4 Minutes with Discovery's Number One, Rebecca Romijn

Another iconic Star Trek character made their debut on "An Obol for Charon," the second season episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

We’re talking about Number One, played by Majel Barrett in “The Cage,” the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot. Stepping into the role is none other than Rebecca Romijn, whose many previous genre credits include several X-Men adventures (as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique), Rollerball, Godsend, Eastwick, The Librarians, The Death of Superman and The Reign of Superman.

StarTrek.com chatted with Romijn on the red carpet at Discovery Season 2 kickoff event in New York City.

StarTrek.com: How big a Trek fan were you growing up?

Rebecca Romijn: I was a major Trek fan as a child. I watched The Original Series with my mom. I lost my mom two years ago, and so being on this set, specifically the set I was on, which I'm not allowed to talk about, made me cry. And it made me think about my mom a lot. It was very emotional.

StarTrek.com: How do you think she’d would have reacted to know that you’re now on a Star Trek show?

Rebecca Romijn: Oh my God. Well, I actually made a joke. I was like, "She would die, again."

StarTrek.com: How did this opportunity come your way?

Rebecca Romijn: I got a call about playing an iconic role on Star Trek, no more details than that, and I jumped, because it's a franchise I've always loved, that I've always been a viewer of and a fan of.

With this, with the fandom, which spans decades and is so vast and so huge, you don't want to let anybody down. There's added pressure to not let anybody down, especially with a character that's already so well known to people. Though, the interesting thing is that people don’t really know much about her.

StarTrek.com: How many blanks will Discovery fill in about her?

Rebecca Romijn: Well, we don't know how vast her skill set is, but she's got a skill set that goes deep. Captain Pike, obviously, relies on her for a lot. I don't even think we, in this season, get to know how much she knows. I know that he's comfortable leaving her in charge of the Enterprise when he's not there. I’m going to stop there because I don’t want to get myself in trouble.

StarTrek.com: For background, did you watch “The Cage”?

Rebecca Romijn: I did. I checked out anything I could.

StarTrek.com: What did you take away from it?

Rebecca Romijn: That she knows her sh-t. She knows her sh-t.

StarTrek.com: How welcoming was the Discovery cast and crew?

Rebecca Romijn: Very welcoming. It's the loveliest group of people, an amazing set, like a jaw-dropping set, so gorgeous. The cast is incredible. Everybody is incredible. The crew is flawless. It's a perfect situation.

This article was originally published on February 6, 2019.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. Internationally, the series is available on Paramount+ in Australia, Italy, Latin America, the U.K. and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. It will also stream exclusively on Paramount+ in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria later this year. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Star Trek: Short Treks streams exclusively in the United States on Paramount+ and in Canada on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Latin America, Australia & the Nordics. The series will air on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel & stream on Crave in Canada with additional international availability to be announced at a later date. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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