“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” is filling out its faculty.
Actor, comedian and writer Gina Yashere (“Bob Hearts Abishola”) has enrolled in the first season of the Paramount+ series as a recurring guest star, to play one of the instructors at the storied institution of higher learning.
She joins Holly Hunter, who leads the series as the captain and chancellor of Starfleet Academy, as well as Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané and Zoë Steiner as new cadets. Paul Giamatti will also recur as the main villain of the season.
According to the official logline, the show “introduces viewers to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”
Production will begin on the series later this summer, and fans are due to get their first preview of the series at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday.
Yashere was the co-creator and showrunner of the sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola,” which ran for five seasons on CBS. She got her start in the U.S. as a finalist on “Last Comic Standing,” and has appeared as a comedian on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” “Def Comedy Jam,” “Live at the Apollo” and “The Tonight Show.” She’s also acted on “The Neighborhood,” “Crashing,” and “The Barbarian and the Troll.”
Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau are the co-showrunners and executive producers of “Starfleet Academy,” and executive producer Gaia Violo wrote the premiere episode. Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, and John Weber also executive produce. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainmen, and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Gina Yashere is repped by Lieberman Entertainment, Buchwald and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC.