Why The Voice Of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's USS Athena Computer Sounds Familiar

This article contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" season 1, episodes 1 and 2 — "Kids These Days" and "Beta Test."

Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau's YA-flavored "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" has a cast for the ages. It mixes some of the biggest names out there (namely, Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti) with returning franchise players like Tig Notaro's Jett Reno and Robert Picardo's The Doctor, complete with a handful of reliable supporting players and a solid collection of relative newbies. Apart from this, "Starfleet Academy" also pays tribute to legendary franchise characters with a giant wall of names that features some serious Easter egg power for the eagle-eyed fan. (And does "Star Trek" have any other kinds of fans?)

Apart from all this, the show also features certain cameos that are trickier to spot. For instance, a truly dedicated viewer might recognize the voice of USS Athena's computer as none other than writer and actor Brit Marling, whose impeccable sci-fi pedigree makes her the perfect choice for the role. 

Brit Marling's sci-fi experience indeed makes her a pretty natural choice to feature on a "Star Trek" show. While she hasn't appeared in the franchise until now, she was the driving force behind Netflix's esteemed "The OA," which /Film once called the next evolution in television storytelling. Marling co-created and wrote the series, and also starred in it as Prairie Johnson, aka the titular OA. There's also a telepathic octopus. It's that kind of show, in the best possible way. 

"The OA" ran for two seasons from 2016 to 2017, and introduced a riveting genre-bender of a mystery that included heavy sci-fi and fantasy tones. While it is Marling's most obvious connection to the world of science fiction, she's a notable TV and indie film operator who has written, produced, executive produced, and acted in numerous interesting projects over the years. In addition to "The OA," Marling's indie writer-actor cred from movies like "Another Earth" (2011) and "The East" (2013) makes her a natural fit for a sci-fi project that features noted independent film luminary Paul Giamatti. 

If you want to check Marling's recent non-"Star Trek" work, consider the star-studded 2023 FX on Hulu miniseries "A Murder at the End of the World," regarding a whodunnit on an isolated Arctic compound. No points for guessing who co-created, co-wrote, and co-stars in it. (Spoiler Alert: It's Brit Marling.)

"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" is streaming on Paramount+.