[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 8 “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans.”]
“Getting to play a Vulcan version of my character felt like such a gift,” Celia Rose Gooding tells TV Insider.
The latest episode of the always entertaining Paramount+ series sees members of the Enterprise turn into Vulcans to complete a mission, only for things to, of course, go awry, leading to it being a bit more complicated than they think it will be to change back.
“I think Vulcans are such an iconic species in the Trek franchise, and so to mesh this legendary character with this legendary alien race was really exciting,” Gooding says in the video interview above. “She’s very different, of course, because Uhura is such an outwardly emotional person, and Vulcans are all about harnessing those emotions even though they feel very strongly. It’s about making it more precise. It’s like a laser versus a grenade — still very explosive, but just one is more focused and streamlined. But yeah, getting to play Vulcan Uhura was very fun. She’s a little snarky and sharp in a way that Uhura as a human where she’s more soft and empathetic. I think Vulcan Uhura is very straightforward and cutthroat.”
This just so happens to coincide with Uhura’s (Gooding) new love interest, Beto (Mynor Luken), visiting her, after she previously agreed to a date. But there are some adjustments that need to be made, which she does, using a Vulcan mind meld on him. His sister, Ortegas (Melissa Navia), calls her out on it. But because Uhura’s a Vulcan, her best friend doesn’t get through to her, at least not yet.
“I think after Ortegas sort of checks Vulcan Uhura, she receives some of that and she takes in that opinion of like, ‘Oh, my friend Erica doesn’t agree with my decision making. Interesting. I’m going to go with my decision making because I’m the most logical,'” Gooding says. “But I think she’s able to see the hurt on her friend’s face. I don’t think it inspires her to change at all until she returns to her more human self and returns to her humanity and realizes that she crossed a really important boundary.”
Watch the full video interview above for more from Celia Rose Gooding about this episode.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Thursdays, Paramount+
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