The next live action Star Trek release may be the Section 31 streaming movie. We still don’t know much about the project starring Michelle Yeoh, but now one of the new actors is teasing a bit about his character.
A broken soul in Section 31
James Hiroyuki Liao was one of the seven actors announced as part of the cast of Star Trek: Section 31 in January, but with no character descriptions. He is out doing publicity now for a role in the new Apple limited series Presumed Innocent and ScreenRant used the opportunity to talk about Trek. Liao was hesitant to say anything specific but did tease his character:
All I can say is that my guy is very, very intense. Without giving anything away, he’s a broken soul, and hurt people hurt people.
It sounds like Liao could be playing a bad guy, which there should be plenty of in a streaming movie about Starfleet’s infamous Section 31 organization. The film stars Academy-award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh, reprising her Discovery role as former Terran Emperor turned Section 31 operative Phillipa Georgiou. The official synopsis notes how she is tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets,” but she “also must face the sins of her past.” Perhaps Liao’s character is related to some of those past sins.
The actor did talk about what it was like to work with Yeoh, saying:
He’s maybe one of the greatest characters I’ve had the chance to play, and working with my hero [Michelle Yeoh] for such a long time has just been an insane time for me. I’m working with so many people that I have admired for so long. Michelle Yeoh is just everything, and I loved working with her. It was such a special cast as well. I’ve been on cloud nine. I’m so lucky.
Liao is a Juilliard-trained actor with a long resume in Hollywood. He has recently appeared in HBO’s Barry and the Hulu limited series The Dropout. He has had a recurring role in the long-running CBS series Blue Bloods and is a series regular in the upcoming AMC show Orphan Black: Echoes.
James Hiroyuki Liao as Darros in Orphan Black: Echoes (Sophie Giraud/AMC)
Besides Yeoh’s Georgiou, we do know the Section 31 movie will include a younger Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), the future captain of the USS Enterprise-C from the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” indicating the streaming movie could be set in the “lost era” between the TOS movies and TNG era. The one official photo from the movie also reveals the back of the head of a new character named Dada Noe (Joe Pingue).
Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou and Joe Pingue as Dada Noe in Star Trek: Section 31 (Jan Thijs/Paramount+)
Production on the Section 31 streaming movie wrapped up in March. Paramount+ has yet to set a release date.
Keep up with news for the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
source: trekmovie.com