Strange New Worlds' Ethan Peck Still Hears Spock's Lines In Leonard Nimoy's Voice

There are some intimidating legacy roles out there, but stepping into the Starfleet uniform of science officer Spock has to be one of the most intimidating in the universe. The role of the half-human, half-Vulcan was originated by Leonard Nimoy on the 1966 TV series "Star Trek: The Original Series," and he played the character for more than 40 years. Nimoy's final outing as Spock was in the 2009 Kelvin-verse "Star Trek" film and, briefly, the sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness." There, he passed the torch on to Zachary Quinto, who would play Spock for all three Kelvin-verse films. The next actor to portray Spock didn't have the good fortune of getting to speak with Nimoy about the role, as the legendary actor sadly passed on a few years before he was cast on "Star Trek: Discovery," but thankfully Ethan Peck had lots of "Star Trek" to look back upon. 

In the upcoming July issue of SFX Magazine, Peck revealed that a part of how he plays Spock has to do with how he "hears" the lines in his head. His internal monologue stops being his own voice and turns into that of Nimoy, so when he reads the script it's like Nimoy is reading Spock's lines to him. That's a pretty great way to get into character, and it helps make Peck a perfect half-Vulcan. There has never been a bad Spock actor, but Peck sure has a whole lot of heart. 

In the recent issue of SFX, Ethan Peck explained his method for bringing one of the world's most recognizable characters to life in a new way:

"It sounds crazy, but I still hear [Leonard Nimoy's] voice in my head. When I'm preparing for a scene I definitely check in with the voice of Leonard's Spock in my head and ask myself, does this sound like Spock, is this Spock? But I don't necessarily think about how Leonard would play Spock. It's more like I sort of internalized Leonard's version of Spock, or I've done my best to internalize Leonard's version of Spock, and it's something I check in with very frequently when I'm working."

Peck's version of Spock is definitely not mimicking Nimoy, and that's to the character's benefit, as he is younger, more impulsive, and more emotional than the Spock fans know from the original series. The "Strange New Worlds" Spock is delightfully human, learning how to reconcile the two sides of himself as the ideal Starfleet officer. Peck plays that youthful passion to perfection, and he's well aware that his Spock is much more human than he has been in any other iteration. That's the point, though, and it makes watching the character feel new despite the half-Vulcan being a cultural touchstone. 

Ethan Peck goes on to explain that he thinks his Spock is "the most human of the three that have been," and digs deep into how that reflects the character's personality throughout the franchise:

"In Starfleet, he gets to really integrate that half of himself, that human half of himself, and I think he starts to discover that it's really quite useful and something that makes him special. It's like a superpower, which is a really, really wonderful model for viewers, because I think we can always use more humanism in our lives and he is such a humanist. It's been really wonderful to explore that part of him and to reconcile that with his Vulcan side, which is so logical and unemotional, as people sort of expect of Vulcans. So smashing those two halves of him together has been really exciting, interesting and fun."

One of the best episodes of season 1 of "Strange New Worlds" follows Spock as he tries to reconcile these two halves when a non-binary villain named Dr. Aspen (Jesse James Keitel) forces him to challenge his binary thinking. Perhaps the voice of Leonard Nimoy in his head is the Vulcan side of Spock, while Peck is the human? Whatever Peck's exact system is, it's perfect, because he's made Spock compelling all over again. 

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 2 premieres on June 15, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+.