Toronto Comicon happened this past weekend, and Strange New Pod was in attendance at the event. The three-day convention at the Metro Convention Centre celebrates all things comics, anime, and of course, Science-Fiction. Saturday was a day for the Trekkies to celebrate their fandom.
With Star Trek interest being high on Saturday, things started off with a cosplay meet-up of Starfleet personnel. Over the weekend, many uniform variations were glimpsed, but the most common was, unsurprisingly, Strange New World-era uniform. But even with this popular uniform, cosplayers found a way to stand out, such as daynatasha_64, in a ripped and bloodied red shirt, with a handcrafted baby Gorn (with tiny Aenar antennae, marking it as one of Hemmer’s babies) on her shoulder. This meet-up even attracted the attention of a non-costumed Trekkie, wanting the scoop on how to dress in your Starfleet finest. The Strange New Crew were happy to provide information on locating uniforms. We’re always going to encourage more people to represent Starfleet.
As fun as it is interacting with other Trekkies, the event everyone was looking forward to was the afternoon panel with Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Christina Chong. They were joined by a surprise fourth cast member: Runa Ewok, Christina Chong’s dog, who played Princess Thalia’s dog in “The Elysian Kingdom.”
Moderator Victor Dandridge started off with a generic panel question, asking if this was the cast’s first time in Toronto. Peck took the opportunity to tease him, saying it was because revealing the show, in fact, films in the Toronto area. They had actually been filming until two am the previous night, making their bright-eyed appearances at Comicon quite admirable.
The majority of the panel was spent fielding questions from the multitude of audience members. There was a lot of discussion of the legacy of Star Trek that Strange New Worlds carries on. Peck said that legacy is at the forefront of every single thing they do on the show, with Anson adding that there are people on staff who do nothing but make sure the show works with Star Trek’s past. About playing a character that is a descendant of another, Chong watched “Space Seed” and Wrath of Khan in preparation for her role of La’an, but realized quite quickly La’an was a very different character from Khan. Upon receiving the compliment that he was one of the best Spocks, Peck joked that he was “glad to make the top three.” He also said he tries to think about what Nimoy would say lines, so there can be a fidelity between the performances. Mount feels a sense of pride when something he personally established ends up making it onto Memory Alpha.
The technically impressive musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody” was a well-covered topic. Peck seemed to be the cast member who was most nervous about the musical going in, saying he was “in shock.” He also blamed Chong for the episode, as she’d been pushing it in season one. Chong joked, “When I want something, I get it.” and pointed out that the episode made sense due to Celia Rose Gooding being a Grammy winner and Rebecca Romijn’s performance in the Short Trek “Q&A”. Mount praises the crew in Toronto for making the process of making the musical such a smooth one. In discussing how songs were written for the characters, each of the actors sang for the songwriters to establish what fit their vocal ranges. Chong sang “Summertime”, while Peck sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” On the songs they actually received, both Mount and Chong were surprised by the ultimate choices for their characters, with Chong being slightly disappointed she received the “I want” ballad rather than something jazzy.
There was also quite a bit of discussion of Pike’s cooking hobby. Mount said it was his idea to add to Pike’s personality, justifying it with the idea that captains are allowed to add one major thing to their quarters to personalize them. Since “he couldn’t have the horse”, he chose a full kitchen to bond with his crew. The cooking hobby was also solely from Mount, and not based on previous chefs Riker or Sisko.
Some questions brought out some very personal insights. When a half-Asian woman asks about Chong’s experience as a mixed-race woman, Chong revealed she was bullied as a child and wanted to deny her Asian heritage. When she started acting, many casting directors had no idea what to do with her, especially in the UK, until she found an agent who would put her up for everything regardless of race. She also loves that people are looking up to her because of her role on Strange New Worlds. She even admitted to crying when it was brought to her attention the first time.
Mount also recounted the story of his near-death experience when a fan, who had listened to Mount and Peck discussing the subject on Mount’s podcast, wanted to know if filming harrowing action scenes retraumatized them. Both Peck and Mount said that thinking about the experience informs their acting, as they remember how scary it was.
All three praised the city. While they’ve only gotten to really explore Toronto during the filming of the third season, due to COVID restrictions during seasons one and two, they all enjoy the city. Peck and Mount praised the parks, with Peck being particularly impressed with the amount of green possible in a major city. Chong expressed her admiration for the music scene, and she and Peck talked about going clubbing for his birthday and attending concerts at Toronto landmarks like The Opera House.
There was also plenty of silliness. When asked what technology they’d like from Trek, Chong and Peck, unsurprisingly, the transporter, but Mount got guffaws by saying he wanted “whatever nanotech Pike uses on his hair.”
Peck delightedly shared his workout routine, laughing heartily at the moniker of “Buff Spock.” He is quite a dedicated weight-lifter. He also expressed his deep desire to be “one of those really strong old guys” in the future.
When asked who was a Dungeons & Dragons fan because it seemed obvious how much fun people were having filming “The Elysian Kingdom”, Mount revealed he had, but could no longer found the time (showing admiration for Picard’s Todd Stashwick being able to dedicate so much time to it). Peck talked about his love of the card game “Magic: The Gathering.”
Asked about their dream roles, Chong said Roxy Hart in the musical Chicago. Both Peck and Mount said that Strange New Worlds might well be their dream jobs.
Outside of Strange New Worlds, Discovery actor Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Cmdr. Rhys) appeared on the live podcast “Spooked!”, where, with hosts Cody Crain and Damien Doepping, they listened to ghost stories from the audience.
For Canadian fans of Star Trek, it was a good day.
Toronto Comicon is run by Fan Expo HQ, which also hosts Fan Expo Canada, Megacon Orlando, Fan Expo Denver, Calgary Expo, Fan Expo Chicago, Fan Expo Dallas, Fan Expo Boston, Fan Expo Philadelphia, Edmonton Expo, Fan Expo San Francisco, Toronto Comicon, Fan Expo Cleveland, Fan Expo New Orleans, Fan Expo Portland, Fan Expo Vancouver, and Dallas Fan Festival.
Their next event, Fan Expo Cleveland, is April 12–14 and will feature Brent Spiner as a guest.
