After joining the Star Trek universe with a leading role on Starfleet Academy, Zoe Steiner expressed gratitude for the franchise’s efforts to foster inclusivity on and off screen.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academypremiering on Thursday, January 15, follows Starfleet’s first new class of cadets in over a century as they come of age and train to become officers. Steiner makes her debut in the second episode as Tarima Sadal, daughter of the president of Betazed and a new student at the school. His character – and the rest of the Sadal family – use American Sign Language to communicate through their father’s (Antoine Natale) hearing loss.
“It was amazing. We had a sign language coach and we had several intensive sessions where they filmed our line signing so we could practice it. It’s just another great example of how inclusive Star Trek is,” Steiner exclusively told Us Weekly. “Literally everyone can be represented. »
Steiner was grateful for the opportunity to learn some ASL for the role, adding, “It was amazing to learn what little I had. There’s so much soul in the sign and I was really struck by my coach and Anthony. Just the heart [of the language] when he signs, you feel everything.
Before joining the franchise, Steiner remembers not knowing “a lot” about everything. Star Trekwhich worked in his favor.
“It helped me not have too many preconceived ideas about the characters. Like most people, obviously, I know the original series. Once the casting was done, I delved into everything,” she shared with We. “At the very beginning I was very nervous and worried that I hadn’t seen many. So I did a very deep dive and then had to find my way back.”
Steiner continued, “Of course I need to be informed and understand the world, but ultimately – for me as an actor – the story I need to convey is the one we’re telling right now.”
The actress was grateful for the way the showrunners Alex Kurtzman And Noga Landau immediately introduced the world to the page.
“With Tarima, literally, the moment I got the first audition side, I felt so connected to her. There are differences, but deep down there wasn’t much to create. It was more like, ‘Can I allow myself to jump into this?'” Steiner explained. “When I read the sides and got other scripts as they came in, it was like watching myself in a mirror. [Especially with her empathy]Since I was little, I have literally been told that I am too sensitive. And then to get a role where it’s not a weakness at all, it’s such a gift.
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Steiner acknowledged that while it was “really difficult” at times, exploring a character so emotionally driven was “a gift.”
“The whole team has been very collaborative from the beginning. It’s been amazing. Once I was cast, we all got the first eight episodes. So I was able to trace her emotional journey, which was really helpful. When we first meet her, she feels quite restricted. There’s this element of status and the restrictions that come with it,” she teased. “But she also has these emotional walls. It’s kind of a fear of her sensitivity and her empathy.”
Steiner added: “That’s where we meet Tarima. Then her arc begins when she meets Caleb, played by Sandro Rosta, who is incredible. She sees in him a [sense of] freedom. He sees something in her. They are a bit like two magnets. Over the course of the season, we see her journey to become freer and integrate her empathic abilities and come to view them as a superpower.
New episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
