Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley has been pictured on the set of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in a new season 2 set photo as an iconic character.
Strange New Worlds, which is a spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery and serves as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, will debut in May on Paramount+.
Wesley, who is best known for his role as vampire Stefan Salvatore in fantasy series The Vampire Diaries, has been photographed on the set of the already-confirmed second season of Strange New Worlds sporting a yellow-gold coloured Starfleet command uniform.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wesley has been cast as the young James T Kirk — the character made famous by William Shatner in the original series.
“Paul is an accomplished actor, an astonishing presence and a welcome key addition to the show,” executive producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers said in a statement.
“Like all of us, he is a life-long Star Trek fan and we are excited by his interpretation of this iconic role.”
The show will pick up as Kirk is serving as part of the crew onboard the starship USS Enterprise, under Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount).
10-part series Strange New Worlds will focus on well-known characters Pike, Una Chin-Riley / Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and Spock (Ethan Peck), as well as the rest of their crew, as they set out to boldly go and explore new worlds in the decade before The Original Series.
A first-look trailer for the series dropped last week and it places a heavy focus on Pike, as he is called into action by a Starfleet official after spending some time alone in a snow-covered cabin.
He is later shown back in his uniform and gazing out at the stars onboard the Enterprise, while the trailer also teases glimpses at some fascinating and visually-sumptuous new worlds.
Strange New Worlds also stars Dune actor Babs Olusanmokun, Bulletproof star Christina Chong and Breakwater’s Celia Rose Gooding.
The Paramount+ Star Trek universe continues to grow, with a new series titled Starfleet Academy also recently announced to be on the horizon.
This series is likely to be based on the 1990s video game of the same name, which follows a group of Starfleet college cadets as they train to take on leadership roles.
Another Discovery spin-off, Section 31, is also in the works and is expected to feature Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Discovery’s Philippa Georgiou.
Source: digitalspy.com