Those responsible Star Trek have always had a knack for winning top-class actors for their sometimes very special sci-fi franchise. One of the biggest casting coups was probably the casting of Alfre Woodard, who met Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Co. in the film Star Trek VIII – First Contact.
That the multiple Emmy and Grammy award winner The fact that the director and Riker actor Jonathan Frakes (who was almost the same age) was her godson was the main reason why she agreed to do this. She is also friends with Geordi actor LeVar Burton.
Star Trek Explosion was not set to stun
Years later, in an interview with Collider (via Looper), Woodard recalled how tough it was to shoot the action-oriented movie, in which her character Lily Sloane has to deal with the Enterprise-D crew and the Borg via time travel shenanigans. One dangerous action scene in particular remained in her memory:
We had been rehearsing it for hours and when it happened the explosion was so intense that it completely blew us away. We just fell over as hard as we could. Me and [James Cromwell] but managed to hold our faces up and say our lines. Afterwards I ran to Jonathan, my arms were bleeding, the skin was gone and obviously the costume was broken. I told him, ‘Jonathan, I ruined my costume and my arms are bleeding.’ And he said, ‘That’s okay, we got it!’, and just walked away.
Not exactly the most pleasant filming souvenir, but the experienced actress seems to be able to laugh about it today and her relationship with Frakes also seems intact.
Paramount
Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard in Star Trek: First Contact
When it comes to Star Trek accidents involving explosions, Woodard is also in good company: During the filming of the original Star Trek series, Kirk actor William Shatner and his Spock colleague Leonard Nimoy were also too close to an explosion. They weren’t injured as badly as Woodard, but both suffered tinnitus as a result.
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Will there be another Star Trek film?
In addition to the current Trek series from Paramount+, the alternative has existed since 2009 Kelvin timeline, for which three films have been made so far. Fans have been waiting for a sequel since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, but after several attempts with several potential creative minds it is still burning in development hell.
Most recently it was said that Star Wars: Andor director Toby Haynes should make a prequel. This would take place decades before the adventures of Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew. Whether this project will actually come to fruition is still up in the air.