Paul Giamatti Discusses His Upcoming Role As The Villian Nus Braka In ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy follows aspiring cadets in the 32nd century, with Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter leading the opposing forces.

Actor Paul Giamatti is set to officially join the Star Trek universe as the series villain in the first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, premiering only on Paramount+ January 15th. The show kicks off a year-long celebration for the 60th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s celebrated franchise.

Giamatti, known for playing dramatic and often understated roles, like the ones that garnered him Oscar nominations in 2005’s Cinderella Man and 2023’s The Holdovers, appears as the evil nemesis Nus Braka, a diabolical half-Klingon/half-Tellarite who shares a deep-seated resentment toward the United Federation of Planets.

The actor who has expressed a long-held desire to be in Star Trek for years, even creating a fan audition tape, was approached back in 2024 by executive producer Alex Kurtzman and offered a choice of either playing a bad guy or a seasoned Starfleet captain. He told Kurtzman that he wanted “to be an alien!” and have “something fun and crazy going on!” The producer obliged by giving him the role of an over-the-top alien villain Braka, finally fulfilling his longtime dream. Giamatti eventually ended up developing the aggressive character with Kurtzman, bringing out a unique, childlike menace to the role, which he described as a chance to be “as awful as possible” in a hopeful universe.

The series set in the 32nd century—the far-future era established in Star Trek: Discovery—follows the first new class of cadets in over a hundred years as they train to rebuild the Federation after a period of isolation and collapse.

In a battle of good vs. evil, Giamatti’s character, Nus, will be facing off against Holly Hunter’s character, Nahla Ake, who serves as the Chancellor of the newly created Starfleet Academy. The veteran actor explained in a recent interview with TV Insider that he felt a “glee” upon learning Hunter was cast, calling her a “brilliant choice.”

“I had heard that you were considering the part and that was very exciting to me because I thought it was a brilliant choice,” he says, turning to Hunter. “I thought this makes a lot of sense. It’s going to fit right, but it’s going to be different. And I don’t know what she’s going to do with it, but it’s going to be something great. So it was a big selling point for me.”

Hunter similarly noted she was “enthralled” by the opportunity to work with Giamatti, she said.

“I was immediately enthralled with reading it. I wanted to see what Paul was going to do next and could I do it with him? That was an unusual opportunity that was presented.”

Giamatti also went on to point out that his character Nus sees his enemy Nahla “as somebody who is his equal mentally and in terms of intellect and stuff like that.” So that ended up being delightful to him.

“He [Nus] likes to fight. He likes aggression and fighting. And she [Nahla] gives back as good as he gives. He gets it back. And so that kind of thing is exciting to him. I think he’s a little turned on by her; I’m not going to lie.”

As a lifelong Star Trek fan, Giamatti’s emphasized that the show feels like an “origin story” because it focuses on the foundational training of a new generation of cadets finding themselves at the Academy, exploring their friendships, rivalries, and first loves, while also featuring him as a complex villain with a past connected to one of the cadets, offering a fresh “entry point” for new fans into the Trek universe.

He believes the show will serve as a great way for those new fans to get into Star Trek because it’s less about deep lore and more about the core experience.

“You can watch it without needing to know much, and you’ll learn a lot. Starfleet Academy—throughout all the other series—is the basis of everything about the Federation. All the values of all the adventuring and boldly going. All of this stuff comes from Starfleet. So you’ll learn about the whole [franchise] if you watch it. But it’s its own thing. So it’s a good entry point.” He said via TrekCore.com

I’ll be honest, Giamatti is the major reason why I’m tuning in to watch the series this week. He’s truly a remarkable and memorable actor who has appeared in some of my favorite series and movies, most notably Sideways, Billions, Saving Private Ryan, and The Holdovers. I simply can’t get enough of his brilliance.

Watch the complete interview with TV Insider, featuring the cast introducing their characters and talking about their roles in the series below:

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, kicks off this Thursday.

“Live Long and Prosper”