Actor Paul Wesley has now been added to the already star-studded cast of season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+.
Paul Wesley as New Captain Kirk
Wesley is known for his leading role on the famed CW series, The Vampire Diaries – a series that became popular worldwide. Wesley will be joining the cast of Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as the character, Captain James T. Kirk, a role that has been first portrayed by William Shatner in Star Trek: The Original Series.
“Paul is an accomplished actor, an astonishing presence and a welcome key addition to the show,” stated executive producer Alex Kurtzman and executive producers Henry Myers and Akiva Goldsman. “Like all of us, he is a life-long Star Trek fan and we are excited by his interpretation of this iconic role.” This makes Wesley the third actor in total to play the iconic role of Captain Kirk, a character originated by Shatner in the ’60s. The role was taken by Chris Pine for the Star Trek film in 2009.
Wesley played vampire Stefan Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries
Wesley has earlier played the vampire Stefan Salvatore on popular The Vampire Diaries for the whole of its eight seasons, where he also served as the director and producer. He has also made an appearance in the Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access) series known as Tell Me a Story and is set to star in the original Shudder movie, History of Evil.
He has also helmed some shows like Roswell, Shadowhunters New Mexico, and Legacies.
Talking about Strange New Worlds, it is both a spinoff of Discovery and a prequel to the Star Trek: The Original Series, that is actually based on the years that Captain Christopher Pike used to helm the USS Enterprise before Kirk took his place as the Captain. Anson Mount will be returning to reprise his role as Captain Pike from Discovery, alongside co-stars Ethan Peck as Mr. Spock and Rebecca Romijn as Number One. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will debut on Paramount+ in the month of May and has already been renewed for another season, which is already under production in Toronto.
Strange New Worlds also released a new trailer quite recently, which reveals that it will also star Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas, Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga, and Celia Rose Gooding as a young Cadet Nyota Uhura. The show marks the fifth new Star Trek show since the past five years, ie. 2017, as Paramount has continued to expand the franchise for its streaming service. These include Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and two animated spinoffs, Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 will premiere on May 5 on Paramount+ and will run for exactly ten episodes.
