Possibly the coolest new character introduced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is La’an Noonien-Singh, the Enterprise’s no-nonsense Chief Security Officer who just happens to be a descendant of iconic villain Khan Noonien Singh. Bringing La’an to life on the hit show is British actress Christina Chong, who already has sci-fi street cred. She once appeared in an episode of Doctor Who back in 2011.
And it turns out that Chong nearly got the opportunity to perform in all three franchises in the holy trinity of science fiction as she once landed a role in Star Wars, but it was ultimately cut. While speaking to ComicBook.com, the Line of Duty star revealed that she got to spend a day on the set of The Force Awakens and appeared opposite lead Daisy Ridley. Chong explained that she played an alien character, as she “had this whole purple headdress thing on”, and was flown out to Abu Dhabi for the shoot.
Chong’s character was to be a mother that Rey encounters while she’s still on Jakku at the beginning of J.J. Abrams’ film. The actress recalled:
“My scene was with Daisy Ridley, and it was at the beginning, the very first day of the shoot. They had to drive us. I remember just seeing the dot in the middle of the desert, and that was where the set was and then arriving and it being so huge. J.J. Abrams, there were three units on that section of the desert and he was driving to each unit via golf buggy, setting it up and then going to the next, and I guess he probably had to monitor with him on the buggy, I don’t know. But the scale of that, that was my first time with such a huge set like that. My scene involved explosions and crying, and I had a son. I can’t remember exactly what the scene was about, but basically, Rey is alone, and I’m leaving with my son on this ship and she’s there on her own in the desert.”
Chong might not have made it into the finished cut of the movie, but it doesn’t sound like she’s too heartbroken over it. Mostly because, due to reshoots, she got paid twice over for the same job! She continued:
“I saw all the stormtroopers and they were rehearsing their movement and stuff. It was incredible,” she says. “That was an amazing experience in Abu Dhabi. So random. And then we actually had to re-shoot because, I can’t remember, something went wrong and they had to re-shoot it, but they re-shot it at Pinewood in London with a green screen. So I essentially got paid twice to do that job and ended up on the cutting room floor, which is amazing.”
Not many actors have managed to pull off the rare combination of appearing in Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who, but Chong came within a Wookiee’s hair of joining this elite club. Still, with her star on the rise, thanks to her breakout role on SNW, it’s possible Chong could finally travel to the galaxy far, far away in some future Disney Plus series, for instance. A return as her fascinating Who character wouldn’t go amiss either.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds drops new episodes Thursdays on Paramount Plus.