As revealed at San Diego Comic-Con, Star Trek: Discovery‘s upcoming second season will introduce one of the franchise’s most iconic characters in the form of Spock. Whoever plays the part of the half-human, half-Vulcan will have a tough job living up to the performances of those who’ve come before him, but the audition process apparently uncovered the right actor as the part’s already been cast.
Showrunner Alex Kurtzman spoke to Variety recently and revealed that the search for Spock is already over and the right person’s been found. “We are, we are casting a new Spock,” he said. “It’s not just a possibility, it’s been done.”
Though he wouldn’t say who Spock No. 3 is, Kurtzman went on to explain how it was a difficult casting call, as Spock’s a tricky character to get right. After all, he’s got to be logical and alien but also capture a sense humanity under the surface, too.
“Everybody assumes that just because Spock is all about logic, that there is no emotion in there and that’s entirely untrue. So, finding an actor who can convey what we know to be very Vulcan, but also reveal so much emotion in the eyes and in the small gestures, so you understand there’s just a tornado of things happening under the surface is critical. So you need an actor who can do both of those things at the same time, which is very challenging.”
Kurtzman’s right there. The reason Spock’s so beloved is pretty much entirely down to the one and only Leonard Nimoy, who played the part from 1965’s Star Trek: The Original Series all the way to 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Of course, in his last two appearances he held a supporting role to Zachary Quinto as a new incarnation of the character. Remarkably, Quinto captured what Nimoy had done before him incredibly well and was largely embraced by the fandom.
Spock didn’t appear in season 1 of Discovery, but he certainly cast a long shadow, as Sonequa Martin-Green’s Lieutenant Michael Burnham was actually adopted by Sarek, Spock’s father, making her his adoptive sister. The trailer for season 2 also reminded us of this connection, and we’ll get to see it explored a bit further when Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access early next year for its second season.