Star Trek: Strange New Worlds guest star Jesse James Keitel talks about being a super-fan and a space pirate

Jesse James Keitel, guest star in the STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS episode "The Serene Squall"

JUNE 21, 2022 - Duplicity was the order of the day for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ seventh episode, “The Serene Squall,” and at the heart of the deception was an enticing new villain: Captain Angel, played by newcomer to the Trek universe Jesse James Keitel.

Posing as humanitarian Starfleet counselor Dr. Aspen, Angel forms a special connection to Spock in a daring plan to hijack the Enterprise and bargain for the release of her captive Vulcan husband, Spock’s half-brother Sybok (a character last seen by fans in 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier). The website ScreenRant had an opportunity to sit down with Keitel and talk about the unique challenges of playing a dual role, the joys of being a pirate, and Angel’s connection to existing Trek lore in an interview released just after the episode dropped on June 16th .

In the interview, Keitel calls herself a “super-fan” of Star Trek, and said being part of the show was, “…a dream of mine since I started acting.” The unique twists of the episode added to her excitement, as she noted: “When I got the script, there were so many jaw-dropping moments. I screamed reading that script.”

Keitel relished the opportunity to add nuance to scenes where she poses as Dr. Aspen, describing the process as “a very rewarding challenge,” adding, “Angel is definitely fifty shades of chaos, I tried my hardest to bring undertones of that throughout. […] There are little, tiny things throughout where, if you watch it again, this bitch is clearly a pirate.”

Keitel also offers some insight into how music helped shape her portrayal, her favorite moment in the show, the possible future of Captain Angel, and more. You can read it all (and more) at ScreenRant.com, and you can catch up on every episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+.