Holly Hunter reveals the surprising inspiration for her barefoot Starfleet Academy captain, a character designed to be the antithesis of rigid military leadership and a beacon of playful wisdom.
In a franchise known for its stoic captains and formal protocols, Holly Hunter’s Captain Nahla Ake stands out. The Oscar-winning actress, who plays the chancellor of the newly relaunched Starfleet Academy and captain of its training vessel the *Athena* in the new Paramount+ series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, has embraced a unique character trait: her captain rarely wears shoes. And Hunter couldn’t be more thrilled about it.
“I thought that was really fantastic,” Hunter tells People exclusively of the decision to have her character go barefoot on duty. “That’s fun, because it’s the antithesis of what you should do – people are wearing protective footwear – boots, maybe with steel toes. And there I am completely unprotected and trotting around, loping around, lazing around. Yeah, I like the opposition of it.”
This casual approach is central to Hunter’s interpretation of Ake, a 400-year-old half-Lathanite leader. “Because I’m the Starfleet chancellor as well as the captain, I wanted to avoid rigidity. I wanted to avoid formality and kind of a more militaristic posture,” Hunter, 67, explains. “I wanted to be adaptable and leaning into them and curious and playful. And I wanted to be approachable. I wanted to lead with some humor.”
The choice is not just a quirky detail; it’s a storytelling device. Ake’s informality projects a warmth that brings her down to the level of her unseasoned cadets, creating a mentor who feels accessible rather than untouchable. This reflects the character’s unique perspective gained from her extraordinary lifespan.
“I was really drawn to the character as soon as I read her, and I think it’s captivating to think about playing somebody who’s over 400 years old,” Hunter says. “Things shift in your mind. I can only imagine that your point of view and the world would be radically different after that much time has passed. I mean, things would fall away. Priorities would really announce themselves to you in a way that maybe they hadn’t when you were 30 or 40.”
Hunter delved deep into the character’s symbolism, researching the meaning of her name. “And her name means ‘water in the desert,’” she reveals. “And I thought that was kind of a cool little clue about who she is, because if you’re water in the desert, that means you could be nurturing to other people, too – but it’s also the actual element of water. I thought, maybe I could be that: maybe I could be fluid. Maybe I could take up space in a different way.”
This fluidity is combined with a feline grace, creating a leader who is both wise and surprisingly animalistic in her comfort. “There was something almost feline or animal or catlike about the character in my imagination. So I just kind of combined all of these ideas and played with them,” Hunter adds.
While Ake projects informality, she possesses the same strategic backbone and decisiveness as Starfleet’s legendary captains, a fact not lost on her co-star, Paul Giamatti, who plays the recurring villain Nus Braka. Giamatti was particularly struck by Hunter’s choices on set.
“The first time I saw her curl up in her chair on the bridge, I just thought, ‘That’s genius!” Giamatti tells People. “It says so much about the character and about the world and what it’s going to be like. I just thought what a brilliant choice she was for the captain, and then everything she was doing was so great.”
Hunter also credits the young cast of cadets for keeping her performance energized. “Those kids, they always are having fun,” she says. “And that is a great reminder to stay loose. It’s always been a bit of a mantra of mine to stay loose, and they remind me of that and I love that. And I love the casualness with which they approached the language, the words. It was just so current and off-the-cuff and fresh, new. They’ve got so much vitality. They’re so vivacious as a group that I wanted to be swimming in that water too.”
For Hunter, joining the Star Trek universe is a full-circle moment. She has fond memories of watching the original series with her father. “From the beginning, when I watched William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy with my father when the show first began in the ’60s and I was so impressionable, the show gave people a tremendous amount of comfort — there’s something comforting about the moral universe of Star Trek,” she reflects.
“I have never been attracted to movies or plays that sent me out a big message or claimed a moral correctness, a moral righteousness in the world. I’ve never really liked projects that delivered that kind of message. But I love the moral universe of Star Trek,” she states. “Now that I’m the age that I am, I find it very comforting, and I think that I’m not alone. People love the optimism about the future that Star Trek has, and has always had from Shatner on. It’s an optimistic story that goes on and on and on, and never loses its optimism.”
Through a character who is both a barefoot rebel and a wise elder statesman, Holly Hunter is proving that the future of Starfleet leadership can be as unconventional and hopeful as its past. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
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