Star Trek: Picard’s Evan Evagora - aka “Space Legolas” - is fitting right in with his new cast and crew. And he attributes at least part of that to a combination of Sir Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes, and their on-set camaraderie.

In an interview with Syfy Wire, Evagora revealed that filming in Los Angeles was a new experience for him, and he likened it to his character, Elnor’s, journey. “I came to L.A. to film this, and I’d never been here before. I’d never set foot here before. It was a new experience for me. Just as leaving his home is new for Elnor.”

Evagora also contended with feelings of nervousness on meeting the cast. “The first time I met Patrick Stewart,” he said, “I was terrified. [...] Patrick took me aside because he could see the nervousness in me.”

Evagora went on to explain that Stewart and director Jonathan Frakes helped him feel at ease. “They make you feel comfortable on set,” Evagora said. “And when you’re comfortable, you can really lose yourself in the moment and the character.”

One of the ways that Stewart and Frakes had for setting the young actor at ease was telling what Evagora called “war stories” from the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation. One of the best: their method for getting the crew’s lurches coordinated when their pretend starship got hit with pretend weapons fire. Evagora said, “Remember whenever the ship used to get hit and they’d have to do a shake? Well, they had levels for those shakes. Like, from 1 to 10. One being the lightest hit ever, and 10 being the heaviest.”

It’s not all fun and games on set though, as Evagora also revealed that he does many of his own stunts, not unlike his Picard co-star Isa Briones. He acknowledged that the more complicated stunts, like flips, are all credit to his stunt team, but that most of the swordplay is actually him. “If I'm fighting with the sword,” he said, “you're really seeing me. I am Elnor."

You can see Evagora as Elnor in action for yourself in Star Trek: Picard, now streaming on CBS All Access.