John Noble Reveals His Thoughts On Playing The Diviner in Star Trek: Prodigy

John Noble plays The Diviner in STAR TREK: PRODIGY. Images: Nickelodeon/Paramount+ / Walter McBride/Getty Images.

DECEMBER 19, 2022 -  I admit it, I rarely look at credits.  I skip past the openings on streaming services, 10-second skip on online platforms, and finger slide through the 6 to 11 minutes of closing credits always on the lookout for those end credit scenes.   

So, many times when I hear a voice I think “He/she sounds so familiar.  I know that I know that voice!” Sometimes when you learn who it is, you think, “well, yeah, obviously!” and others, you’re like “Them!  That’s cool!” So, when I realized that veteran Australian actor John Noble was the big bad for Star Trek: Prodigy, it was the third option.

Known for many roles including Lord of the Rings and Fringe, Noble gave The Diviner an extra level of gravitas. Through 18 episodes, we have seen The Diviner evolve as his story, which has driven the main plot arc of the series, has been revealed.

The following highlights are from TrekMovie.com where they had a chance to speak with John Noble about taking on this role and how he sees the character, as well as some of the pivotal moments from the latest episodes.

Before you took on the role and started working, did the producers lay out The Diviner’s arc for you, or was it just script by script?

I don’t do a script with a character like The Diviner, he’s too central and memorable. They did outline what the journey would be. 

What is your take on the character, and has it changed? Are there any real or fictional inspirations you draw on?

I do. As people get older and more experienced, shall we say, they do firm up their attitudes a lot sometimes and appear to be quite intractable. I think he has reached that point where we meet him. But his intention is as pure as the driven snow, and that’s the thing that I put into it. He is so tough because he wants to regain what was lost. And he’s desperately, desperately trying to do it and he’s desperately trying to identify his daughter because she’ll be the one to do it. There’s a desperation there and a love for his daughter, which comes out powerfully. 

You mention a “love,” but he always uses the term “progeny.” And he did kind of choose the ship over Gwyn at one point, but you see that he does genuinely love her, or is it more complicated because she is also part of his mission?

Well, no, it’s a combination. Both of them. He certainly loves her with a father’s love. He was distracted and went off on the mission as fathers often have to do. But his love for her is absolutely genuine and his belief in her is absolutely genuine. And when he can finally let go of what’s been driving him and he sees his daughter then we hear the love from them. 

In this latest episode, “Mindwalk,” we see him save Janeway, which kind of goes against his mission. Are we seeing a nuance that he isn’t so single-minded?

Perfectly put, sir. That’s the joy of the character because you start to see that nuance inside: ‘But hang on, I thought he was more…’ So you can see he’s more fleshed out than you thought. And he’s more human than you thought. I think it’s a beautiful development. 

You are known for very serious and even heavy roles. Given that this is a Nickelodeon show, do you find yourself trying to tone it down for a younger audience to maybe try not to be too scary, or just play it straight?

I play whatever the character demands from me. I play his truth. With kids, no I don’t tone it down. Kids are far brighter than we give them credit for sometimes. I mean, really. And their technical knowledge and their IT knowledge is well beyond my generation. I watch young kids playing games, the hand moves and the coordination, and it’s just extraordinary. These are young kids, seven or eight, and they can do it. And they’re like sponges, young people. They don’t need to be spoken down to. I never ever spoke down to my kids or to any of my students. You don’t speak down to people. It’s so humiliating. And they pick it up. They like you to talk like human beings, the best I can do. Like real human beings.

Before taking on this role, how much did you know of Star Trek and did you do any special research to prepare?

Star Trek is part of the vernacular. It’s part of how we speak and how we think. Because even when I was a little boy, before we had television, once it came on we could see this show, and the characters’ names became schoolyard debates. And so we kind of knew them and we tuned in to watch an episode. So it became part of our lives, and that’s going back to the ‘60s. People want what it offers. I think it offers hope. And I think this show has heroism and friendship and important things like loyalty. We identify with that. I do anyway.

New episodes of Prodigy debut on Thursdays exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., and on Fridays in Latin America and select countries in Europe. The series is also carried on SkyShowtime in the rest of Europe with the second half of season one expected to arrive in 2023.