After years of being a Star Trek fan, actress Tawny Newsome now gets to contribute to the franchise on multiple fronts. Since 2020, she’s been voicing Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Lower Decks, and earlier this year, she portrayed the character in live-action for the first time in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossover episode “Those Old Scientists.” Then in March, Newsome announced that she’s also one of the writers attached to the upcoming Star Trek TV show Starfleet Academy. Even this early on in the creative process though, she is well aware of her added responsibility, noting to CinemaBlend that “it’s one thing to fuck up an actress,” but another to do that while on a writing staff.
While the majority of my recent conversation with Newsome revolved around Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, which can be watched in its entirety with a Paramount+ subscription, I also inquired with her about how things are coming along with Starfleet Academy. She started off by saying this:
