Strange New Worlds' Anson Mount And Rebecca Romijn Are The 'Mom And Dad' Of The Enterprise
Each of the "Star Trek" crews feels like an extended family — with parents, kids, cousins, and that one weird uncle that is constantly trying to cheat you at Tongo – and on the newest live-action series, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," that family dynamic has started to solidify. In season 2, two characters have begun to stand out as the parents of the Enterprise, and anyone who's been watching shouldn't be too surprised.
In a roundtable interview attended by /Film's Vanessa Armstrong, Anson Mount and Rebecca Romijn, who play Captain Christopher Pike and Commander Una Chin-Riley, acknowledged that their characters have become the "mom and dad" of the crew. That's a pretty big role to take on, especially with the wacky and wild crew who occupy the "Strange New Worlds" version of the Enterprise. Spock (Ethan Peck), who will one day become the father figure on "The Original Series" (along with Kirk, of course), is still just a young and confused half-Vulcan, and the rest of the crew is just as youthful and troublesome. If anyone needs parents, it's this crew, and poor Captain Pike and Una are going to have their hands full.
The best kind of friendship
At the roundtable, Mount began by explaining the dynamic between the captain and his first officer:
"We were just talking earlier about our sense of our relationship, the corners you write in yourself as an actor, and that we've been friends since the Academy, and I believe that Una has become that friend and confidant for Pike. [She is] actually is able to show him those things that I'm always self-critical about that are swirling around my head, that I think are my weaknesses. When you turn those around, you can actually see those as strengths as well, but you just can't dwell on it, you got to be active — and that's why she's so important to his being a captain."
Una is Pike's most important confidante and vice-versa, as the two understand one another intimately from their many years of friendship together. That kind of friendship contains an unconditional love where you know the other will always be behind you; it's what you hope for in any long-term partnership, whether professional or personal. It's clear how much Pike cares about Una, especially from Mount's perspective, and Romijn went on to explain how that dynamic impacts the rest of the crew as well. He's also gone on the record about how season 2 will take some "big swings," so that partnership might get tested like never before.
A tight leadership team
Romijn agreed with Mount about the dynamic between the two friends, and elaborated on how it impacts everyone else aboard the Enterprise:
"Well, I think there's a level of family there also, that bleeds down into the crew. I think that we've developed this family dynamic, and I guess we're the mom and dad in a way. But yeah, I think that there's been a deep support and level of trust within their relationship that bleeds into the rest of the crew."
Their friendship has transcended that magical boundary into family, and the rest of the crew has become a family beneath their leadership. It's not hard to imagine them as the mom and pop of the ship, overseeing all of the mayhem with knowing smiles and surprisingly level heads. Every captain and first mate relationship in "Star Trek" is special, but Pike and Una have made that dynamic all their own.
The season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" debuts June 15 on Paramount+.