Bel-Air star Adrian Holmes to appear in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiere in key cameo role

Adrian Holmes, Olunike Adeliyi, and Orion John in A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

MAY 1, 2022 - Last weekend saw the New York red carpet premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. With more than a few fresh eyes out there who have seen what’s to come, plenty of details about the new series are coming forward. You won’t find any spoilers here, but a notable takeaway is the addition of Adrian Holmes to the cast, first reported by IGN. Holmes is playing the often talked about, but rarely seen, Admiral Robert April - the first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Holmes is best known for his roles in Arrow, Supernatural, and The Cabin in the Woods. Currently, he is attached to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot Bel-Air as family patriarch Phillip Banks. As the second actor to fill the role, Holmes takes his place in Bel-Air as a character once portrayed by fellow Star Trek actor, the late James Avery. Avery served as a guest actor on two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise as the Klingon General K’Vagh. Coming in to play the Enterprise’s first captain - now an admiral - Holmes has some big shoes to fill, from a Starfleet perspective.

The character of Robert April has only been seen once in - to use the dreaded phrase - “Star Trek canon”, in “The Counter-Clock Incident” from the second season of Star Trek: The Animated Series. In the episode, the Robert April character was voiced by James Doohan, and appeared as “Commodore April”.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, starring Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck is set to premiere on Paramount+ Thursday, May 5th in the U.S., Latin America, Australia, and the Nordics. In Canada, the series will air on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel with streaming available on Crave. Additional details on international streaming rights are expected to be announced soon.