Besides sharing some good Star Trek memes, actor Anson Mount hasn’t spoken publicly about being cast as Captain Christopher Pike for the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. However, he has now opened up a bit on his podcast, The Well.

Mount happy to join the Star Trek family

The episode of Mount’s podcast released today appears to have been recorded in May, during production on the second episode of Discovery’s second season. Speaking to his co-host Branan Edgens, Mount spoke about what it means to him to be cast in Star Trek

Getting cast in Star Trek is not like getting any other job. It is also kind of a rite of passage that various actors get to enjoy. It’s nuts. You are not just joining a cast, you are joining cultural touchstone. It’s a big family. Jonathan Frakes, who played “Number One” in Star Trek: The Next Generation, he’s our current director for episode two. And of course, I worked with Colm Meaney [on Hell on Wheels] and they are constantly asking me about Colm, and Marvin Rush, who was the [Director of Photography] on Hell on Wheels, shot a lot of Star Trek.

Impressed with scope, dealing with schedule

Mount also talked about the scale of the Discovery production:

It is the biggest production I have ever been a part of, and I don’t just mean TV production, I mean anything. We take up six soundstages. It is enormous – the sets and the whole machine of it all – sometimes running two units at once.

During the podcast, the actor noted that he has spent long weeks on the production in Toronto, lamenting how he hadn’t been home for a while and he missed his wife. However, he did add that he had one consolation:

The hours are killer, really long hours. I am up here with Mac [his dog] and Mac has been very patient with the process. He gets a lot of attention on set and snores at inopportune times.

Shortly after production started in April, Mount shared a photo of himself with Mac in his trailer.

Listen to Mount’s podcast

Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusively in the USA on CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on Space and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.