How Ethan Peck Unlocked Spock's Biggest Character Changes In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds [Exclusive]
Prior to her work on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," Canadian director Jordan Canning helmed numerous shorts and web series and music videos, as well as the 2014 TIFF feature film "We Were Wolves" (which she also wrote and produced), and the 2017 movies "Suck It Up" and "Ordinary Days." Most recently, Canning also helmed an outright comedic episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" called "Charades."
In "Charades," the half-human-half-Vulcan Spock (Ethan Peck) suffers a shuttlecraft accident and is grievously injured. Luckily, there are some ultra-powerful non-corporeal aliens nearby with the technology to heal him. Unluckily, the aliens are confused by interspecies DNA, and, in the course of healing him, rid Spock of his Vulcan genes. The science officer returns to the Enterprise fully human, having to cope with the new appetites and emotions that come with his new species. And, wouldn't you know it, Spock's in-laws-to-be are coming to visit the Enterprise in only a few days! A lot of the episode is devoted to Spock comedically preparing for the upcoming dinner party with the in-laws, wrestling with his humanness and generally panicking.
In a recent interview, /Film's own Jacob Hall talked to Canning about "Charades," and about Spock in particular. Peck's version of Spock is about eight years younger than the version played by Leonard Nimoy at the start of "Star Trek: The Original Series," and, as such, has a lot more breezy, human qualities. Imagine a warmer, cheekier Spock. Not only was Canning able to realize Spock on television, but she got to stretch Spock into a weird, zany character space. That Peck was so game to be silly helped matters immensely.
Silly Vulcan
When remembering her assignment for "Charades," Jordan Canning recalled her excitement:
"I remember watching the first season after finding out I got the job and I was like, 'Oh my God, I love this Spock.' I love Nimoy. I mean, Nimoy set the tone for all of this. But I just think Ethan is doing an amazing job with the character. And I was very drawn to this Spock. And so I was so excited I was getting a Spock episode and that we got to really play around. Ethan, we had a lot of conversations leading up to shooting where we talked about, 'Okay, so there are scenes where he is going a bit bing-bong.' He is a live wire of emotions that he's feeling for the first time."
Of course, Canning didn't allow herself to stretch too far with the material, as Spock, however comedic, shouldn't do anything that was grievously out-of-character. While he may be a human version of himself, this was still the Spock we knew and loved for decades. The changes had to be subtle. Canning figured a lot could be communicated through body language:
"[W]hat are those little changes that we can sense in Spock? [...] One of the things we talked about was [...] a Vulcan versus a human in terms of body language, that would even change. He would hold himself differently. He would touch people. That was one thing I was like, 'Spock doesn't touch people.' He might help. He might need to fight someone, but he doesn't pat someone on the arm or give them a hug or have those little bits of physical intimacy that humans just naturally do."
This Spock was a hugger.
What Spock doesn't do
Jordan Canning noted that Spock's physicality would be instantly noticed by his Enterprise co-workers. Laughter from Spock would be weird enough, but a playful slug on the arm or a hug would be kind of unsettling. Canning recognized that Spock was discovering a flood of human emotions and sense experiences for the first time. Vulcans, for one, are vegetarians. Human Spock instantly developed a taste for bacon. Naturally, he gorged on it to the point of feeling nauseated.
Canning also talked about an extended version of a scene that had to be shortened for time. In "Charades," Spock runs into Nurse Chapel in a hallway and gives her a hug. This is an ambivalent moment for both of them, as they have previously admitted a mutual attraction to each other. It seems that there was more to that scene prior to the hug. Canning said:
"There's this great scene. [...] It is not really in there, it got cut out, or we didn't really have time to keep it in the cut [...] but the scene where he bumps into Chapel in the hallway with that great hug. I mean, I love that scene. But at the beginning, there was a shot of him walking down the hallway of the Enterprise, almost like a little golden retriever, taking everything in through human eyes for the first time. And just what that experience would be like for Spock, almost as if you'd taken a weed gummy or something. Like, 'Wow, everything's shiny and I'm feeling all these things.'"
As for the simultaneous pain and elation of what it was like to suddenly be human, Canning said that Ethan Peck "just crushed it."