•29 min
Lukas Kendall is a producer responsible for bringing the orchestral scores of "Star Trek" shows and films into your home. Lukas discusses how he got into music, selling, and licensing Star Trek scores, his magazine "Film Score Monthly," some of his favorite melodies across the shows and films, and the history of many of them, including the tumultuous score for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and stories about Alexander Courage, James Horner, Jay Chattaway, Basil Poledouris and his unique Star Tr...
Mar 30, 2023•1 hr 7 min
One of the best things about Picard S3 has been the fan service from TNG, DS9, and VOY; one epic piece of the past just returned in a shocking way! In an episode filled with easter eggs, "The Bounty" brought Riker, Worf, and Raffi inside the Daystrom Institute in search of a secret, one that this week's guest guarded. Daniel Davis just made his comeback to the Star Trek Universe, reprising his role as Moriarty, who appeared twice in Star Trek TNG, "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle." ...
Mar 27, 2023•20 min
Lisa Klink wrote 15 episodes of Star Trek shows on DS9 and VOY and was the executive story editor for "Star Trek: Voyager," along with some other Trek projects. Across the entirety of this two-part interview, Lisa will break down all of her Star Trek scripts and demystify how to write for a television show. This week, we are breaking down the second half of Lisa's VOY credits, including "Favorite Son" and how that script went through significant changes over time, along with what she wished the ...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 42 min
Lisa Klink wrote 15 episodes of Star Trek shows on DS9 and VOY and was the executive story editor for "Star Trek: Voyager" along with some other Trek projects. Across the entirety of this two-part interview, Lisa will break down all of her Star Trek scripts and demystify how to write for a television show. Going from duke university to LA, Lisa tells us about her journey from being a script reader for a producer (you won't believe what script she passed up on) to becoming a writer and how she fo...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min
Bertila Damas is a two-time Star Trek veteran with some tremendous roles on stage and screen under her belt. Bertila played the Vulcan Sakonna in the two-part DS9 episode "The Maquis" and returned to Trek for a role in the tragic Voyager episode "Survival Instinct" as Three of Nine while a Borg, and Marika as a Bajoran. We learn all about her time on Star Trek, including the arduous makeup routine as a Borg, working with Armin Shimerman, Avery Brooks, Marc Alaimo, and Tony Pilana on DS9, and som...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Annette Helde is a five-time veteran of the Star Trek world, first appearing in the DS9 episode "Visionary" as a Romulan, followed by Takar on the frightening VOY episode "Scientific Method," and then Lieutenant Nadia Larkin on the DS9 classic "The Siege of AR-558". She also appeared in "Star Trek: First Contact" as a Starfleet officer on the Enterprise who was assimilated by the Borg, and an alien musician named Aleria in the "Star Trek: Klingon" video game. Annette is another guest who has not...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 51 min
Jean-Luc Picard is known for his diplomacy and ability to masterfully handle tough decisions, but were all his choices the most ethical ones he could make? In this roundtable discussion honoring the release of Picard's third and final season on Paramount+, Matthew from Trek Untold asks the hard questions to Ashlynn and Rhianna from The Duras Sisters Podcast, Davey from The Treksperts Quiz, and Hawk from Strange New Pod about some challenging episodes. This highly philosophical chat covers episod...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 38 min
Adele Pomerenke played Ensign Kemi in the first and last episodes of season 2 of “Star Trek: Picard," where she was at the helm of the USS Stargazer. This young performer has already accomplished a lot in her diverse career, and I’m excited to share her stories with you! Adele tells us about her long, strange road into acting, being a professional touring ballerina who also sang in a heavy metal band, her time as Helena in a “My Chemical Romance” music video, and more. From there, it’s onto our ...
Feb 16, 2023•59 min
Roderick Garr played Regana Tosh on the fourth season DS9 episode "Hippocratic Oath," but his career goes far beyond his time on that space station. Growing up in Buffalo, NY, Roderick tells us about his encounter as a child with Sammy Davis Jr. that changed the course of his life, what he learned during his time at Howard University and from his first professional tv role, the greatest lesson he learned from the great Richard Gant, working with the Mowry family on "Sister, Sister" and "Smart Gu...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 56 min
Alec Newman has gone from Scotland to Star Trek, along with some other sci-fi names on his wonderful resume, and he stopped by Trek Untold to tell us all about it! Alec played Malik on three episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise” referred to as The Augment trilogy. He was the #1 son of Soong, and had some great memories of his time performing on that set. We learn about Alec growingup in Glasgow, Scotland with his famous musician father Sandy Newman from “Marmalade”, what he remembered and learned ...
Feb 02, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Star Trek toys are a big personal part of my love of Star Trek, so I am honoring them by doing a tribute episode to the toys of yesterday, today, and tomorrow with the help of two guests! First up, we are joined by Jonathan Alexandratos, who discussed the early Trek toys, focusing on the Star Trek TNG toys made by Galoob and the expansive line produced by Playmates during the heyday of the Berman era. We explain how these went from kids' playthings to adult collectibles and what ultimately went ...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 52 min
The first season of Star Trek TNG episode "Code of Honor" is an infamous one within the fandom, reviled by fans and the actors in it alike. Karole Selmon played Yareena in that episode and, for the first time, shared her thoughts on it and the reputation it holds. Karole gives us the whole story, starting from her audition, tension on the set with some crew, the kindness of Patrick Stewart, memories of Gene Roddenberry, working with Jessie Ferguson and Julian Christopher, her fight scene with De...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 23 min
Paul Dooley is your Movie Dad and DS9 Dad! Paul Dooley is a veteran actor who most of us know from the many times he's played a dad on-screen. That includes his time on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," where he played Enabrin Tain on four episodes of that show, who we eventually learned was Garak's father. We are digging deep into how Paul played this member of the Obsidian Order and what he recalls from his time on and off-set. Paul also told us about his origins in acting, going from the theater ...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 17 min
Trek Untold kicks off the new year with a trip to sickbay, as we are hanging out with John Billingsley. This actor portrayed Dr. Phlox on all four seasons of "Star Trek: Enterprise" and has a lot to say about being the first Denobulan to serve on a Starfleet vessel. John tells us about his Phlox audition story and what he initially thought this new alien species was supposed to be like, how he created the character, a ton of acting theory and performing techniques, including his utilization of t...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 45 min
