‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Actress Melissa Navia Talks Ortegas’ Grit, Heart and Spot-On Sarcasm

[This story contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season one finale, “A Quality of Mercy.”] 

For Melissa Navia, hearing from actual pilots and soldiers that her character is among the most authentic on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds thanks to Lt. Erica Ortegas’ gallows humor is just about the best compliment she can receive.

The actress knew that the Enterprise’s tough (and at the right times sarcastic) helmsman was something special as soon as she auditioned — and Navia was determined to be a part of the Paramount+ show. She succeeded and brought her unique charm to the role, making Ortegas a fan favorite.

This week’s season one finale sees Ortegas — and the rest of the crew — in a different light, as they are in an alternate timeline for an episode that wonderfully mirrors “Balance of Terror” from Star Trek: The Original Series. The episode is notable for the surprise guest appearance of Capt. James Kirk, played by Paul Wesley, but also for being the second instance in the series of the cast playing a version of their characters outside the “usual” SNW realm. The first episode that really broke loose with imagination was episode eight, the highly entertaining “Elysian Kingdom.”

And yet, for Navia, her SWN journey has been bittersweet. On Dec. 17, 2021, her partner of nearly seven years, Brian Bannon, suddenly died of a rare, aggressive type of leukemia known as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

Bannon had been the actress’ rock and was with her for the entire first season’s filming in Toronto, and he was preparing to return with her for season two. In a heartbreaking social media post at the time, Navia talked about how much she loved her “soulmate” and how deeply she would miss him.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter prior to the season one finale, Navia talks about how she became a part of the show and how Bannon told her it was going to be special. The actress also discusses the joys of crafting Ortegas’ personality.

As I have asked so many of your castmates, how did you land your role in SNW? 

It was October 2020 and the industry switched from in-person auditions to self-taping. So when the audition came through for Ortegas, she was one of the few characters whose name and everything about her were listed in the breakdown. Some legacy characters had fake names. So, I could see she was a pilot, a combat veteran, she was Latina, and they had in there something like “She could crack a joke as easily as she could handle a phaser.”

It was one scene, and it was so well-written. I knew it was for a series regular, and I taped it with my partner Brian in our apartment. We had to send it straight to casting. I remember trying to submit it down to the wire. And then I kind of just forgot about it, and two weeks later, I got the call to meet with [showrunners] Henry [Alonso Myers] and Akiva [Goldsman] via Zoom. I did one more scene and then that was that. The rest was history. It’s taken so long for me to get here, and I just could never have expected it would have been this amazing, but here we are. Brian told me this series was going to be special. We jumped up and down when I got it.

Like so many, I am a huge Ortegas fan. That wicked side-eye and quips to break the tension in a stressful moment are delightful. How much of that is on the page and how much of that is you getting to play?

That’s a great question. I knew from the beginning there was a comic aspect to Ortegas and what she brings to the crew, but what I really wanted to avoid was the obvious comic relief. I always go back to the writing. I know I’m biased, but the writing is so well done, and it makes it easy to bring her to life. I could see in the scripts that the reason she’s able to break the tension and to have those moments — especially with Captain Pike — is because she is so skilled and so confident in what she does. And I love that.

She’s a soldier and pilot, and so much of what I’ve heard from actual soldiers and pilots is she is the most authentic crew member in that her gallows humor is exactly what happens in life and death situations. I see trolls on Twitter say, “She is not professional enough, or she’s not this enough,” which in my gut, I feel that misogyny. So, when I hear from actual soldiers and pilots that she absolutely is doing what they’re doing out there, that to me is the highest compliment.

In the season one finale, we finally see Ortegas and Pike clash big time. It is an alternate timeline, and they are not who we have come to know from the series, but how was playing an off-kilter version of the character?

Oh, my goodness. When I got the script for this episode, a “Balance of Terror” mirror, an alternate future, and more of an Ortegas-centric episode, it was very exciting. She is a combat veteran who has lost friends, she has lost family to the Romulans. So here, she is against Pike’s diplomatic attitude, which she has always agreed with prior and one of the reasons she was so loyal to him. And that’s a beautiful thing about Star Trek. We live within this one world, but then get to play in so many different worlds and our characters get to take on so many different aspects. I still remember the first time Kirk walks onto the bridge in that episode, and it wasn’t even something I planned, I just felt it in the moment, just how much Ortegas was suddenly loyal to this completely different captain.

And finally, we have got to talk about episode eight, “The Elysian Kingdom.” Babs told me in a previous interview, you all just had the best time and ruined so many takes laughing. Was that the most fun for you thus far?

That was one of the first episodes that we heard about, but just whispers. And I remember finally seeing a picture from the wardrobe department and hearing I was going to be sword-fighting! I have a martial arts background and definitely had done sword work before, so I couldn’t believe it! (Laughs.) I’m already in a dream role and now, I am going to another dream role!

I don’t think Babs fully understands just how funny he is. There were just so many takes ruined, as we would absolutely break character. We couldn’t help it! (Laughs.) The sword-fighting was — I mean, a sword fight in space, that’ll never get old. The stunt team was fantastic in helping me to prepare. And it was so fun to play opposite Anson, who is the opposite of what we are used to seeing on the bridge. So, I was able to be frustrated with him and just be so annoyed with him. And I’ll never forget the first day back on the bridge for the next episode, I felt weird because I had just spent nearly three weeks yelling at this man! (Laughs.) The whole thing was such a joy.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

The entire first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming now on Paramount+.