Another iconic Star Trek character will make her debut on this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “An Obol for Charon.” We’re talking about Number One, played by Majel Barrett in “The Cage,” the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot. Stepping into the role is none other than Rebecca Romijn, whose many previous genre credits include several X-Men adventures (as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique), Rollerball, Godsend, Eastwick, The Librarians, The Death of Superman and The Reign of Superman. StarTrek.com chatted with Romijn on the red carpet at last month’s Discovery season-two kickoff event in New York City. Here’s what she had to say…



How big a Trek fan were you growing up?

StarTrek.com Star Trek: The Original Series

I was a major Trek fan as a child. I watched The Original Series with my mom. I lost my mom two years ago, and so being on this set, specifically the set I was on, which I'm not allowed to talk about, made me cry. And it made me think about my mom a lot. It was very emotional.

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Oh my God. Well, I actually made a joke. I was like, "She would die, again."



How did this opportunity come your way?

StarTrek.com Anson Mount as Captain Pike and Rebecca Romijn as Number One

I got a call about playing an iconic role on Star Trek, no more details than that, and I jumped, because it's a franchise I've always loved, that I've always been a viewer of and a fan of. With this, with the fandom, which spans decades and is so vast and so huge, you don't want to let anybody down. There's added pressure to not let anybody down, especially with a character that's already so well known to people, though the interesting thing is that people don’t really know much about her.



How many blanks will Discovery fill in about her?

StarTrek.com Captain Pike and Number One

Well, we don't know how vast her skill set is, but she's got a skill set that goes deep. Captain Pike, obviously, relies on her for a lot. I don't even think we, in this season, get to know how much she knows. I know that he's comfortable leaving her in charge of the Enterprise when he's not there. I’m going to stop there because I don’t want to get myself in trouble.



For background, did you watch “The Cage”?

I did. I checked out anything I could.



What did you take away from it?

That she knows her sh-t. She knows her sh-t.



How welcoming was the Discovery cast and crew?

StarTrek.com Discovery cast at the red carpet premiere of Season Two

Very welcoming. It's the loveliest group of people, an amazing set, like a jaw-dropping set, so gorgeous. The cast is incredible. Everybody is incredible. The crew is flawless. It's a perfect situation.



Star Trek: Discovery streams exclusively on CBS All Access in the United States and is distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space Channel and OTT service Crave.