Strange New Worlds: Wesley Worries About Doing Right by Shatner's Kirk

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Strange New Worlds: Wesley Worries About Doing Right by Shatner's Kirk

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Paul Wesley discusses meeting TOS star William Shatner and doing enough to honor Shatner's James T. Kirk.

Published Wed, 16 Sep 2026 07:37:08 -0500
by Tom Chang
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When Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) took on the role of James T. Kirk for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, he knew he was in unfamiliar territory as the second actor to play the legendary Enterprise captain in live-action (after The Original Series William Shatner and Kelvin's Chris Pine, and yes, I'm aware of the TOS body-swapping series finale "The Turnabout Intruder" with Sandra Smith, but let's not split hairs), but this time, as a lieutenant, as the definitive final prequel to TOS if it not were Paramount passing on Year One. As a recurring role, the actor found himself more organically involved in the Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers series with each season. When he's not involved in his duties on the U.S.S. Farragut, he's splitting time on occasion with Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) U.S.S. Enterprise, and the latest episode, "Orders of Magnitude," represents arguably his greatest Kirk moment, showing how much he belongs in that captain's chair, locking horns with an overzealous, power-hungry admiral (Joe Morton) looking for revenge. Wesley spoke with PEOPLE about how he humbly measures up to his predecessor, whom he met by coincidence before filming.

Strange New Worlds Star Paul Wesley on Stepping into William Shatner's Shoes, Not Copying His Performance but Honoring the Character

Upon following Shatner's performance, who last played the role in live-action on-screen canon in 1994's Star Trek: Generations, "It was definitely a work in progress, and it is incredibly daunting, and by the way, that never leaves. In the back of my head, I'm constantly questioning, 'Am I doing enough to pay homage to what William Shatner did so beautifully?' Wesley said, "But at the same time, I need to let go and understand that I'm creating my own version of Kirk, and hopefully, adding layers that weren't seen because of whatever. He was at an older age, so I'm presenting some new parts of Kirk that are maybe different than the [TOS] Kirk that are needed so that we can understand why he becomes the man that he is."

Shatner's Kirk is certainly one of the most imitated in pop culture among impressionists, focusing more on his cadence than merely the weight of his scenes, which was something that Pine avoided for the Kelvin films, but parodied on Saturday Night Live, and Wesley avoided for SNW. He and Shatner interviewed each other for Interview as part of Star Trek's 60th anniversary. "The man has played Kirk, and he's been known as Kirk for so many years, and so when I'm around him, I don't talk 'Trek,'" Wesley told PEOPLE. "I just try to talk to him about things that two guys would talk about, and I think he appreciates that. I'm not sitting there asking him for pointers, because frankly, I think he's probably sick of talking about Kirk. And so, I just ask him how he's doing. And I think we get along quite well."

For more, including Wesley talking about how he bonds on and off camera with Spock actor Ethan Peck, getting to enjoy his time left as Kirk with season four ending its run and having already filmed the fifth and final season, and his upcoming The Vampire Diaries reunion with co-star Nina Dobrev for Hulu's You Deserve to Know, you can check out the entire interview. Strange New Worlds, which also stars Rebecca Romijn, Melissa Navia, Celia Rose Gooding, Christina Chong, Babs Olusanmokun, Jess Bush, and Martin Quinn, streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

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