Ethan Peck is up to play Spock in a Star Trek: Discovery spinoff

Among the many highlights of Star Trek: Discovery season 2 was Ethan Peck’s portrayal of Spock, and character originated by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series and later played by Zachary Quinto in several Star Trek films. Peck’s take sticks close to those interpretations, with Spock as a very serious, severe character with little room for emotion. He has a beard this time, though.

Peck was a great addition to season 2, as was Anson Mount as Captain Pike. In fact, they left many fans wanting a spinoff featuring their characters on the Starship Enterprise before Captain Kirk took command. Speaking at the Trekonderoga convention in Ticonderoga, New York this past weekend, Peck said he shared their dream.

“Such Sweet Sorrow” — Ep#213 — Pictured (l-r): Anthony Rapp as Stamets; Doug Jones as Saru; Shazad Latif as Tyler; Ethan Peck as Spock; Ronnie Rowe as Bryce; Oyin Oladejo as Owosekun; Patrick Kwok-Choon as Rhys; Mary Wiseman as Tilly of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Ben Mark Holzberg/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

But it took a while for him to get there. At first, he wasn’t sure if fans would take to his version of the character, or how long he would stick around. “They had to completely block out my eyebrows because of a contractual situation for me,” he said, referring to how the team applied Spock’s distinctive makeup. “I’m not sure they thought I was going to work. So they were like ‘probably five episodes,’ and I took that to mean that they were rolling the dice with me a little bit.”

"This is such a special character that is special to so many people… and I totally could have cracked and crumbled under pressure — and I thought I might, too. So they had me episode-by-episode and to do this (shaving his eyebrows) would really take me out of other work opportunities.So, hopefully… Anson (Mount), Rebecca (Romijn) and I are all hoping to have a spinoff of our own and we can do all this proper."

As far as getting ready for the role of Spock, Peck says he “took it deadly seriously.”

"It meant so much to me to be chosen for the role. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I first auditioned for it—I knew it was for Star Trek. By the end of the process, it was revealed to me which character it was and I was so flooded with fear because of the expectations of this character, of the role and the actor that would play him. It was a very meticulous process. When I’m sitting in prosthetics, I’m beginning to have ‘Spock thoughts,’ is what I would call them. Just sort of thinking about… What does it feel like to be on the ship? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What is it like to be away from your whole planet?"

Visually, the most distinctive thing about Peck’s Spock is his beard, which was as surprising for Peck as it was for fans. “About a month before I went out (to start filming), Alex Kurtzman, the showrunner—who became the showrunner as I joined the show—he was like ‘don’t shave,’” Peck remembered. “When he told me that Spock was going to have a beard, I was like ‘Oh, shoot. I’m going to be Spock with a beard, people are going to absolutely smash me online. And of course a lot of people did—which is is fine, it’s to be expected.”

"I remember we were at dinner in New York for New York Comic Con—it was the first time I had appeared since I had been cast and I sat next to him, when he told me about Michael (Burnham) leaving and putting a nice little bow on her non-existence for cannon, and he told me I would walk out shaven and we would be on our way (aboard the Enterprise)."

Peck is referring to the season 2 finale, where his adoptive sister Michael Burnham and the crew of the Starship Discovery jump through a wormhole into the future. The next time we see Spock, he’s clean-shaven and ready to resume his duties aboard the Enterprise with Pike as captain.

And if, by some chance, CBS All Access gave Mount and Peck a chance to star in a Captain Pike series, what about Spock would he like to explore most?

"I would like to enjoy his impulsiveness and his danger. You have this being that’s hyper-strong, hyper-intelligent, hyper-emotional, I think. And to have him be a little more impulsive and to have him wield his formidable powers—I don’t know what that looks like but maybe a little more action."

Who knows? Now that CBS and Viacom are partners again, maybe even more Star Trek shows are coming down the pipeline, although there are plenty on the way already.

Is now the time to make a show about Spock and Pike? Make it so, CBS.

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h/t TrekNews