Holly Hunter explained why her Star Trek: Starfleet Academy walks around barefoot.
First, Hunter shared that it was showrunner and producer Alex Kurtzman’s idea during a press conference for the Television Critics Association (TCA). She said, “ Alex [Kurtzman] had written that my character was barefoot, and I loved that.”
“That kind of opened up this whole idea of what she might be like, physically, for me,” she added.
Hunter, who plays Chancellor Nahla Ake, shared more details in an interview with Reactor Magazine, “It had to do with her being [part-Lanthanite], and it also had to do with my name, which is ‘water in the desert.’”
Hunter also insinuated that this is the reason why her character is always in weird positions, “Wherever I am, whatever environment that I’m in, I’m going to explore it with my body. It gave every scene, many scenes, a whole different vibe, a different texture, and it put me in a different place.”
Additionally, in a separate interview with People, Hunter claimed it’s also about sending a message of opposition. She explained, “That's fun, because it's the antithesis of what you should do – people are wearing protective footwear – boots, maybe with steel toes. And there I am completely unprotected and trotting around, loping around, lazing around. Yeah, I like the opposition of it.”
“Because I'm the Starfleet chancellor as well as the captain, I wanted to avoid rigidity. I wanted to avoid formality and kind of a more militaristic posture,” she elaborated. “I wanted to be adaptable and leaning into them and curious and playful. And I wanted to be approachable. I wanted to lead with some humor.”
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Suuuure. Why would you have silly things like “military posture” in a… /checks notes/… Ah yes! Military organization!
Instead it’s all “Hullo fellow kids! Im the chancellor, but the COOL
chancellor! I listen to rap music and get down with the clown just like you guys! And on Fridays, we may or may not do shots! (Wink-wink!) Don’t tell your parents though, they’re probably squares and not hip like me!”
Ffs, man.
They really ruined this franchise. I’d be good with like a decades long break after this shitshow.
So goddamn retarded!
“Why is the captain constantly barefoot? Kinda weird!”
*”Well you see, it’s because she’s an alien and stuff!”