Courtesy of CBS TV Studios(LOS ANGELES) — Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, one of TV’s most iconic characters, has been portrayed by the late Leonard Nimoy on TV and in the original Star Trek movie series, and by Zachary Quinto in the three recent Star Trek films. But now there’s a new Vulcan in town.
TV actor Ethan Peck has been cast as Spock for season two of the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery. Discovery takes place a number of years before the original Star Trek, but the show’s main character, Michael Burnham, is Spock’s foster sister. Yes, Michael is a woman; she’s played by Sonequa Martin-Green.
The new season of Discovery, which will premiere in 2019, will feature the USS Discovery encountering the USS Enterprise, but during a time when the ship is under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, not Captain Kirk. Spock served as the science officer of the Enterprise under Pike.
Peck, the grandson of legendary actor Gregory Peck, has appeared on Madame Secretary, Gossip Girl and That ’70s Show. Discovery’s executive producer Alex Kurtzman says in a statement, “We searched for months for an actor who would…effortlessly embody Spock’s greatest qualities, beyond obvious logic: empathy, intuition, compassion, confusion, and yearning.”
According to Kurtzman, Peck “walked into the room inhabiting all of these qualities…and ready to confront the challenge in the service of protecting and expanding on Spock’s legacy. In that spirit, we’re thrilled to welcome him to the family.”
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