Anson Mount Reveals His ‘Star Trek’ Plans After ‘Strange New Worlds’ Ends (Exclusive)

Nearly a decade into his time in the Star Trek franchise, Anson Mount has helped redefine Starfleet’s heroic Capt. Christopher Pike, first on Discovery and then on Strange New Worlds. But Mount has also navigated the potential wormhole of playing a character whose fate is already written, and one he’s been made aware of in various visions. (As fans of the original series recall, Pike will eventually be paralyzed after saving cadets from delta ray radiation.) That knowledge hasn’t diminished the actor’s journey; far from it.

For Mount, Star Trek connects his childhood imagination to his present-day reality on the Enterprise bridge. Strange New Worlds, which continues to take creative risks, has already wrapped production on Season 4 as well as a six-episode fifth and final season. As the 53-year-old Mount stood in his Nashville garage, prepping his latest pottery creations, he reflected on the legacy of the long-running franchise.

What’s more surreal, that it’s Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary or that it’s been nearly 10 years since you joined the franchise?

Anson Mount: My mother introduced me to the show when I was about 7 or 8, when the original series was running in syndication on a local UHF channel, Sunday nights, six o’clock, channel 13. So, it’s the longest a job has ever remained surreal to me. Literally every day, right up until filming the last [Strange New Worlds] episode, there were moments where I’d look around and say, “I cannot believe I’m on Star Trek,” followed by, “I cannot believe I’m the captain of the Enterprise.” That was my make-believe game as a child.

It’s also the job that allowed me to have the bravery to have a family. When you choose to be an actor, having a family is not a given. Most of my actor friends have chosen not to have children because of the realities of this career. Star Trek gave me a good job for a long time, and the ability to enter into this convention world. I’m eternally grateful to the fans; this has completely changed my life.

Pike knew at the beginning of the series what his eventual fate would be. How did that influence your portrayal?

Pike had to come to the realization that the journey is the destination. We all know we’re going to die, but you can’t go around thinking about your impending death. If you’re going to be grateful for this life, you have to go and live it. We knew that we had to tell that particular morality tale at the beginning, or the show wouldn’t work.

The series takes massive swings, including an animated crossover and a musical episode. How much more of that is on the way?

We’ve announced a puppet episode. That’s as wide a swing as I could imagine us taking. At the same time, I feel like Season 4 might be our best. I learned to stop questioning it. There are so many instances where I went to [executive producers] Akiva [Goldsman] and Henry [Alonso Myers] and said, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Every time, the episode I was talking about would end up popping in some way, and the network and audience would love it. I’m just going to go with whatever they decide to do, because I’m always wrong.

What are the chances, especially considering Pike’s likely destiny, that we’ll see you as that character again sometime in the future after Strange New Worlds ends?

I’ve learned in this business, never say never. And who knows? But you have to be able to not hold on to things. Live in the moment. That’s both an acting lesson and a life lesson, and you really have to get good at it if you’re going to live this life. So I say, “You never know.” I got a call [in 2022] from Kevin Feige to come back and play Black Bolt [in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]. That was great. Never say never. But at the same time, don’t hold on to anything.

Pardon the pun, but how strange is it that you’ve wrapped the show but still have 16 episodes to air over two seasons?

It’s a soft landing, because it’s very hard to say goodbye to everybody. But then I know that I’m going to be seeing my cast to launch [Season 4]. And that feels really good.

Can you share a Star Trek legacy moment that sticks out for you?

When I had to record the opening [“Space, the final frontier…”] monologue — imagine the pressure. It is the single most famous piece of dialogue in the history of television, and I was being asked to record it. We were working on it, and I said, “Guys, can we take a moment to acknowledge that we’re all gonna remember this moment for the rest of our lives?” And then I realized William Shatner was [in space] at that exact moment. You can’t make that up. Later, I told [Shatner] the story, and he said, “I don’t think I ever got it right.” He meant the monologue! He was never sure what it was — was it a monologue, was it a captain’s log? And that was an incredible lesson: You have to keep searching. It’s never done.