Being set so far into Star Trek's future means it's tricky for Starfleet Academy to recall former franchise actors, but the new Paramount+ show just did it again. While Robert Picardo's Doctor is the most prominent returning Star Trek icon, Episode 5, "Series Acclimation Mil," allows another Starfleet Academy comeback. However, this time out, they're playing a different character, who is also surprisingly familiar.
Tawny Newsome voiced Ensign (and eventually Lieutenant) Beckett Mariner in all 50 episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Despite fans being initially dubious about an animated sitcom being added to the franchise canon, the show ultimately turned out to be one of the most successful Star Trek projects of the modern era. While Newsome did reprise her Lower Decks role in live-action during a 2023 crossover with Strange New Worlds, that isn't who she's playing in Starfleet Academy. The truth is somehow even more exciting.
Tawny Newsome's surprise Star Trek character reveal explained
Also attached to the show as a producer and writer, Newsome makes her on-screen debut in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, Episode 5, "Series Acclimation Mil." She's initially implied to be a brand-new character. It is, after all, Star Trek's 32nd century. So, there are very few familiar figures from other shows who could have survived so long. However, as the episode expires, Newsome is revealed to be playing Illa Dax, the latest host of the Trill symbiont who featured throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
"Series Acclimation Mil" is packed with Deep Space Nine references, making the episode a love letter to the classic-era show. The return of Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko is perhaps the highlight in this respect, but Newsome's casting as the latest Dax host comes in as a close second. With the installment revolving so heavily around the mystery of Avery Brooks' Captain Sisko, it's pretty cool having someone like Dax around who had such a close friendship with the late Starfleet legend.
Dax spent most of Deep Space Nine joined to Jadzia, played by Terry Farrell. The symbiont then spent the show's seventh and final season joined to Nicole de Boer's Ezri after Jadzia's death. So, before Illa's introduction, Ezri Dax was the last canonical update we had on the character. While each individual host does have their own personality, the memories stack and are stored within the symbiont, giving a loose impression of immortality.
Illa is different from many of her predecessors. While the Dax hosts traditionally belong to the Trill race, Newsome's new character appears to have a mixed lineage, some of which seems to be Cardassian. Given how much time has passed since Deep Space Nine and how common interspecies breeding has become by the 32nd century, this isn't all that surprising. There were probably other hosts between Ezri and Illa who were also not completely Trill. That said, making Illa part-Cardassian makes sense in "Series Acclimation Mil," as the race was particularly ubiquitous in Deep Space Nine.
Tawny Newsome is set to become an even more important Star Trek figure
Newsome isn't the only actor to have played multiple Star Trek roles, but it does put her in a relatively specific group. She'll probably never reach the character count of franchise legend Jeffrey Combs, but I would assume that isn't her goal. What she will want to do is get her upcoming live-action Star Trek comedy off the ground. Currently without a title and written in partnership with Dear White People's Justin Simien, Newsome has been working on her show for quite some time. It hasn't yet received the green light at Paramount, but it's largely expected to happen.
Speaking with TrekMovie at the Starfleet Academy premiere in January, Newsome provided an update on her upcoming project: “The conversations that I have had is, ‘Hey, we finished writing it,’ and everyone said, ‘Yep, we love it.’ And then we turned it in, and then it was Christmas. The business is in an interesting place right now. Who knows?”
There is, understandably, very little information about the show at present, other than it is supposedly finished. If it is set in the 32nd century, then it's possible Newsome could also be playing Illa Dax. Alternatively, a 24th-century setting opens the door for her to play Mariner again in live-action. She may not even be planning to appear in the series at all. Regardless, Newsome has proven her comedic Star Trek chops, and her brief appearance in Starfleet Academy so far proves she isn't just capable of irreverent wisecracking.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 drops a new episode on Paramount+ every Thursday. The finale arrives on March 12, 2026.