Melissa Navia talks about Ortegas and Finale – The Hollywood Reporter

[This story contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season one finale, “A Quality of Mercy.”]

For Melissa Navia, hearing from real pilots and soldiers that her character is one of the most authentic on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds thanks to Lieutenant Erica Ortegas’ gallows, humor is about the best compliment she can get.

The actress knew the Enterprise’s tough (and at the right moments sarcastic) helmsman was something special as soon as she auditioned – and Navia was determined to be a part of the Paramount+ show. She succeeded and brought her unique charm to the role, making Ortegas a fan favorite.

This week’s season one finale sees Ortegas – and the rest of the crew – in a different light, as they find themselves in an alternate timeline for an episode that beautifully mirrors “Balance of Terror” from Star Trek: The Original Series† The episode is notable for the surprise guest appearance of Capt. James Kirk, played by Paul Wesley, but also because it is the second instance in the series of the cast playing a version of their characters outside the “ordinary” SNW Empire. The first episode that really broke loose with imagination was episode eight, the highly entertaining ‘Elysian Kingdom’.

And yet, for Navia, her NOISE trip was bittersweet. On December 17, 2021, her nearly seven-year-old partner, Brian Bannon, died suddenly of a rare, aggressive form of leukemia known as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

Bannon had been the actress’s rock star and was with her during the filming in Toronto throughout the first season, preparing to return with her for season two. In a heartbreaking social media post At the time, Navia talked about how much she loved her “soulmate” and how deeply she would miss him.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter prior to the season one finale, Navia talks about how she became a part of the show and how Bannon told her it was going to be special. The actress also discusses the joys of creating Ortegas’ personality.

As I’ve asked so many of your castmates, how did you get into your role? SNW†

It was October 2020 and the industry was switching from in-person auditions to self-recording. So when the audition for Ortegas came through, she was one of the few characters whose name and everything about her were listed in the breakdown. Some legacy characters had fake names. So I could tell she was a pilot, a combat veteran, she was Latina, and they had something in that like “She could joke as easily as a phaser.”

It was one scene and it was so well written. I knew it was for a regular series, and I recorded it with my partner Brian in our apartment. We had to send it straight to the casting. I remember trying to get it to the wire. And then I kind of forgot, and two weeks later I got the call to meet with [showrunners] Henry [Alonso Myers] and Akiva [Goldsman] via Zoom. I did one more scene and that was that. The rest was history. It took me so long to get here, and I never expected it to be this great, but here we are. Brian told me this series was going to be special. We jumped up and down when I got it.

Like so many others, I am a huge Ortegas fan. That mean side eye and witticisms to break the tension in a stressful moment are delicious. How much of it is on the page and how much of it do you get to play?

That’s a great question. I knew from the start that Ortegas had a comedic aspect and what she brings to the crew, but what I really wanted to avoid was the obvious comedic relief. I always go back to writing. I know I’m biased, but the writing is so well done, and it makes it easy to bring her to life. I could see in the scripts the reason why she can break the tension and have those moments – especially with Captain Pike [Anson Mount] – is because she is so skilled and so confident in what she does. And I love that.

She’s a soldier and pilot, and so much of what I’ve heard from real soldiers and pilots is that she’s the most authentic crew member, because her gallows humor is exactly what happens in life-and-death situations. I see trolls on Twitter saying, “She’s not professional enough, or she’s not this enough,” which I feel is that misogyny. So when I hear from real soldiers and pilots that she absolutely does what they do there, that’s the biggest compliment to me.

In the season one finale, we finally see Ortegas and Pike clash big. It’s an alternate timeline, and they’re not the ones we got to know from the series, but what was playing a deviant version of the character like?

Oh my God. When I got the script for this episode, a “Balance of Terror” mirror, an alternate future, and more of an Ortegas-focused episode, it was very exciting. She is a war veteran who has lost friends, she has lost family to the Romulans. So here she is against Pike’s diplomatic stance, which she used to agree with and one of the reasons she was so loyal to him. And that’s the beauty of Star Trek† We live in this one world, but then we play in so many different worlds and our characters take on so many different aspects. I still remember the first time Kirk walked out on the bridge in that episode, and it wasn’t even something I planned, I just felt in the moment how much Ortegas was suddenly loyal to this completely different captain.

And finally, let’s talk about episode eight, “The Elysian Kingdom.” Babs told me in a previous conversation, you all just had the best time and ruined so many takes of laughter. Was that the best thing for you so far?

That was one of the first episodes we heard about, but only whispers. And I remember finally seeing a photo of the wardrobe department and hearing that I was going to be sword fighting! I have a martial arts background and had definitely done swordsmanship before, so I couldn’t believe it! †laughs.) I’m already in a dream role and now I’m going to another dream role!

I don’t think Babs fully understands how funny he is. There were just so many takes ruined because we were absolutely going to break the character. We couldn’t help it! †laughs.) The sword fighting was – I mean, a sword fight in space, that will never get old. The stunt team helped me tremendously with the preparation. And it was so much fun playing opposite Anson, who is the opposite of what we’re used to seeing on the bridge. So I was able to be frustrated with him and just be so annoyed with him. And I will never forget the first day on the bridge for the next episode, I felt weird because I just yelled at this man for almost three weeks! †laughs.) The whole thing was such a joy.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

The entire first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now streaming on Paramount+.