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‘star trek: strange new worlds’ star celia rose gooding wasn’t told she was auditioning to play uhura.

The Broadway actress only found out she’d be playing the iconic character until after she’d booked the role: “It’s daunting knowing that you're stepping into a role that already means so much to so many people.”

By Evan Nicole Brown

Evan Nicole Brown

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With the May 5 premiere of  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds  on Paramount+, Celia Rose Gooding, who plays a young Uhura (a role originated by Nichelle Nichols), made her television debut. But the 22-year-old Westchester, New York-born actress and singer is far from a newcomer, having cut her teeth on Broadway as Frankie in the hit musical  Jagged Little Pill , a performance that earned her a Tony nomination.

Already renewed for season two,  Strange New Worlds  is a prequel to  Star Trek: The Original Series , but for Gooding, television is a new frontier — a next step toward her EGOT goal (she’s one-fourth of the way there, with a 2021 Grammy Award for best musical theater album already on her mantel). In his review of the new  Star Trek  series,  THR ‘s Daniel Fienberg said, “Gooding is just a general delight, funny and emotionally available, honoring the Nichelle Nichols original and making Uhura her own.” Gooding spoke about the “daunting” challenge of stepping into the iconic role of Uhura and the invaluable guidance she’s gotten from her mother, Tony Award winner LaChanze.

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What does Broadway represent to you?

Broadway has been a haven for me since I was a little girl. The opportunity to leave my troubles backstage and be whisked away to a completely different world was everything to me, especially growing up as a young Black person in predominantly white institutions. Of course, as I grew up, I learned that the things I was trying to escape are inescapable, but live theater still was a means of escape to me.

When you were auditioning for the role of Uhura, what attracted you to the character?

Fun fact, actually: I didn’t know that I was auditioning for the role of Uhura until after I booked it. Casting went about it in a very interesting way, and I think they actually gave me a bit of grace because I auditioned under a pseudonym. But her character description really got to me: She was described as a bright, young prodigy who is deciding whether or not the place that she’s in is where she wants to be right now. And as someone who is very young in this industry and is still figuring out what my explicit goal and dream is in this life, I found that a lot of her story and a lot of her mentality mirrored mine — in a different industry.

You got your start on Broadway — theater and musicals are really your background. What has it been like pivoting from that world to the world of television? Has anything surprised or challenged you while making this transition?

Having a theater background, a lot of my training is a lot more full body. It’s a lot more physical, as opposed to TV and film which is a lot more cerebral and in my head. The major difference between theater and film is that with theater you can really see everything that’s going on on a stage at one time, whereas film is whatever the editors decide to share with you — and everything else is sort of off-camera and up to the perception of the viewer.

What’s it like to take on a role that audiences already are so familiar with?

It’s an honor, really, to know Uhura’s future and how her story ends. But we don’t really learn much about her beginnings in Starfleet, and even during The Original Series we didn’t really get to know Uhura as a person. We knew her as a communications officer — someone who worked on the ship — but we don’t really know how she got there and who she was before she grew into this confident, brilliant, graceful woman.

Joining something that is already well established versus starting a new musical and building that from its genesis? At first, I was incredibly overwhelmed because it’s daunting knowing that you’re stepping into a role that already means so much to so many people. The social and political aspects of this character and what it meant to be a young Black person in the 1960s having a role onscreen — it’s incredibly daunting and overwhelming knowing all of that. And during the first season, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to measure up to who this character is and who she ends up being. But then I had to remind myself that that’s not where I am yet. I had to remind myself that I don’t have to step into this character with all of the knowledge of her future, because this character has no knowledge of her future yet. I realized that the work of it is going to be braiding in the aspects of herself as this character ages — and as we continue season to season — instead of showing up as a carbon copy of the character that we see in The Original Series .

What did winning the Grammy for Jagged Little Pill change for you?

I am someone who, of course, has big dreams. Of course I manifest like crazy. I have a vision and a dream and a goal for myself and my future and I would love to be an EGOT at some point. I just didn’t think it was going to start happening this early! It felt unreal; I originally never considered myself to be a vocalist; I always considered myself to be an actor who has a voice and can sing if asked to. So for my first big award to be a Grammy, it’s like, life is wild.

Your mother is a Tony Award winner [best actress in a leading role in a musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson in The Color Purple ]. What’s the best advice your mother has given you?

Having someone who is already so well-loved and well-respected in this industry as your mother is a gift. It’s a blessing, honestly, because there are certain things that I’d have no idea about, and I have someone in my life who I trust to give me the honest lowdown about what to expect. I think her greatest piece of advice, that I remind myself of every day, is, “It’s not that deep.”

What do you miss about NYC when you’re shooting elsewhere, like in Toronto?

I miss the spontaneity of Manhattan. Almost everything I need is within a couple of blocks. I miss the city even when I’m home in Westchester, so it’s definitely hard being this far away for months at a time. Things close pretty early in Toronto compared to NYC, and the pizza isn’t nearly as good. I miss my friends, and my community. I’m someone who was raised by a village, so being away from them takes some getting used to.

How has the environment of NYC shaped you as a person, and as a performer?

Something about the city makes you want to work harder. The knowledge that everyone around you is also trying to make their dreams come true is inspiring. Working in the city has definitely shaped me into the person I am today. It’s made me tougher but also more empathetic. There are so many people from all different walks of life grouped together on one island. I often have this thought on the train: “Everybody around me has a full life here, just as complex and layered as mine. I know I’ll probably never see any of these people again, but we’re all on this journey together.” It’s beautiful.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

A version of this story first appeared in the May 17 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Reveals Its Uhura in First-Look Video — Watch

Dave nemetz, west coast bureau chief.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is gearing up for its maiden voyage — and it’s adding a familiar face to its crew.

A new teaser for the upcoming Trek prequel, which you can watch above, reveals that cast member Celia Rose Gooding will be playing Uhura, the iconic character played by Nichelle Nichols on the original Star Trek  series. “I am thrilled and honored to say that I will be playing Cadet Nyota Uhura,” Gooding says in the video, adding: “I am so excited to be stepping into this legacy.”

The first-look video also introduces us to more cast members like Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga, both characters from the original Trek . Plus, we get a sneak peek at Ethan Peck reprising his Star Trek: Discovery role as Spock, now looking much more like Star Trek -era Spock with short bangs and a clean-shaven face.

Strange New Worlds , which earned a series order back in May 2020, follows a trio of Discovery alums — Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn’s Number One and Peck’s Spock — as they boldly go off on their own adventures. The spinoff is set during the years when Pike captained the U.S.S. Enterprise before James T. Kirk took the helm.

The announcement came as part of the annual Star Trek Day celebration, which brought lots of Star Trek news: We also learned that Season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on Thursday, Nov. 18 and the animated kids’ show Star Trek: Prodigy will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 28, both on Paramount+.

Press PLAY above for a sneak peek at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , and beam down to the comments to share your thoughts on Uhura’s casting.

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22 comments.

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That is a lovely video. So glad Rebecca Romijn isn’t wearing a wig for the series! :)

I grew up with TNG so don’t know the Original Series that well to know if Uhura and Chapel were around that early but if this is the marketing angle Strange New Worlds is going with, then I’m going to share what it makes me feel: stop rehashing existing characters and create your own! Live up to your title – NEW.

Yes, there are original characters here and I’ll care about them (hopefully) when the show airs. But Trek – you are about the future: Stop living in the past! You’ve got Pike, #1 and Spock – isn’t that enough?

It’s a legacy show so we should see legacy characters…. and they do have some new ones as well.

Your comment is so out of touch! “Discovery” for your information is based on new characters, and for us life long fans… “Brave New World” and “Pacard”. Duh!!!

Looks cool. can’t wait.

Does anyone know if the shows takes place after Discovery season 2? Or during a different place in time?

Good question. If they do it after, Pike would have already been captain of the Enterprise for eight years (well, one of those he was on Discovery while the Enterprise was in drydock, but still). And it would give them a six year window to tell stories before Kirk is due to take command. My guess is, there might be flashbacks to events before Discovery season 2, but the bulk of the show will take place after.

Thanks you two for clarifying :)

We all guessed it but oh boy am I happy it’s real. And Chapel? M’Benga? Interesting. A character with the last name Noonien-Singh . . . what on earth could THAT be about? Whatever it is I hope they step carefully with that. . It would be weird if M’Benga is the CMO under Pike but a subordinate doctor to McCoy under Kirk. . If Uhura served under Pike, why wasn’t she assisting Spock in commandeering the Enterprise during the Menagerie? I suppose she probably did, and wasn’t discovered doing so. . Would be nice if they included Colt, as the last remaining significant character from The Cage. Doesn’t have to be as a regular, but as a background character is fine. . When’s the release date already? AAAAAGGGGHHHH!! :)

Yeah overall it looks like some good casting but interesting character choices. I’ll double your concerns on M’Benga and Singh (ancestor?). Uhura’s a weird choice to be senior carryover. If anything you’d think maybe Scotty. . They should have had Rebecca play Nurse Chapel too and see if anyone noticed. 😂

Uhura is, I think, the member of the TOS crew we know the least about. It’s not like we really know that much more about Sulu and Chekov, but we do know a little bit more. I think the problem with using Scotty on the show is, as I mentioned, the episode The Menagerie. It’s not so hard to imagine Uhura surreptitiously helping Spock steal the Enterprise to save Pike while, as per Spock’s instructions, not tipping her hand that she is doing so; it’s a bit harder to imagine Scotty doing the same. It’s not in his character to stand by once Spock is arrested and on trial and not brazenly declare he should be standing up there next to him, ya know? (And yes, I’m assuming anyone who served with Pike would be helping Spock. We know from Star Trek III that disobeying orders and stealing ships is what these characters would all do for the people they served with.) . That said, it wouldn’t be impossible to get Scotty and Sulu into the show later on if they wanted to. The others, it’s pretty clear in The Menagerie they had never met Pike before (or couldn’t have, in the case of Chekov). . I’m excited for Uhura. I just hope she’s written and played more like Nichelle created her and less like Zoe Saldana’s version. Obviously she’ll be spouting more complex and intelligent lines than Nichelle was ever allowed to say, but I hope she’ll be doing it with more warmth and emotional intelligence like Nichelle and less with the hard-edged, competitive “alpha” attitude of Zoe (which is a trait all the characters in those films shared, so I’m casting no aspersions on Zoe for her performance). I want her to align with the character we meet later in TOS, ya know? . My instinct is I really wish the show was staying away from Khan stuff, but I’m not going to criticize something I haven’t seen yet. I just hope, like I said, they step carefully with that. With a name like that it’s hard to imagine she’s anything other than a descendant of Khan, which raises so many continuity issues . . . unless she’s keeping that a secret and she has her own agenda, maybe? . I’m surprised Lower Decks hasn’t made a Chapel/Number One joke yet, haha.

Yeah, there definitely were a big 4 little 3 aspect to the show. (And bigger 3 and main 2). So they could have gone with any of them. (Though it’s theorized Chekov didn’t become part of the crew till he showed up since he wasn’t around for the Khan episode). Just don’t know about how I feel with too many were there before Kirk or came in at the same time for the mission or after. I mean, they didn’t replace the whole crew with Kirk’s people (Spock obviously). So some were around before. And it wasn’t addressed ever anywhere I know of (though there’s a lot of Trek non-canon out there). It was more real than the neatly wrapped new movie origin. I would hope they wouldn’t follow suit and just add them one by one to live off fan service. So we’ll see. Or not see as it’s on Paramount. . I’m afraid the Khan great great great grandkidmight just be fanservice too. (Or whatever…that nameline has stayed the same through all the years? No marriage changes? Maybe someone changing it since it evokes one of history’s despots? I mean, there are probably still Hitlers around too, but they’re not related to him). And is she going to be at least part super special? I don’t have a problem with them existing….Khan probably had lots of kids before going on ice…I mean it was Ricardo Montalban with abs! If he was going to have that sad kid at the end he obviously wasn’t too picky. But that one of them not only would be in Starfleet, but be on the same ship that would eventually find him….wellllll…… . And someone’s got to make a Chapel/#1 connection somewhere. I mean, it’s too easy. :-)

You forget Captains are allowed their own crew selections. and we don’t know what position Dr M’Benga will be occupying on the ship

This Star Trek Day stream is pretty embarrassing like they didn’t rehearse or prepare at all… they keep having this awkward banter between two girls that seem to have not seen any of the shows and keep getting names wrong.. and why are they showing the orchestra members instead of the video clips of the shows playing behind them?

Star Trek seems to really understand what Marvel did creating a ‘universe’ to work in. After the Enterprise series almost ended Star Trek as a franchise, maybe that break was needed to rethink and retool the universe, and it has paid off. I am loving that they finally have broken free of the old “constraints” that hampered Voyager and Enterprise, and maybe not being on ‘broadcast tv’ is what was needed. I have no problem with swearing, non-linear storytelling, or just killing characters unexpectedly. You must evolve or perish.

The Trio gave Discovery an awesome season and glad they are getting their own series. Sounds great.

There definitely needs to be some kind of plot in an ep, even just a subplot, where Chapel and Number one keep getting mistaken for each other, getting each other’s messages, etc.

Uhura is a cadet, so she hasn’t graduated from Star Fleet Academy yet. That makes sense, if as has been reported previously, this is intended to be a ten year period for Pike, number one and Spock. There’s nothing that prevents other TOS characters from being recurring or guests, since this series is episodic like TOS was, and not season long story arcs, as the other new live action series are.

I heard someone say that this is the longest gap between a pilot and series, 57 years. “The Cage” was shot in the fall of 1964 and finished in early 1965. And, the clips of it used in the “Previously on Star Trek” sequence at the beginning of the Discovery episode “If Memory Serves” was absolutely perfect.

Odd, with often classic characters being altered/changed, I half expected Nyota to be male or caucasian this go-around.

I think SNW will be the best of all the new Trek series

I have seen every episode of every Star Trek tv show, spinoff and/or movie ever created since I was in elementary school way back in the early 70s! Gene Roddenberry is my oldest and dearest teacher in how to navigate life. True life is inside of all of us if we just look.

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Who Plays Nyota Uhura On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

In the "Star Trek" timeline, few space-faring females stand quite as tall as Nyota Uhura . The Kenyan-born communications officer is one of the series' most iconic characters and one of the best examples of how "Star Trek" shattered the social norms of its time. When the original series aired in the late 1960s, TV audiences were not entirely used to seeing Black women portrayed with as much competence and skill as Uhura (originally played by Nichelle Nichols). The character is a genius, a prodigy of languages, a high-ranking Federation officer and ship commander, and one-half of one of the first interracial kisses to ever air on television (via CNN ).

That legacy remains strong even now, over half a century after Uhura and "Star Trek" initially debuted. Thanks to "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," which tells the story of the USS Enterprise crew before James T. Kirk (William Shatner) took command, a whole new generation is being introduced to Uhura. More specifically, they're being introduced to Uhura as portrayed by actor Celia Rose Gooding. While this is the first time that many "Star Trek" fans have been introduced to Gooding, "Strange New Worlds" is far from her only influential role.

Celia Rose Gooding is an award-winning thespian

If you haven't heard of Celia Rose Gooding before now, then we won't blame you. She hasn't been acting quite as long as others. However, Gooding has accomplished quite a lot, possibly because the talent is in her blood. Her mother is Tony Award-winning actor LaChanze, who identified Gooding's talent from a very young age (via Playbill ). As a child, Gooding grew up seeing her mother succeed in theater, even helping her as a reader for auditions at times. This, in no small way, prepared Gooding for her own theater career, where she has made swift progress.

Aside from "Strange New Worlds," Gooding is likely best known for her role in the Broadway play "Jagged Little Pill," where she plays Frankie Healy, the adopted Black bisexual daughter of a white family. In 2021, "Jagged Little Pill" won a Grammy for best musical theater album (via IMDb ), making it Gooding's first award as a professional actor. That's a strong start if ever there was one.

Now that this star has made a trek over to the strange new world of television, however, we look forward to seeing what Celia Rose Gooding can accomplish when she's offstage and on-screen. Who knows? She just might win an Emmy as her second award.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Celia Rose Gooding Explains How Uhura’s Story Will Be Impacted By Hemmer In Season 2

The actress gave a hint regarding what's ahead in Season 2.

Celia Rose Gooding turned heads during Season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with their performance as the legacy character Nyota Uhura , who was first portrayed by the late Nichelle Nichols . The character's storyline on the freshman series involved her possibly leaving the fold, though there were ultimately no big surprises there. After all, the chances of Uhura actually leaving Starfleet were slim, considering that she's still around and part of Captain Kirk's crew by the events of the original series. With that storyline now in the rearview mirror, Gooding spoke with CinemaBlend about what fans can expect from her character's arc in Season 2 as well as Hemmer's influence on the Starfleet cadet's journey going forward. 

I had the pleasure of speaking to Celia Rose Gooding in celebration of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1's upcoming home media release. I asked the rising star about how audiences see Uhura's story evolve now that she's set on remaining in Starfleet and got a wonderfully insightful answer about how they're progressing the character's arc while also reverencing the past: 

It’s like that moment when you finally put your bags down and you can unpack your luggage. I think Uhura has a lot of baggage. Once she decides that this is the place where she’s going to put her bags down, we get to see her unpack her journey in Season 1. The experiences that she went through and sort of the trauma she still has to unbraid. That’s what we see a lot of in the future.

Star Trek: Strange New World took a major risk when it came to Hemmer's death, and some viewers are probably still reeling from it. In all honesty, it was a rough exit for the fan-favorite Aenar. Hemmer died after being implanted with Gorn eggs, and it's fair to say Uhura was affected by his passing the most, since he mentored her and imparted helpful advice in early episodes. 

Hemmer may be gone, but his impact will be felt on Strange New Worlds , thanks to his mentee. Celia Rose Gooding explained that Hemmer's wisdom is going to remain with their character in Season 2, and they also dropped some insight into how it impacts her relationships with her crewmates: 

We see a lot of her continuing to make active decisions to free herself from the self-inflicted feelings of, ‘I have to keep everything to myself. I don’t know if I can trust these people just yet.’ She really takes Hemmer’s advice and starts to make a home of the ship around her. In order to do that, she has to dust through some cobwebs and organize a lot of her big feelings. We see a lot of that in Season 2.

We may not see Uhura become her fully realized self on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, but it sounds she's going to experience some significant growth in the upcoming episodes. She still has a few promotions to get through before she's anywhere close to being the skilled translator and communications officer see on Kirk's Enterprise . I'm ready for the writers to really peel back some layers on the iconic character. 

The Strange New Worlds cast impressed a lot of skeptics during Season 1's run and, based on what stars like Melissa Navia have teased , the highly anticipate second season  of the Trek show is going to be even better . It's hard to imagine the series getting better reviews than it received during its first season , but I'm fully hoping it can do so and avoid a sophomore slump. The sentiments that have been shared thus far are truly exciting, and I'm pumped to see what lies ahead for Celia Rose Gooding's Uhura and the rest of our heroes.

Folks can pick up a physical copy Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 on Blu-ray and DVD on March 21st and be treated to over 90 minutes of special features. Paramount+ is also hosting a trivia night on March 24th at Hollywood's Scum and Villainy Cantina in support of the release. Those interested in more information can head to the official Star Trek website . 

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 is expected to arrive sometime in 2023 for those with a Paramount+ subscription . Here's hoping for some solid news on a premiere date soon, as it'll serve as a real pick-me-up after the confirmation that Discovery ending with Season 5 . 

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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Interview: Celia Rose Gooding on Uhura and belonging in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’

On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Celia Rose Gooding is helping us all communicate a little bit better. The actress plays Nyota Uhura, a role and character that’s quite legendary in Trek Cannon. For Gooding’s version of the communications officer, Uhura starts off as a Cadet and, by the end of the second season, is fully engaged and on board as a member of the crew on the USS Enterprise.

Over Zoom, we talked with the star in detail about this season and even got a tiny preview of the season (3!) that the cast just wrapped filming on. Gooding talked with us about the most memorable episodes – from the musical Subspace Rhapsody to the crossover with Lower Decks. Gooding went in depth about Lost in Translation, the Uhura-centric story that brought Zombie-Hemmer in a turbo lift to the Star Trek lexicon. Read on for the full interview, or listen to the audio above.

Ayla Ruby: Okay. Awesome. It’s wonderful to talk to you. I love your work, so I’m really excited.

Celia Rose Gooding: Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I’m happy we could do this.

Ayla Ruby: Yeah. So we’re talking Strange New Worlds. And this season, things are more established. You’ve come from season one where you’re world building and establishing this whole new thing. Can you talk a little bit about your character, where her starts and where she ends up? She’s officially the communications officer this season, so things are changing.

Celia Rose Gooding: Yeah, yeah. Things are changing at a rapid… Well, it’s a rapid speed in canon. In our world, it’s been like five years.

Ayla Ruby: I know.

Celia Rose Gooding: But yeah, she starts in season one as a young ensign. Oh, wait, no, she starts as a cadet.

Ayla Ruby: Cadet, yeah.

Celia Rose Gooding: Shows how long we have been in this space. She starts as a cadet and then moves up to ensign, and it’s a really big change for her. She starts in a place where she’s not really sure if she wants to be on the Enterprise. She’s still trying to figure out where her place is in the world she wants to inherit. She’s just faced really incomparable loss and is just really feeling the weight and the pressure of that. And she is grappling with the idea of family and community and what it means to belong somewhere and what it means to belong with a group of people that isn’t her biological family. And so that’s where she starts.

And then by the time we wrap up season two, she has a permanent position on the bridge. She is the communications officer. She really has a sense of understanding that she has a place here. Not only does she have a place here, but it’s one of the more important places she could have filled out in the Enterprise crew. She is the person who… Well, she has a whole song about it in season two. That is how she keeps everybody connected. And yeah, I think in season three, she’s just continuing to expand on taking space and really ownership over her responsibilities and her contributions to the Enterprise crew.

And so we’re just continuing to see her expand and expand and expand, and I’m really excited about her journey in season three. That’s just been the word of the day exception. She’s just taking up space, really owning her title and her role, and her confidence is really blossoming and blooming. I think, as the seasons go on, I’m trying to get closer and closer to a recognizable version of Uhura, really trying to emulate Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura. And I think season three, we’re just getting closer and closer and closer, so it’s very exciting for me.

Ayla Ruby: As an audience, it’s been super fun to watch her growing into this very empathetic person and just really, like you said, finding her place. And I have a lot of questions about the musical episode, so I’m glad you mentioned that.

Celia Rose Gooding: Yeah.

Ayla Ruby: But along with that, there’s Lost in Translation, which is a super big episode for her. And I would love to know if you could talk about your reactions to first hearing about the episode, just your approach to being her in that episode.

Celia Rose Gooding: Sure, sure. Lost in Translation was a massive undertaking. I think, honestly, it was harder than the musical episode for me emotionally. I think the musical episode, it was very familiar to me. It’s a wheelhouse that I’ve lived in for the majority of my life. And so when I was tasked with a horror episode, ask somebody who is naturally quite anxious and does not watch horror movies. Yeah. It was definitely a big undertaking for me because I really had to put Celia’s fears aside and really embrace that. We’re really not holding back and displaying how trauma affects a person’s mentality, their emotional wellbeing, their mental health. And Uhura, someone who really prides herself on her ability to just keep going, we see her really break down in a way that… I have something very similar to Uhura, where it’s my instinct to just keep going and to really deny that instinct and really sit in this very wounded, very vulnerable, very soft and fleshy place. It was very uncomfortable.

It was uncomfortable, but necessarily uncomfortable. It was so interesting to really display how haunted Uhura is and how vulnerable she has to be with her crew mates, and really with Paul Wesley as Captain Kirk. I’ve really had to open up to Kirk in a way that is not an instinct for me personally. And Uhura, I think this was the most vulnerable she had been on camera for the first few seasons. This is probably one of her most vulnerable moments where she’s expressing to the superior officer that she just does not think she can go on, which is a big deal, especially for a legacy character, especially for a character as beloved and as historic as Uhura. To hear her say, “I don’t think I can do this anymore,” is really, it’s a gut punch. It displays her humanity in a way that I think we haven’t had an opportunity to really see.

I think, in later iterations of Uhura, we see her as this super person, this person who knows all the answers and has a funny little quip and something to just keep everyone else going while keeping her own personal feelings inside. And we see her in a light in which she’s really putting it out in the open, and that was a real undertaking for Celia. Celia likes to keep… Sorry to talk about myself in the third person.

Ayla Ruby: That’s okay.

Celia Rose Gooding: Only actors would talk about themselves in the third person unironically. But yeah, I tend to keep my cards closer to my chest, especially when I’m talking to people in a superior position to myself. And Uhura does the exact opposite. She finds the most important person in the room and says, “Help me please.” Which I think is the smarter way to go about life. But this is a really roundabout way to answer your question. It was very difficult, but also such a wonderful learning experience. And yeah, I had to buckle up and watch a few horror movies. A lot of Jordan Peele. Because I feel like Jordan Peele has a way of… he has a way about the horror genre that you still have the very classic themes of horror, but not in that jump, scare, flash way. That really just unsettles me to my core.

So yeah, Dan Liu, our director, Dan Liu, he really shepherded me through that process. And I’m very, very grateful for him. I don’t think I would’ve been able to really show up the way I needed to show up in this episode without him.

Ayla Ruby: There’s a lot of almost psychological horror in this episode, but there’s also… You mentioned jump scare, but there’s zombie Hemmer and the turbolift, which had to be interesting doing that.

Celia Rose Gooding: Yeah, it was very interesting. Honestly, I think that was one of the harder scenes to shoot. It was one of the first ones we shot for that episode, I’m almost positive. Again, my memory fails me more often than not. But it was really wonderful to see Bruce Horak again, who plays Hemmer. And so I had to shed all of my excitement to see him very, very quickly so that I could play somebody petrified to see their gored up friend. But yeah, in between takes, we were just catching up and joking as we always did during season one. And so it was wonderful to see my friend again and play with him in person as opposed to just VFX or a body double, because a lot of his prosthetic is practical.

And so I was just very excited to see him. And then of course, I had to put that in the back there and be really petrified, which I think worked well because he did look so scary. He looked so scary in person. And he’s a fantastic actor. And so zombie Hemmer really zombied up, and it was very easy to play scared when the cameras were rolling because Bruce has such a way of zoning in and tapping into wherever he goes as a creative. And it’s really wonderful to see and wonderful to play opposite because he’s so dropped in that you have to meet him where he is at, and that is how he got some of the really… I think, some of the more powerful emotional work, especially on the bridge where Uhura is flipping her focus between the ghost of Hemmer and her commanding officers, and having to play both of those, having to just navigate the pressure of both of these incredibly intense situations. It was difficult, the nature of the episode, but also very, very easy because of how connected our characters are emotionally.

Ayla Ruby: And to talk about connected, to bring us back to Subspace or Rhapsody a little bit. So I talked to Kay and Tom, and they just praised you so much saying how wonderful you were and everything great about the musical episode. I’d love to know about your thoughts when you heard there was going to be a musical episode. And not only that, that you would have this incredible song, Keep Us Connected, that just explain so much of the character.

Celia Rose Gooding: Yeah, of course. Musicals are my first love. I’ve always loved musicals. I grew up in the musical industry. And so the fact that I got to bring a little bit of what feels like home to this space that was still very new to me at the time, it was wonderful. I was so excited. At first, I thought they were kidding. At first, I thought they were playing a silly little joke on me because I’m the only person with a musical theater background in the cast. So I was like, it sounded too good to be true. And so I thought they were kidding. And then when I found out we were really doing it, that’s when I got a little nervous, truthfully. Because yeah, as somebody with I think the most musical theater experience in the cast, I put a lot of pressure on myself to just show up and be fantastic, which I think is a little impractical now. But I really just wanted to do well and represent my training well and represent what feels like a very big part of me. I just wanted to represent it well.

And working with Kay and working with Tom, it felt really, really safe and really, really sacred. I could tell that they were taking it so seriously and they wanted it to be something legit and really respected, especially when we are playing in this sci-fi fantasy world. We tow the line of camp every once in a while. And I know that our showrunners and our music team, they didn’t want it to be super campy and silly all the way through. They wanted there to be some really tender moments, some very honest moments. And I think Keep Us Connected was one of those really, really tense moments in the musical episode. I think that was the moment where Uhura decided that she was going to stay and really devote a hundred percent of herself to the enterprise team and to this workplace.

And to be able to do that through song felt just so good and so right. Keep Us Connected is really her accepting her place and accepting how the really hard and… Language. This is why Uhura is the linguist, and I’m not. I’m just trying to find the right word for it. But all of those really difficult moments and those really heartbreaking moments that she had to persevere through, those are the things that, while they did not have to happen, they did happen. And they’re the things that will… They’re the cushion. They’re the foundation of her understanding of how she got to the bridge and how she developed these relationships with her crew. These moments of real loss allowed her moments of real gain, truthfully.

And the gaining of understanding that she has a role and a place and a responsibility, and her accepting of that and her almost excitement about that and that anticipation feeling that she starts to get of like what next, what next, what next. We see all of that come to a head and keep us connected. And it was wonderful to do. It’s a beautiful song. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs towards the end, but it worked and makes sense. And so yeah, I loved doing it. And it really is a testament to the writers, to Tom and Kay, to our showrunners who really, really made sure that we felt rehearsed and well oiled and really confident in the undertaking, because you can’t half-arse a musical episode in Star Trek. You have to give it your all, especially because we’re doing it for the Trekkies and we really want them to appreciate the big swings that we’re taking. And it felt very loved. It felt very well received, which is all you could ever want.

And so yeah, the musical episode started off feeling like I was being pranked, then realized it was real, then got very nervous, then got very excited and felt very, very proud by the end of how hard each and every one of us in the cast worked and how devoted and just how committed we were to the process. And I feel like that commitment really shows in just how well it came together.

Ayla Ruby: You mentioned rehearsing. You mentioned, I guess, more so than a regular episode. What was that process like for this episode? How was it different than… I don’t know how long Strange New Worlds takes, but was it more than a week? What was that?

Celia Rose Gooding: So an episode takes roughly, I think, two weeks.

Ayla Ruby: Got you.

Celia Rose Gooding: It changes depending on how intense the material is. But the musical episode was definitely a months long undertaking. We had recording of the music before we even did the episode. So we had tracks to lip sync to when shooting came around. And then there were many weekends where we, excuse me, where we came to set and just did choreography rehearsal. I know when Rebecca and Chrissy as La’an and Una, when they had to do their zero gravity work, I know they had harness rehearsal that I didn’t even have to be a part of. But yeah, it was definitely a lot of showing up early, staying up late to get this done. And not just on the cast part, on the crew part, on the music team’s part, on our directing team, on our writing team. It was really an all hands on deck project and experience.

Because I find that musicals, while they are live, I think there’s such a choreography even behind the scenes that goes on when you’re putting on a musical that there was a lot of that that I saw and experienced in shooting this for TV. There was a lot of behind the scenes choreography. Again, a lot of just us showing up and being ready to download a lot of information that was new for, I think, a lot of the cast. I don’t know. I can’t remember how many… I don’t know how often our cast had to show up for choreography stuff. I don’t know if they’ve had to do that for other projects. But for this, I know that this is the first time for me in a TV and film space that I had to show up and do choreography rehearsal and then just go home. And yeah, it was just a lot of showing up and being committed. And I think that it turned out really, really well.

Ayla Ruby: Now, I know we’re getting close on time, but I want to ask-

Celia Rose Gooding: Oh, really?

Ayla Ruby: Yeah. There’s a crossover episode with Lower Decks season.

Celia Rose Gooding: Yes.

Ayla Ruby: And for your character, there are some really interesting moments with Mariner. I’d love if you could talk about filming that, what that was like, and getting that, not chemistry, but just getting that comradery from another Trek series to this .

Celia Rose Gooding: Of course, of course. I love Lower Decks. I think Lower Decks is one of the best iterations of new Trek. It is my favorite iteration. Love Lower Decks. I just think what they do on that show is so smart and special. I belly laugh watching that show and getting to work with Tawny and Jack and Jonathan Frakes, our fricking director. Amazing to get to work with him. I was so excited. And yeah, I think Tawny and Jack showed up with such a spirit of… I can only describe it as joyful mischief. They came with the intention to really just shake things up and try new stuff and really allow the Enterprise crew to show a comedic and silly side of themselves that, as an ensemble, we haven’t had an opportunity to do.

We’ve had some comedic episodes and certain characters have had comedic moments, but for all of us to come together and have to wrangle these two adult toddler character figures and make sure that they’re okay so that we could do our job, it was just such a joy. I think Uhura and Mariner, their relationship was so… I don’t know. It reminds me of how I love Tawny Newsome. Tawny Newsome is the love of my life. I love her so much. And so to get to work with her and really have a very honest conversation, it felt at times very much like Celia and Tawny talking as opposed to Uhura and Mariner, just because she was someone who I talked to a lot about just showing up in this franchise and how to be a person in Trek.

I don’t know if I really ever expressed it to her as specifically as I will try to now, but she really just uplifted me in a way that made me feel so safe and so supported, and gave me such freedom to try new stuff and really take big swings comedically. I consider myself to be a really dramatic actor. And the comedic moments find them when they can, but I think, when it comes to me, the comedy has to be in the writing. And because we have such a stellar writing team, it worked out so well. But yeah, that scene when we’re in Uhura’s quarters and she’s opening up to Mariner saying that, “I don’t know what the future version of me is doing, but I am barely holding it together.” And Mariner is the one who teaches her how to relax and exhale and let her, at the time, very short hair down and take a little bit of pressure off herself.

And that gave Uhura permission to move to a version of herself that is, again, more recognizable. I think the Uhura that generations of Trek fans have gotten to know and love is somebody a lot more relaxed than the Uhura that we’re seeing today. And she’s a lot more carefree, a lot more joyful, a lot more… She flirts with life. And I love that about her. I can’t wait to bring more of that to my Uhura as time goes on. But I think Mariner is one of the first people in canon that we’re seeing really just feed and uplift Uhura’s joy and uplift her confidence, which is something that she desperately needed more of in that season. And so, to be able to do that with somebody as just awesome as Tawny Newsome, it just felt real good. It felt really, really good.

She is just a wonderful person and a wonderful actor and a wonderful medium and person and friend. And so, to be able to play opposite her and to really just be poured into by her, it felt very good for the character and for the greedy actor that lives within me. It was great. And Frakes is such a wonderful director. The three of them, Jack, Frakes and Tawny, they brought such a lightness and a… Ooh, come on language, find me. They just brought such a air of positivity and lightness and joy and ease to the room that was so necessary because they’re sandwiched in between.

That episode is sandwiched in between two really deep and emotional and complex and heavy episodes that to have a nice filling of silliness and honesty, of course, but that lightness and that comedic tone and genre, I feel like it was perfectly placed in the series… in the season, excuse me. And because we had such three wonderful comedic talents, it was perfect. It was so great. I had such a good time.

Ayla Ruby: Oh, well, that’s awesome. I think that’s a great sentiment to end on too. I appreciate your time and you talking.

Celia Rose Gooding: Of course. This was great. It went by so fast. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your questions. Yeah, this has been a blast.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

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[…] Awards Radar interviewed Celia Rose Gooding about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where the Grammy Award-winning actor broke down how Uhura has grown from an uncertain Starfleet Cadet to a confident officer in Strange New Worlds‘ first two seasons. Gooding then hinted at how Uhura continues on the path to becoming the Lieutenant Uhura portrayed by Nichelle Nichols in Strange New Worlds season 3. Read Celia’s quote below and listen to her Awards Radar interview in the link above. […]

[…] Awards Radar interviewed Celia Rose Gooding about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where the Grammy Award-winning actor spoke effusively about her friendship with Tawny Newsome. Calling Newsome “the love of my life,” Gooding explained how her real life friendship with Newsome reflected how Mariner helped inspire Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ crossover episode, “Those Old Scientists.” Read Celia’s quote below and check out Awards Radar‘s full interview in the link above. […]

[…] an interview with Awards Radar about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where Celia Rose Gooding spoke in detail about how filming the […]

[…] in Strange New Worlds will dovetail into the image of her from The Original Series. In a recent interview with Ayla Ruby from Awards Radar, Gooding offered some insight into what’s next for Uhura. Acknowledging that […]

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Star Trek Strange New Worlds: Uhura star on the ‘outpour’ of reactions from fans

Star trek strange new worlds star celia rose gooding lifted the lid on the overwhelming reaction she received from fans about her portrayal of nyota uhura., star trek: picard season 3 teaser.

Celia Rose Gooding is set to return to screens in 2023 as Nyota Uhura for season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Ahead of its release, the actress detailed the positive feedback she received from fans about her portrayal.

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As a result, the series was met with much excitement from the franchise’s loyal fans who were eagerly awaiting its release.

Many had high expectations as the Star Trek universe has been a worldwide phenomenon since it first landed on screens in the 60s.

Its success saw the series expand to various films, video games and comic books.

This resulted in the franchise being worth an estimated $10.6billion (£9.1billion) in revenue.

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Although Uhura was an original character, fans got to see a different side to her with Gooding’s portrayal.

While she remained the super talented linguist, viewers were able to find out more about her background with character-focused episodes.

Her origin story was finally explored as it revealed what led her to join the starship USS Enterprise.

During the episode titled ‘Children of the Comet’ fans remarked Gooding received more limelight as Uhura than Nichols ever did during her 25-year portrayal.

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Star Trek’s Future Requires More Patience Than Ever

I’m glad voyager’s tom and b’elanna are no longer star trek's only successful romance, star trek explains why it uses 'quadrants' despite the universe being infinite.

A first look video for  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals the newest take on classic character Nyota Uhura. The upcoming Paramount+ series is the streamer's latest live-action foray into the  Star Trek universe, part of an active push to expand the original programming for the newly rebranded service. Though it has no official premiere date as of yet,  Strange New Worlds is expected to release sometime in 2022.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet,  Strange New Worlds  returns to the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike, the immediate predecessor to  The Original Series ' James T. Kirk. The series is officially a spinoff of  Star Trek: Discovery , which introduced the new show's three principal cast members: Anson Mount as Captain Pike; Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley/Number One; and Ethan Peck as Spock, the Vulcan science officer originally made famous by the late Leonard Nimoy.  Strange New Worlds is set in the decade before  The Original Series  and will similarly follow the Enterprise as its crew explores new worlds around the galaxy.

Related:  Star Trek's Pike Spinoff Can Finally Bring Back A Missing Discovery Villain

A new video released during Paramount+ 's Star Trek Day event has revealed more of the show's cast, which includes characters both new and familiar. In the latter camp, the most recognizable name joining the trio established in  Discovery  is Nyota Uhura, with Celia Rose Gooding taking over the fan-favorite role originated by Nichelle Nichols. Coming from a Broadway background, with a pending Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in Jagged Little Pill , Gooding will be making her small screen debut with  Strange New Worlds. She will become the third person to portray Uhura, with Zoe Saldana having played an alternate-timeline version of her in the recent film series. Check out the cast reveal video below: 

Click to watch the video

Other rebooted Enterprise crew members include Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga, who were played in  The Original Series by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and Booker Bradshaw, respectively. Among the new characters are Bruce Horak as Hemmer, Christina Chong (Black Mirror ) as La’an Noonien-Singh, and Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas. In their introductions, each of the cast members expresses excitement and gratitude at being able to join the world of  Star Trek , and Mount emphasizes the cast they've assembled are " exactly the kind of people you would've hoped you'd end up with on a high-wire walk like this. "

The news that Uhura will return in  Strange New Worlds is surely exciting for those who enjoy  Star Trek , who are being treated to a wave of new content coming to Paramount+. Unfortunately, those dying to see more of Gooding's interpretation will have to hold out for a while, as  Strange New Worlds   is the furthest away of any of the coming shows announced at Star Trek Day. Luckily, though, new seasons of  Star Trek: Discovery   and Picard   are just around the corner, which will help make the wait easier to swallow.

More:  Whoopi Goldberg Perfectly Described The Importance Of Uhura In Star Trek: TOS

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‘Strange New Worlds’ Gives Uhura’s Story the Space It Deserves

The iconic Lt. Uhura has gone through several recasts and retcons over the years, along with the rest of the original Enterprise crew from Star Trek: The Original Series ( TOS ). First played by Nichelle Nichols, and then Zoe Saldana in the Kelvin-verse reboot, the torch has now passed to Celia Rose Gooding in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ( SNW ). But who is this version of Uhura, which continuity does she belong to , and what are the things that set her apart from her predecessors and flesh out the canon of an already brilliant character?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds exists in the prime timeline, meaning that Cadet Uhura from SNW is a younger version of TOS ‘ Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) rather than the Kelvin-verse’s Uhura (Zoe Saldana). Given the point at which the timelines diverge into the prime universe and the Kelvin-verse, and that SNW takes place in the years immediately after Nero’s assault on the Federation in the other timeline, you could say that Saldana and Gooding’s Uhuras are directly parallel versions of the same woman; with the movies providing an almost Marvel’s What if…? -style vision of how Uhura adapts and changes in response to different circumstances.

Of course it’s also possible that SNW actually exists in its own, third timeline, as theorized by Eric Diaz over at Nerdist . It’s a very Schrodinger’s cat/quantum physics sort of situation—the idea that by observing his future (in the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Through the Valley of Shadows”), Pike has already changed it, and other changes may follow on from there. It’s a fascinating idea, and I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it also won’t affect the canonicity of any details SNW has added to Uhura’s backstory, as they predate Pike’s encounter with the time crystals. Anything that happens post-series start however? That’s all up in the air, depending on which way the writers go with this, and if there’s one thing Star Trek has been doing to us lately, it’s surprising us.

Joining Starfleet

One thing SNW has been praised for is delving deeper into the backstories and motivations of characters who were largely relegated to supporting cast. We now know that Uhura joined Starfleet not because of her own dreams or ambitions, but because a personal tragedy derailed them and left her in need of a new path in life. Originally intending to study xenolinguistics at the University of Nairobi, where her parents taught, Uhura lost both of them and her older brother to a shuttle accident shortly before matriculating. Distraught and unable to face the idea of spending the next few years somewhere filled with memories of her parents, she withdrew from her course of study and moved in with her grandmother for a while to figure out her next steps. Inspired by her grandmother, a retired Starfleet officer, and feeling like she didn’t fit in anywhere on earth, Uhura joined the academy and excelled, performing well enough to secure a coveted spot on the Enterprise. Despite this, she was still unsure of whether Starfleet was really the right choice for her when she first appeared on the show, or if she was just running away from her pain and hadn’t found her “true purpose yet.”

Life before the Enterprise

Though still only a cadet, Uhura has already served on at least one other ship before being assigned to Pike’s Enterprise: the USS Gallant. During her time there, several crewmen died, leading to her wearing a pin that commemorates them and their loss on Remembrance Day in SNW: Memento Mori . Though we don’t know the circumstances, her assertion that her life has never been in danger before (made during SNW: Children of the Comet ), suggests it was either the kind of localized accident that commonly occurs in areas such as engineering, or happened during an away mission she wasn’t on. Nonetheless, even though Uhura hadn’t been at risk herself, the loss of her crewmates only exacerbated her uncertainty about Starfleet and whether it was where she truly wanted to be.

37 languages and counting

A common criticism levied at the TOS writers, and one that was shared by Nichelle Nichols herself, is that they failed to make proper use of Uhura’s character or showcase her skill set—often relegating her to a background presence, and the phrase “hailing frequencies open.” While the character was created by Roddenberry as a gifted linguist, the show does such a bad job of conveying it that some viewers have even come away with the impression that Uhura only speaks one or two languages. Though TOS Uhura is canonically a polyglot, the exact number of languages she speaks is never specified, and the only two we know for sure are English and Swahili, with her minimal grasp of Klingon a plot point played for laughs in Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country .

SNW ‘s Uhura comes in and smashes this misconception from the get-go. When Pike incorrectly tells the other dinner guests in SNW: Children of the Comet that Uhura speaks 12 languages, she corrects him, explaining that the real number is actually 37. Given Uhura is still only a cadet at this point, that number is only going to increase by the time she reaches the age and rank her character was portrayed with in TOS —even if, in an attempt to keep the canons roughly compliant, they decide that she never does quite master Klingon.

More illuminating is Uhura’s reasoning for learning all of these languages and focusing her career on not just language acquisition but also linguistics, and facilitating communication between different cultures and species. With 22 languages spoken in her homeland alone, Uhura decided from a young age that the best way to understand people was to learn to understand their language first—something many professors of literature and history will agree with, as a lot of meaning and idioms are lost in translation.

Combined with her statements about feeling that she doesn’t fit in anywhere, and her father once telling her that she was “unburdened by conversational boundaries,” there’s the suggestion that Uhura may have (or had) some social difficulties, and might be autistic. This kind of drive to understand others does often lead autistics into fields like sociology or linguistics in real life, so it will be interesting to see if Uhura is intentionally coded that way and, if so, whether the show runners of Strange New Worlds will make it more overt later.

(featured image: Paramount+)

Nichelle Nichols, Uhura in ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 89

By Carmel Dagan

Carmel Dagan

Staff Writer

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Nichelle Nichols , who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original “ Star Trek ” series, died Saturday night in Silver City, N.M. She was 89 years old.

Nichols’ death was confirmed by Gilbert Bell, her talent manager and business partner of 15 years.

Nichols shared one of the first interracial kisses in television history on “Star Trek.” That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the part of her, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

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There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on “Movin’ With Nancy,” Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned. The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.

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But Uhura, whose name comes from a Swahili word meaning “freedom,” was essential beyond the interracial kiss: A capable officer who could man other stations on the bridge when the need arose, she was one of the first African American women to be featured in a non-menial role on television.

Nichols played Lt. Uhura on the original series, voiced her on “Star Trek: The Animated Series” and played Uhura in the first six “Star Trek” films. Uhura was promoted to lieutenant commander in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and to full commander in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

Nichols mulled leaving “Star Trek” after the first season to pursue a career on Broadway, but the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a fan of the series and understood the importance of her character in opening doors for other African Americans on television, personally persuaded her to stay on the show, she told astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in an interview for the Archive of American Television.

Whoopi Goldberg, who later played Guinan on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” has described Uhura as a role model, recalling that she was astounded and excited to see a black woman character on television who was not a maid.

Nichols and Shatner remembered the shooting of the famous kiss very differently. In “Star Trek Memories,” Shatner said NBC insisted that the actors’ lips never actually touch (though they appear to). But in Nichols’ 1994 autobiography “Beyond Uhura,” the actress insisted that the kiss was in fact real. Nervous about audience reaction, the network insisted that alternate takes be shot with and without a kiss, but Nichols and Shatner deliberately flubbed every one of the latter so NBC would be forced to air what appeared to be a kiss (whether their lips actually touched or not).

Both the “Star Trek” and “Movin’ With Nancy” moments drew some negative reactions, though Nichols recalled that the fan mail was overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

NASA later employed Nichols in an effort to encourage women and African Americans to become astronauts. NASA Astronaut Group 8, selected in 1978, included the first women and ethnic minorities to be recruited, including three who were Black. Dr. Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, cited “Star Trek” as an influence in her decision to join the space agency.

Nichols remained a supporter of the space program for decades.

In 1991, Nichols became the first African American woman to have her handprints immortalized at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The ceremony also included other members of the original “Star Trek” cast.

Born Grace Nichols in Robbins, Ill. on Dec. 28, 1932, Nichols began her show business career at age 16 singing with Duke Ellington in a ballet she created for one of his compositions. Later, she sang with his band.

She studied in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Her break came with an appearance in Oscar Brown’s high-profile but ill-fated 1961 musical “Kicks and Co.,” in which she played campus queen Hazel Sharpe, who’s tempted by the devil and Orgy Magazine to become “Orgy Maiden of the Month.” The play closed after its brief Chicago tryout, but Nichols attracted the attention of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, who booked her at his Chicago Playboy Club.

Nichols also appeared in the role of Carmen for a Chicago stock company production of “Carmen Jones” and performed in a New York production of “Porgy and Bess,” making her feature debut in an uncredited role as a dancer in an adaptation of that work in 1959. (Later she would display her singing talents on occasion on “Star Trek.”)

While working in Chicago, Nichols was twice nominated for that city’s theatrical Sarah Siddons Award for best actress. The first came for “Kicks and Co.,” while the second was for her performance in Jean Genet’s “The Blacks.”

She had small roles in the films “Made in Paris,” “Mr. Buddwing” and the Sandra Dee vehicle “Doctor, You’ve Got to Be Kidding!” before she was cast on “Star Trek.”

During the early ’60s, before “Star Trek,” Nichols had an affair with Gene Roddenberry that lasted several years, according to her autobiography. The affair ended when Roddenberry realized he was in love with Majel Hudec, whom he married. When Roddenberry’s health was failing decades later, Nichols co-wrote a song for him, entitled “Gene,” that she sang at his funeral.

In January 1967, Nichols was featured on the cover of Ebony magazine, which published two feature articles on her within five years.

In the early ’70s, the actress made a few guest appearances on TV and appeared in the 1974 Blaxploitation film “Truck Turner” starring Isaac Hayes. She appeared in a supporting role in a 1983 TV adaptation of “Antony and Cleopatra” that also featured her “Star Trek” co-star Walter Koenig. She starred with Maxwell Caulfield and Talia Balsam in the 1986 horror sci-fi feature “The Supernaturals.”

Later, Nichols began to do voice work, lending her talent to the animated series “Gargoyles” and “Spider-Man.” She also voiced herself on “Futurama.”

The actress played the mother of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s lead character in 2002’s “Snow Dogs” and Miss Mable in the 2005 Ice Cube comedy “Are We There Yet?”

In 2007, Nichols recurred on the second season of the NBC drama “Heroes” as Nana Dawson, matriarch of a New Orleans family devastated by Hurricane Katrina who cares for her orphaned grandchildren and great-nephew, Micah Sanders (series regular Noah Gray-Cabey). The following year she appeared in the films “Tru Loved” and “The Torturer.”

Nichols suffered a stroke in 2015 and was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, touching off a conservatorship dispute between her manager Bell and her son as well as a friend.

Nichols was married and divorced twice. She is survived by her son, Kyle Johnson.

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Star Trek Day pays tribute to Uhura actress Nichelle Nichols in moving in memoriam

See how Star Trek's big day honored the late cultural icon.

Amid all the special announcements and sneak peeks at upcoming shows coming from all corners of the Starfleet universe on Star Trek Day , the Los Angeles-based event took a moment to pay tribute to Nichelle Nichols , the late actress known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original William Shatner-fronted Trek series.

Nichols' son Kyle announced his mother died from natural causes at the age of 89 in July, saying how "her light... will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration."

The United Launch Alliance announced that a portion of Nichols' cremated ashes would be spread into deep space aboard their Vulcan rocket.

Star Trek: Lower Decks actors Tawny Newsome and Paul F. Tompkins hosted the event and dedicated a moment of silence to Nichols' memory. Then Star Trek Strange New Worlds actress Celia Rose Gooding introduced a moving video honoring the late Star Trek icon.

"On Star Trek Strange New Worlds it has ben my honor to perform the role of Cadet Nyota Uhura," Gooding said. "I stand on Nichelle's shoulders, not only in portraying the character she originated and embodied but in following a path she blazed for Black women and femmes on screen and off. As I sit on the bridge of the Enterprise I feel her presence, I see her influence in those who knew her and I strive to carry the majestic legacy forward into the future she wanted for all of us."

"Nichelle Nichols was a forced to be reckoned with," Dawnn Lewis, who voices Captain Carol Freeman on Star Trek: Lower Decks , said in the tribute.

"This woman is a true hero," said Sonequa Martin-Green , who plays Captain Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery .

Other voices featured in the tribute include Newsome, Gooding, Discovery and Star Trek: Picard director Hanelle Culpepper, Star Trek: Prodigy actress Kate Mulgrew, Picard 's Michelle Hurd, Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman , and more.

"She's uncompromising in her belief that the stars should be for everybody," Kurtzman said.

The Star Trek Day festivities, which were live-streamed for fans globally on various Trek platforms, also brought looks at Star Trek: Picard season 3, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, and the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy .

Watch the Nichols tribute above.

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Published Feb 10, 2023

The Legendary Legacy of Nichelle Nichols

One fan pays tribute to the multitude of stories and adventures that make Nichols' life so fascinating.

StarTrek.com

Every year, in every way, Nichelle Nichols becomes even more beloved than she was before (if that's possible). She's regal, elegant and ever-so-charming. She has made numerous convention appearances over the last four decades with more slated throughout this year, all celebrating Gene Roddenberry's star-spanning saga and her groundbreaking role in it as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura .

"Many fans, even to this day, when meeting Nichelle Nichols are a little jolted that I am not Uhura," the actress admitted in Starlog #100 . "I don't act like Uhura. I have a totally different personality. So, I find people discovering that, and they act like they're meeting a whole new character."

[ RELATED : Remembering Nichelle Nichols, 1932-2022 ]

There have been countless opportunities to meet Nichols — a self-described "fan of the fans" — in person. At conventions, we Trekkers line up for personal audiences to get her autograph, pose for photos with her, or just chat about the stories and legends that have made up her life. These are tales that Nichols has told in most convention appearances and many interviews (at least eight talks with Starlog, plus chats with other magazines, newspaper, TV, and radio outlets) as well as in her 1994 autobiography Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories . One anecdote concerns how her father suggested she confront obstacles of all kinds in life — "If you have lemons, make lemonade."

Another focuses on a remarkable milestone involving a kiss from Uhura, one bestowed in " Plato’s Stepchildren ," an episode of Star Trek broadcast in 1968. That’s where Lieutenant Uhura and Captain Kirk share what Nichols and William Shatner call TV’s first interracial kiss (though it was non-consensual, as they were forced to kiss by their mythic captors). It was a significant advance in what could be portrayed on American television screens.

The third story is perhaps the most legendary of all. As Nichols tells it, circa the end of Trek ’s first season (1966-1967), she considered departing the series. And she really didn’t, but that was also true storywise for the characters played by James Doohan, George Takei and Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Nichols confided in legendary civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , who took a different view.

She had to remain onboard the series, King argued, because her very presence on the U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge promised that Black people would be a fully integral, equal part of all our tomorrows — on Earth and in outer space. Nichols was, King declared, an important role model for minority youngsters and young women looking to the future.

[ RELATED: Nichelle Nichols Opened the Door Wide Enough for Others to Step Through and See the World ]

"Martin Luther King asked me not to leave," Nichols explained to Starlog #151 (1990). "He said my role of Uhura was important because it was a major role played by a Black that was not specifically designed for a Black or a female. He said Uhura was not a small character, that I was 10 feet tall and that I was opening many doors. I had no intention of leaving the show after he said that. But I've got to be honest with you. I still look back on that decision with mixed emotions."

Nichols elaborated two years later in another Starlog conversation. "[King] told me, 'You've opened a door that can never be closed again. You've changed the face of television.' That is no small achievement. And I am very, very proud."

However, "I don't want anybody being color-blind when they look at me," she announced in Starlog #116 . "I resent somebody saying, 'Oh, I don't mind that she's Black, I'm color-blind.' Well, wake up, fella, and smell the roses. I like being who I am, and I'll be damned if I want you accepting me in spite of the fact that I'm a woman, and I'm Black and I'm whoever I am. Deal with me, and appreciate and accept me for what I am."

And that's someone extremely important, in my view, to science-fiction.

In 1985, we were looking for a theme to mark Starlog #100 and make that landmark edition something special. Initially, I suggested a feature dubbed "The 12 Most Important People in Science Fiction." I envisioned them as the genre’s founding fathers (Jules Verne, H.G. Wells), pioneering SF magazine editors (Hugo Gernsback, John W. Campbell), innovative writers (Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke), TV creators (Rod Serling, Roddenberry) and moviemakers (George Lucas, Steven Spielberg).

To truly celebrate Starlog ’s centenary issue, we expanded that idea from a mere dozen to an issue-number-matching "100 Most Important People in SF & Fantasy." Further nominations came from me (as editor), managing editor Carr D’Angelo, special FX editor David Hutchison and publisher Kerry O’Quinn. And I championed Nichelle Nichols.

In a certain aspect, there was no contemporary person more important than Nichelle Nichols on that list. After Star Trek ’s resurgent popularity in the 1970s, Nichols began to work with NASA, recruiting would-be astronauts for the space shuttle and trying to diversify its off-planet legions with more women and minorities (like Sally Ride and Mae Jemison). She’s the only person that I could think of back then in 1985 — or now, three decades later, for that matter — who actually transformed her science-fiction celebrity into true heroism. The woman who pretended to be an adventurer in space spurred on others to really reach for the stars.

[ RELATED : Hailing Frequencies Open as the World Remembers Nichelle Nichols ]

"That was a very successful venture, very rewarding in my life.... The first six women and three Black men, as well as the first Asian and Indian astronauts are because of me," Nichols noted in Starlog #175 . "I had a touch with history."

This article was originally published on May 14, 2016.

David McDonnell (he/him), "the maitre’d of the science fiction universe," has dished up coverage of pop culture for more than three decades. He apparently still holds this galaxy’s record for editing more magazine pieces about Star Trek in total than any other individual, human or alien.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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