Paul Giamatti's "Scary" New Star Trek Villain Praised By Starfleet Academy Actors & Showrunner

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cast and co-showrunner praise Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti's turn as season 1's "scary" villain. Executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy unveiled its first teaser trailer at San Diego Comic-Con, which revealed Giamatti as the villainous Nus Braka opposite Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter as Starfleet Academy's Chancellor, Captain Nahla Ake.

At San Diego Comic-Con, ScreenRant's Joe Deckelmeier spoke to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy co-showrunner Noga Landau and cast members Robert Picardo, Kerrice Brooks, and George Hawkins. Regarding Paul Giamatti's recurring villain, Landau called him a "bad, bad guy" while Brooks and Picardo spoke about what it was like to work with the Golden Globe winner. Read their quotes below:

ScreenRant: I love that Paul Giamatti is the villain of the season. What can you reveal about his character in Starfleet Academy?

Noga Landau: Nothing. He's a bad, bad guy. [Laughs]

ScreenRant: Did you guys get to work with him?

Kerrice Brooks: Yeah, but just to work with him, and also witness him in action, in person, insane. Literally insane. He's such a gracious dude, too. I think him and Holly, to bring it back to both of them, to watch both of them lead a set with so much grace, so much hard work, so much dedication, while also they can set the tone of the entire room, but for everyone to feel safe, to explore, to feel safe, to talk to them. It felt like a collaboration, always, at all times too, man. That's the stuff you dream about, literally, when you're sleeping. So when you're awake to see it, that's insane.

Robert Picardo: I was pretty jazzed when I first heard that Holly was going to lead us, and that Paul was going to play this incredible arc as a villain. He is funny, creepy, scary as the character in real life. He could not be a more wonderful professional to work with.

Why Paul Giamatti Makes A Perfect Star Trek Villain

Giamatti Chose To Be Star Trek's Newest Big Bad

Nus Braka in Starfleet Academy

Paul Giamatti is an A-list Hollywood star who brings gravitas, menace, and charisma as Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's villain. Giamatti has played bad guys before, from his breakout role as Pig Vomit in Howard Stern's Private Parts to playing the Rhino in The Amazing Spider-Man. Giamatti has also worked with younger actors, like his villainous turn opposite Frankie Muniz in Big Fat Liar.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy executive producer Alex Kurtzman told EW that they sent Paul Giamatti several scripts and offered him five different parts, with Giamatti choosing the villain. As a true professional of film and television, Giamatti was a pleasure to work with, as indicated by the praise from Kerrice Brooks and Robert Picardo, who are, respectively, a relative newcomer and a veteran actor.

Our Take On Paul Giamatti's Star Trek Villain

Giamatti Gets To Live His Dream Of Playing A Klingon

One of the coolest things about Paul Giamatti playing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1's main villain, Nus Braka, is that Giamatti is a lifelong Star Trek fan. Giamatti has wanted to be in Star Trek for his entire career, and his dream was to play a Klingon. Starfleet Academy made Giamatti's dream come true by casting him as Nus Braka, who is a Klingon and a Tellarite hybrid.

Paul Giamatti is already on his way to joining the legendary pantheon of Star Trek villains.

Paul Giamatti follows Star Trek's legacy of epic villains, like Ricardo Montalban's Khan, Alice Krige's Borg Queen, Eric Bana's Nero, and Jason Isaacs' Captain Gabriel Lorca. The true menace of Nus Braka is being kept under wraps by Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but judging by the praise of his cast mates and showrunner, Paul Giamatti is already on his way to joining the legendary pantheon of Star Trek villains.