Melissa Navia is BACK! It's like she never left the Open Pike Night Stage but holy cow, the last time we heard from her on the podcast was October 2022. The long-awaited return of our favorite Star Trek Strange New Worlds pilot is at hand, so strap in, sit down, and let's fly!
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Melissa Navia: This is Melissa Nivea and you're listening to
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open pike night the podcast where you get to fly the ship
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John T Bolds: this thing on hello
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welcome to open fire ignite the strange two worlds podcast where
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your personal lungs are the prime directive. I'm your host
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John T bolds. here tonight with my co hosts and a fan favorite
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returning guest our callers have come out to spread the love for
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the pilot who makes the enterprise cut through space
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like a hot Lyrica through a soft Gorn. Vamanos Joining me tonight
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are my co hosts first up the man who will always listen when
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computer tells him how skilled he is at his job. He really
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doesn't get how social media works. Jesse Bailey,
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Jesse: I've heard that people on social media can tell that
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you're in your 30s if you use animated GIFs to communicate and
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let me just say the office Dwight it's true dot GIF
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John T Bolds: and the man who served his duty on the
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frontlines of the battle against darkness. Seriously, those
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Alaskan winters can be brutal hosts of green shirt, a newbie
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struck through the next generation Cameron.
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Cameron: The trick is you've got to keep your freezer of juggle
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stocked with your moose meat of juggle what you get from the
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butcher don't go.
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John T Bolds: And our guest tonight has the distinction of
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being the first ever combination strange new worlds actor opened
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by ignite collar and open pipe night interview guest she flies
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the ship she loves the fans and strange new worlds fans have
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screamed out for more and more and more Tigges please welcome
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Melissa Nivea back to the open pike night stage.
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Melissa Navia: Hey guys, how's it doing? I'm so so happy to be
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back.
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Cameron: We're so happy to have you back. Absolutely.
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John T Bolds: Fantastic. See you again. And after man. So much
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has happened since the last time we talked to you on open like
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date.
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Melissa Navia: I know it has been very long. I can't. I'm
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just trying to think about when we last spoke. And I was just
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like it's been years has been years.
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Cameron: We were just a baby little podcast back then just
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learning to walk.
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John T Bolds: It was October of 22. I think. Yeah. Yeah. For new
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listeners. Yeah. Melissa was our first interview ever on open mic
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night. We had just done episode reviews before that. Back then
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we weren't sure if the Colin format would work for an
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interview.
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Cameron: I will take full responsibility there. I thought
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it was so smart to be like, yeah, that won't work for an
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interview. We'll just kind of get them to call and we'll make
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a montage of great things. And a few episodes later, we're like,
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oh, no, the column format. It doesn't just work. It works
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really well. So we are so excited to be able to bring the
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listener question straight to this time. Unless, yeah,
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Melissa Navia: as am I. Tonight,
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John T Bolds: we're gonna let the callers get most of the
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time. And man, do we have I think more new callers than
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we've had on one episode since the beginning of open mic night.
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And we have lots of calls from Melissa. So
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Cameron: we've got a right into don't we? Yeah, we
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John T Bolds: even have a right in. So again, if this is early
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on, if you're if this is your first episode of open bike
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night, give us a call. We'll follow us at open
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pipe.substack.com Or just go to open pipe.com and find out how
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YouTube can get your voice on the podcast in the ears of your
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favorite strange new worlds.
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Creators.
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Cameron: Yeah, first couple of questions do kind of cover some
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stuff I think we at least touched on last time, but not
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everyone will have heard the interview. And as we just said,
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it's been a minute. So I think these are good. Good ways to
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ease us into the conversation again. Yeah.
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John T Bolds: First up is our right in Charles is Charlson new
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ridin does he so I think so. Our first new college Charles Yeah,
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they welcome to the open bike nine stage. Thank you for
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writing in Charles says I'm a big fan of yours. Thank you for
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being the helmsman of the amazing enterprise. Thank you
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for getting the crew to their destinations throughout the
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missions. I wanted to ask you two things if possible. First,
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what made you want to be part of the Star Trek universe? And
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second, your favorite Trek series and character? I wish I
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could get your autograph.
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Thanks, Charles. Oh, cool.
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Melissa Navia: I hope you get my autograph to one of these days,
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Charles. Wonderful. I'll just say Just quickly, I'm very happy
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that you guys are doing this because I always want to make
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sure that whenever I do a fan event or I do an interview that
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if if there are questions to be asked that I get to as many of
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them as possible, but anyone who's seen us at conventions,
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they see how impossible that is.
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So I'm happy that we're gonna have some time now to just
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really jump into questions and answer them. All right, Charles,
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let's go So what made you want to be part of the Star Trek
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universe? Well, first it was, I needed a job. So as an actor, we
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take the auditions as they come.
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Of course, if it's an audition that I am not vibing with, or if
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I don't like the story, or the script, or the character I, I
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wouldn't have have jumped on board even for the audition in
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the first place. But when I saw the audition for strange new
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worlds, when I saw the breakdown, as we call it, the
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description of the character, I was very fortunate in that, that
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there was no kind of secrecy around who I was playing, you
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know, some of our legacy characters, they, they thought
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they were playing somebody else.
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And then, and maybe that was a better thing for them, because
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there was less pressure to play somebody iconic. But for me, it
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was it was the character of Ortegas. And she was a pilot,
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and she was funny. And she was Latina, and she was a force to
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be reckoned with. And I remember reading the breakdown, and
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thinking, Yeah, this is, this is me, this is the perfect role,
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combination of roles that I've played before. And kind of
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everything that I want in a character, especially a series
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regular, because you have to be looking at these roles as
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somebody that you're not just going to play for an episode,
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but for a good portion of your life. And so I was just excited
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to be called in to audition. I opened pipe friends here and
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fans who are fans of of this podcast, and of me, they know
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the story that I've read, with my late partner, he taped me, he
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read with me, he edited everything. We sent it to
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casting directors directly because it was so top secret
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that it couldn't go through my reps. And and then I just
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waited. And I heard a few weeks later, I was getting a callback,
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and the rest is history. So what made me want to be a part of the
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Star Trek universe, I think it was destiny. In the end, I've
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been I've been acting for my whole life. And I've always
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wanted to be and have been a storyteller. And now that I'm
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part of the Star Trek family, do you know I have people who've
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known me for for a really long time. And you know, they've come
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to me, and they've said things like, you know, we always knew
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it was going to be Star Trek, which makes me really laugh,
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because I want to say, you know, I wish you'd told me back then
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when I was you know, struggling and trying to figure out what
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I'm doing with my life. But it just feels in so many ways like
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it fits and, and yeah, so I'm very, very happy to be here. And
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I do not take it for granted. I consider it a really big
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responsibility, not just as an actor, as this is my profession.
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But also, a lot of people look at this show as a part of their
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lives and a part of their memories. And it means so much
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more to them than just something that they tune into, on a
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regular or an occasional basis.
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Like it's a it's a it's a part of the fabric of who they are.
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And so I don't take that lightly. Then we have your
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favorite Trek series and character, strange new worlds,
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Eric Ortegas. No, I would say so. I'm often asked and will be
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asked forever is the question was a Trekkie before joining the
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show. And I would say that I would never have considered
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myself necessarily a Trekkie, like a hardcore Trek fan. Now,
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of course I do. But Star Trek is one of those things that it's
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been a part of our lives in one way or another. And for me
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growing up, that was the next generation. And so I would watch
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it, it would be on in the background, I would sit down and
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watch it, I would watch it, you know, I would I would tune in
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and I would always sit through the the opening credits and the
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theme song and Patrick Stewart's voice still brings a tear to my
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eye, which I've said many many times, and it's still true. And
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from that show, my favorite character was Commander Riker
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played by Jonathan Frakes. And years later, now that I am part
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of the franchise and I get to work with him. He directed us
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for an episode and season two.
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And I can say this because I believe it's already been made
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public. So it's not a secret, but he has come back for season
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three. So to do that, to get to do that, to be with him on the
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bridge of the enterprise to hear that incredible voice as both an
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actor and a director and just a wonderful human being on set is
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just you know, something that's never going to be a thing that
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becomes you know, normal like this is still crazy, like what
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is happening? So yeah, so the next generation for sure, that
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was my Star Trek growing up, and Commander Riker but now I've met
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I've met almost everyone, except I have not met LeVar Burton, but
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i i I adore him from afar. For both Star Trek and also Reading
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Rainbow and just in general, everything I hear from all of
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his friends who I know, I know a number of them now is that he's
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just a fantastic person and Patrick Stewart I have been like
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10 feet away from multiple times and each time I have been I have
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panicked and I've been like, you know what? It's okay. And then
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at the Saturn Awards, Wil Wheaton was just like, I'm gonna
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introduce you and I'm like, let's, let's wait, let's, I
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mean, he's sitting down. He's like, let's just let him be.
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Let's do a little bit later. And we'll was like, alright, we'll
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make it happen. And then Patrick Stewart pulled like an Irish
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goodbye toward the end, which is totally cool. And I totally
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would have done the same thing.
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So if it is meant to be one day, I will I will speak to him. But
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for now, I'm just happy to kind of just be in the same room as
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him.
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Cameron: So it's more than I van. Yeah. I will also take a
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moment for quick self promotion that if you are also a Riker fan
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out there, you should visit Riker maneuver.com, where me and
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some other Alaskans are working and getting quite close now to
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build a Riker statue, and my hometown and his future
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birthplace of Valdez, Alaska.
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Melissa Navia: That's awesome.
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Cameron: Go check us out there.
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Hopefully lots of news on that coming soon. Very cool.
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John T Bolds: Absolutely. Let's go ahead and listen to you,
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David Jones.
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Unknown: Hey, Melissa, it's David here. So I was one of the
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Federation soldiers, on Juggler and under the cloak of war. So
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my question is, I don't know if he answered this on your
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previous open pike night or not.
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What was it like walking into the fitting room
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and seeing everything hanging up? You know, all the costumes
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and everything like that? I remember, for me, it was, you
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know, absolutely surreal. It's not everyday you walk in and see
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all the real Star Trek, you know, costumes hanging up on the
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walls. What was it like for you?
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Melissa Navia: Hey, David. So if I caught that correctly, you
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were one of our soldiers. In one of our episodes, one of the
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background actors. Yeah, fantastic. We have such an
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incredible cast. And we have so many actors, and just incredibly
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talented people who are working with us all the time. And it's
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so hard sometimes when you're on your onset to, to see everybody
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and to get a chance to kind of have a moment with them. So
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whenever I hear after the fact from from actors who are like,
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Oh, I was, you know, on this episode, and you were there, and
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I played this person, I'm always like, thank you so much for
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reaching out. So, you know, I always say this, but I do see a
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lot of the messages that are sent to me via social media, but
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I can not often respond to all of them. But if you ever want to
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send me a message, please do and I'm always happy to to hear from
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any actor who has graced our set and made our show what it is. So
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what was it like walking into the fitting room, your, your
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first time on set? So I mean, all of it was a bit of a dream
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come true. Definitely. Like I still remember walking on and
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there was the uniforms were hanging there. And it was very,
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like, you know, another day at work, but also, like, Is this
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really happening? And, you know, we were shooting season one in a
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very weird time, we were still very much in pandemic times. And
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in order to get to Canada, I'm from New York, you know, it had
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to, there was a whole process that had to be followed to get
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across the border. Me and my partner, Brian, like, together,
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it was very much like it was like, We need to get to Canada.
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Do you know what it was like?
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Whatever happens, we have to make it across the border. And
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once you're there, we couldn't cross the border. Again. We
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couldn't go back to New York.
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And so there's just a lot of things like, you know, I was
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away from my family for for six months. And so being there, I
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was still very like, is this all gonna work because it's still
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gonna happen is suddenly at the last minute, they're gonna be
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like, Do you know what we don't need to helmsmen? I didn't know.
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So
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Unknown: itself, right, yeah, you
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Melissa Navia: know what, let's let's change it up. So I was
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still like walking into the fitting room, it's still very
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much like okay, this is the next step in, in the job. And I've
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always been, because as a working actor, I think you've
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kind of trained to think like this and I will always think
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like this that you just don't get too excited about something
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until it is on the TV screens of people. So I really don't don't
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jump up and down until my friends and family are watching
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it in their living rooms. So for me I was just kind of like cool
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this is just another fitting not weird at all. Not crazy. Cool
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wearing the member of Starfleet wearing the shirts and the pants
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and let's all relax I think I grabbed a picture of myself in
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the in the in the mirror, as if that would make it more real.
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And yeah, but it was very cool in the costume department
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remains. Right now. We're still working with them. It's everyone
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everyone is still there and they are fantastic. And so whenever
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they bring us in, I joke with them that I get more information
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from upcoming episodes from them than anybody else because
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because they know things in advance because they have to put
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together these incredible costumes and to and to really
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just create the world that we are in so so I'm always just
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gonna be like can you guys give me any insight like what's going
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on? And so yeah,
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Cameron: them like we are with you. Right
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Melissa Navia: right. They're like they're leveling What do
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you know that I don't know. And sometimes even like from like,
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you know, like, their eyes will go wide and I'm like, alright,
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don't tell me let's let's we'll fall through the wall. In in
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good A time we will find out what we need to know. But the
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costume departments wonderful.
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And so they immediately from the get go, like, told me just what
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a welcoming warm atmosphere the set was going to be. And it was
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true. That's what that's what we have.
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John T Bolds: That's fantastic.
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That's yeah, I had never thought about that before with the
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costume department. You know, they might be like, Oh, hey,
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after this battle scene, we're gonna start putting this green
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sleeve on your arm. Don't worry about it. It's nothing
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important. Like
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Melissa Navia: yeah, like I still think I believe that for
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season one it was in it was it was with the costume department
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where I first learned about sir ADIA, I like first saw that
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picture. And that was months before I saw script, and I knew
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it was going on. And all I saw was that picture. So it was able
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to, to, to kind of be in my head. And that's when I started
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to look for the stunt team. And I was just like, can we start
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sword fighting? I don't know why. But let's let's work on.
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John T Bolds: Yeah, just because Yeah. All right. Well, our next
00:16:07
caller is another new caller to open pike night. Melanie is
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joining us on stage, international, even high, often
00:16:15
Unknown: packed night. And Hi, Melissa. This is Melanie from
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Germany. I'm so excited to see you in my fit con here in
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Germany, I can hardly wait.
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Whenever someone asked me what position or job I would have and
00:16:25
stuff it I always say I'll fly the ship, like what to stuff. I
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wouldn't be a pilot. You do a great job playing her. And I
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would love to see more of Erica in this season. I loved and
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again money how Pac was enthralled by how you flew the
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Shuttle to the planet. Now is said that Erica had been born
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for this. So my question is in among the Lotus Eaters, and the
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crew loses the memories. How did you prepare to say I fly the
00:16:50
ship? I mean, you said the same sentence over and over again,
00:16:53
like a mantra but with different intonations? Did you think about
00:16:56
it? Or did it come my shooting?
00:17:00
Or was it an idea of the writer or director? Please tell us more
00:17:04
about it. Thanks for everything and live longer prosper.
00:17:08
Melissa Navia: Awesome question Melanie. I am also very excited
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for for my trip to Germany I I've only been to Germany once I
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loved it. It was a few lifetimes ago and I cannot wait to return
00:17:22
for the I fly the ship scene. So that's become such a mantra for
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so many fans. And it makes it makes autograph signing
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conventions a little bit easier because I have something to
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sign. I joked with the with Todd statute from Picard when we were
00:17:41
doing conventions in Australia, New Zealand, he has like the
00:17:43
easiest best kind of go to autograph signing line. It's
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like no, that I'm like, Ah, like, that'd be so great. If you
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could just sign that all the time. But I'm very happy with I
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fly the ship. So that scene was beautiful for me in so many
00:18:00
ways. One, it was you know, we really got to see Ortegas
00:18:04
embrace who she is, which so much of that is her profession.
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And I know Believe me, I'm right there with you. When fans are
00:18:12
like that they want more backstory, they want to know
00:18:13
more about her. But I will continue to stand by the idea
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that I think it's fantastic that what we do know about her is
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told so much and how confident and capable she is in her
00:18:27
profession and how she is regarded by everybody on her
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crew. Because so often that says so much more about a person than
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if you know, like, their CV, do you know what I mean? Like it
00:18:41
says, it says everything in so many ways. And as I know and and
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so many of us know, like, you know, when someone when someone
00:18:48
leaves us, what we remember is how they made us feel how we
00:18:52
felt around them, what they what they helped us accomplish what
00:18:56
they helped us do. And so what you keep seeing from from
00:18:58
Ortegas throughout the two seasons that we've seen so far,
00:19:01
is that she is trusted by her crew and she gets them through
00:19:07
the worst situations pretty much. And so in this particular
00:19:10
episode, it's this idea of having to remember what she's
00:19:13
capable of. And forgetting not only that she loves doing it,
00:19:18
but that she is really good at it. And so on on a literal
00:19:21
level, she literally forgets who she is and what she does, which
00:19:25
has comical aspects to it for sure. But what I was also
00:19:29
thinking about was this idea of in life, how often do we do we
00:19:34
second guess what it is that we're good at? So this idea of
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impostor syndrome is something that I thought about where you
00:19:42
know, you're good at something, but then you question Are you
00:19:45
good at it right? And then you question Are you good at it at
00:19:48
all and maybe you've just been you know faking it until you
00:19:52
make it and and have you made it. So that to me was resonating
00:19:57
the idea to have actual memory loss that that is Something
00:20:00
that, that so many of us know, either that's personally
00:20:04
happened to us or we know people who are dealing with it. And I
00:20:07
didn't really expect that after the episode came out that so
00:20:09
many fans, were going to reach out to me and say how it spoke
00:20:12
to them on that level. Because they are dealing with memory
00:20:17
loss in some capacity with a family member or friend or
00:20:20
themselves. And so all those things kind of played into it.
00:20:23
And then it was also this great moment for Ortegas to really
00:20:27
have like, the shining moment in the episode to be like, I can do
00:20:30
this. And in terms of the the I fly the ship sequence in, in the
00:20:35
scene, you know, Did I did I work that out beforehand?
00:20:38
Absolutely not. It was kind of the tricky thing. It's like
00:20:40
where it looks like a certain thing on the page. And then when
00:20:43
you kind of just say it out loud, you're like, Well, how's
00:20:45
that going to work? And it kind of all stemmed from this idea
00:20:49
that she was really almost going into like a full fledged panic
00:20:52
attack in her room when everything's falling apart
00:20:56
around her. And you know, she's being hit by by giant rocks and
00:21:02
space, and what does she do? And so it was really kind of just a
00:21:07
last desperate attempt to how do you wrap yourself up, right to
00:21:10
do this thing. And so it was a mixture of her telling herself
00:21:14
that, that she can do this. And then also just really trying to
00:21:17
get that adrenaline going. And it's almost kind of felt like a
00:21:20
bit like that acting exercise where you like, say align
00:21:23
different ways. But that wasn't what I was thinking about. In
00:21:25
the moment, what I was thinking about was just the the
00:21:28
adrenaline, the excitement, the panic, and then also being like,
00:21:30
there's only one person who can do this. And it's Erica. So
00:21:35
either she's gonna make it happen, or it's not gonna
00:21:39
happen. So that's just kind of the energy that I took into that
00:21:42
scene. And, and yeah, for a lot of different reasons, there was
00:21:46
a lot of emotions going into it.
00:21:46
And, and yeah, I had no idea when we, when we cut that day,
00:21:49
what any of it was gonna look like. And do you know, I went
00:21:52
home going, I hope that worked.
00:21:58
Really well.
00:21:58
John T Bolds: It was totally Well,
00:22:00
Melissa Navia: cool. So I'm happy. I'm happy that that that
00:22:02
all worked out.
00:22:03
Jesse: So Melanie mentioned being excited to see you at a
00:22:06
German convention later this year. Let's flash forward 25
00:22:11
years. Okay, strange new worlds has had its seven seasons and at
00:22:16
least one movie Ortegas remains a fan favorite naturally. Our
00:22:21
Star Trek conventions still something you see yourself
00:22:24
doing? Weigh in the future, while fans continue to form
00:22:28
hours long lines to meet their favorite pilot?
00:22:32
Melissa Navia: Absolutely, absolutely. 100%. I did. Back in
00:22:35
October, I did a convention tour, as I like to call it with
00:22:39
Todd stash with Jess Bush from from our show, Robert Picardo
00:22:43
and Kate Mulgrew. And it was an adventure. In so many ways, it
00:22:50
was like a three week long adventure, and getting to see
00:22:54
fans from another part of the world that I've never been in,
00:22:58
who just made us feel like we were at home. And, you know, we
00:23:04
hung out with them. Do you know at kind of like VIP events, and
00:23:08
then we saw them, of course at the conventions, and seeing the
00:23:11
way that they were talking to us. And especially with me, you
00:23:15
know, I had fans who came up to me and said that, what the
00:23:18
character of Ortegas has meant to them in their lives and how
00:23:21
they've been able to kind of discover things about themselves
00:23:25
and how how momentous seeing her on screen has been. I'm just
00:23:31
like, I mean, I I'm going to be doing this for my whole life.
00:23:34
And that's, that's absolutely fine by me. Like it was a
00:23:38
pleasure. Like it's definitely it's a lot of energy goes into
00:23:40
it. And anyone who's met me at a convention knows that you guys
00:23:43
have even met me at a convention. I just put a lot of
00:23:46
myself into it. Because as much as I put into it, when I'm on
00:23:49
set, I always say this half the fans or half of the story, half
00:23:53
of the work that keeps this franchise running. So I mean, we
00:23:57
never know what's coming or what it's going to be like but right
00:24:00
now in this moment, I could say yeah, and 25 years if I'm
00:24:02
around, I will still be rockin and rollin at conventions for
00:24:06
Cameron: sure. Great to hear.
00:24:06
We'll be there mine. I had a much more forced transition into
00:24:12
this built in later, but you've given me a much better one. Now.
00:24:15
That convention tour you mentioned I believe you are down
00:24:19
in Australia and New Zealand.
00:24:21
And as anyone who listens will know I will take any
00:24:24
conversation about Star Trek and turn it into a conversation
00:24:26
about Lord of the Rings. You got to visit the Shire and the green
00:24:30
dragon with some of those awesome people. So just I don't
00:24:33
really have a question but just tell us about that experience
00:24:36
for us. mere mortal men doomed to die who haven't yet been
00:24:40
there.
00:24:40
Melissa Navia: Ah, it was everything. Well, first of all,
00:24:42
being there in the Shire. My first thought and my thought the
00:24:46
whole time leading up to it was that my younger sister Sariah,
00:24:51
who I introduced to Lord of the Rings when she was about I think
00:24:53
six years old. Like it's been such a huge part of her life and
00:24:57
our lives together. I was just like I shouldn't be here without
00:25:01
her like, this is not right. So I just kept saying, You know
00:25:03
what I am, I am. It's just like a scouting mission Do you know
00:25:07
to check it all out and then and then to come back with her, and
00:25:12
to be there, like on a show now that also has a very loyal fan
00:25:19
base and to be there with members of multiple Star Trek
00:25:23
shows like there was just worlds colliding, do you know and so
00:25:25
then to be at the Green Dragon, and to be there with Bob and
00:25:29
with Kate and with Jess and with Todd who actually went he
00:25:33
actually went a few days before we did to the Shire with his
00:25:36
wife. So he had a wonderful time. But we didn't that that
00:25:39
picture that I treasure. We're we're all together. He's not in
00:25:43
it, but he's there and spirit.
00:25:43
Like for me, it was just like amazing. Like I'm bringing Star
00:25:47
Trek and lord of the rings together. And so now it's kind
00:25:50
of like this secret mission of mine, which is now no longer
00:25:54
secret because I am saying it out loud to you guys. But a
00:25:56
couple of weeks ago. I went to see Dominic Monaghan and Billy
00:26:02
Boyd and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead playing at
00:26:06
the Mirvish theatre here in Toronto. And Martin Quinn who
00:26:10
plays Scottie came with me. And so then afterwards, we went
00:26:14
backstage and we met them and it was like, just in the back of my
00:26:18
head, I was like, I continue to bring together the worlds of
00:26:21
Starcraft. So that's gonna be a bit of like a mission for me
00:26:24
just just as often as I can do it. But the Shire was, was
00:26:28
beautiful, the entire experience was everything I could have
00:26:33
imagined it would be and more, they just put so much care into
00:26:38
the details of everything. The banquet that we had at the Green
00:26:42
Dragon was the like, it was a banquet for royalty. And it felt
00:26:48
like that, like it was just everything was was the you know,
00:26:51
the table was covered with food and with drink and with dessert,
00:26:55
and it was just extraordinary.
00:26:59
And when we got to like leave with like, you know, green
00:27:02
dragon mugs, and then we're walking back through the Shire
00:27:04
to go through the bus like they turned, like what they asked us
00:27:07
to turn off like, I think it was like, we had lanterns. But
00:27:11
whatever, we got to stand there in the dark, just to appreciate
00:27:14
the Shire. And it was just very clearly run by people who know
00:27:19
how special this world is for so many people. And in many ways I
00:27:23
find the Star Trek world to be the same. Or it's just like, you
00:27:26
know, it's it's run by literally and figuratively and all the
00:27:32
different fan realms by people who understand how much this
00:27:35
means to people who, who they're meeting for the first time. So
00:27:39
it was just it was very, very cool. And I can't wait to go
00:27:42
back. That's
00:27:43
Cameron: amazing to hear. I can't wait to go and that that
00:27:45
photo of you guys there just looks like the best Christmas
00:27:48
card ever was on our sweaters on that's great. It's the best
00:27:53
photo? Well, you just gave us a great detailed answer to one of
00:27:58
the episodes among the Lotus Eaters and your big moment in
00:28:01
there. We're gonna do a quick little segment now where I'm
00:28:04
just gonna go through the list of season two episodes of
00:28:06
strange new worlds. And I'm going to ask for a much shorter
00:28:09
answer just the first thing that pops into your head. It could be
00:28:11
one word, one sentence one thought that pops in your head
00:28:14
when I say the title of the episode. You already know.
00:28:20
Better if you're not. Let's start with the premiere the
00:28:23
broken circle
00:28:24
Melissa Navia: dominoes.
00:28:27
Cameron: Episode Two at Astra per Aspera Luna Episode Three
00:28:32
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
00:28:34
Melissa Navia: I was barely in it. Yeah.
00:28:38
Cameron: Episode Four among the Lotus Eaters.
00:28:43
Melissa Navia: I fly the ship
00:28:45
Cameron: wouldn't have any other one. Charades?
00:28:48
Melissa Navia: Spock eating bacon.
00:28:51
Cameron: I do want to come back to charades Yeah. Have I lost in
00:28:54
translation?
00:28:56
Melissa Navia: Oh my goodness gracious lost in translation.
00:28:58
That was that was the most special episode to me. bannings
00:29:00
nebula There you go. Ah,
00:29:02
Cameron: yes. How about seven those old scientists?
00:29:06
Melissa Navia: Oh, Jackson and Tawny cartoons rock. Especially
00:29:11
when they become human.
00:29:14
Cameron: under the cloak of war.
00:29:14
War is
00:29:18
Melissa Navia: painful. This painful stays with you.
00:29:21
Cameron: subspace Rhapsody
00:29:24
Melissa Navia: I am owed a full song or Titus full song
00:29:29
preferably like with a banjo in hand.
00:29:32
Cameron: And then the finale cliffhanger itself hegemony.
00:29:37
Melissa Navia: Be careful what you wish for.
00:29:42
Cameron: Good, good. All right.
00:29:42
Excellent. Just wanted to make sure we covered Season Two
00:29:44
before we went on Yeah, no,
00:29:47
Melissa Navia: then everybody was just a quick story with in
00:29:50
our on our convention tour with with Bob and Kate. But Jess and
00:29:54
I. We had the honor of being on on a couple of panels with them.
00:29:58
And so it was you know Talking about, you know, how do I see
00:30:01
myself in 25 years still doing this, like seeing fans react to
00:30:05
Bob and Kate, and telling them like, you know what they have
00:30:09
meant to them in their lives like, Yeah, I'm looking at
00:30:11
people who are doing what I would love to be doing in in, in
00:30:16
25 years, and they're not only are they doing it, but they're
00:30:19
enjoying it. What struck me so interesting was that they would
00:30:22
remember like names of episodes and like specific moments and
00:30:26
things. And at one point, like I'm on a panel, and I'm like, I
00:30:28
just turned to Jess, like, I'm laughing. And I'm like, Dude, I
00:30:31
don't even remember like the names of last season's episode.
00:30:34
I don't remember what I did last week. That's it, hoping it's
00:30:38
like one of those things that you know, you've done it enough
00:30:40
time. So like the names of everything sticks in your head.
00:30:43
But if you'd asked me right now to name all the titles of last
00:30:46
season's episodes, this season's episode season one titles I
00:30:50
would not know so. So yeah.
00:30:50
Hopefully that is a skill that will come to me. You
00:30:54
John T Bolds: have no idea how tempting it is to say like go
00:30:56
ahead and name all the season three.
00:31:02
Jesse: Well, in those, those crews did have an advantage
00:31:05
where they seemed to like, you know, film all their episodes
00:31:08
over the course of a few months, and then those episodes would
00:31:11
air almost immediately. Whereas new worlds is like, we've had
00:31:16
two seasons in four years. Yeah, cover like
00:31:20
Melissa Navia: time really is.
00:31:20
It's like I keep saying I keep referring to Season Two when I'm
00:31:23
talking on set as last year, right? Wasn't last year. We shot
00:31:27
it in 2022. Yeah, I'm dealing with serious like, I don't know
00:31:32
what time is. It It's wild.
00:31:37
Yeah. And even like you guys, like I thought we spoke last
00:31:39
year. And then like, as I was preparing for today, we didn't
00:31:42
do it like this, I thought was last year, but then I'm like,
00:31:44
No, that can't be. And then sure enough. 2022 Yeah. And yeah, and
00:31:49
I feel like we all look exactly the same.
00:31:54
Jesse: So you definitely have the same haircut.
00:32:00
John T Bolds: All right. Well, here's our next caller. Zo.
00:32:03
Richardson from backlog cinema.
00:32:03
Open
00:32:05
Zo from Back Look Cinema: pike night. This is Zach Richardson
00:32:08
of the USS cinema. Captain commanding also host of backlog
00:32:13
cinema, the podcast. And I would like to thank you for giving us
00:32:17
the opportunity to leave a message for Melissa Natvia.
00:32:23
Melissa, you're so beautiful, so talented. And that eyebrow lift
00:32:28
that you have is it's just a chef's kiss, if you will. I love
00:32:35
the way you present your expressions. The eyebrow lift is
00:32:39
one of my favorite things. The question I have for you is,
00:32:44
according to our research, you have a background in martial
00:32:49
arts, specifically kung fu. So is this something that you would
00:32:53
bring forth? For take us? Or to put it another way? Does Ortegas
00:33:00
know kung fu? If it's not Kung Fu, what attributes or aspects
00:33:05
or elements would you want to bring forth? In Ortegas? There
00:33:10
are no wrong answers. As a matter of fact, I believe firmly
00:33:14
that you could do no wrong.
00:33:14
Thank you. And have a wonderful day. And if you ever want to
00:33:19
switch over from the enterprise to the cinema, we always have a
00:33:22
seat for you. Richardson out.
00:33:30
Melissa Navia: Oh, my goodness.
00:33:30
So thank you so much for that.
00:33:32
That was beautiful. I love that that you have researched me. I
00:33:36
feel like I've been studied. And it makes me feel special. So
00:33:40
thank you. But yes, I do have a background in Kung Fu, and
00:33:45
martial arts. And I would love to definitely employ more of
00:33:50
that. On the show, and oh, thank you for calling out the the
00:33:56
eyebrow raise. I've said it before that, you know when
00:33:58
people find out what show I'm on but they haven't watched it.
00:34:01
Sometimes they assume I'm I play Vulcan, which and Yeah, and so I
00:34:08
think I think that has something to do with the eyebrow. Or maybe
00:34:12
something else. Maybe I'm naturally logical. I don't know.
00:34:14
But yeah, I would definitely love to see Ortegas incorporate
00:34:18
more martial arts into her her time on the enterprise. We have
00:34:23
some very, very skilled fighters already in the cast. So we were
00:34:28
getting to see a lot of that. If not what aspects of yourself
00:34:31
Would you like to bring forward and Ortegas? I mean, I've
00:34:34
mentioned it before, but I don't know how it would work quite
00:34:37
yet. But I'm not going to give up. If we got to see some some
00:34:42
bluegrass on the ship, that'd be great. And then I know people
00:34:46
will be like, Well, how would it make any sense but if if you
00:34:49
know me and where I come from, and I'm, you know where I was
00:34:52
born, you know, bluegrass doesn't make all that much sense
00:34:56
either, but it works. It's the truth. So So yes, I feel like
00:35:01
there would be a bit of that. I would definitely love to
00:35:04
incorporate more, more Spanish and more of her her background
00:35:10
and her family's background and the language that they spoke
00:35:14
growing up, as well as English, of course. So that would be cool
00:35:18
to do. And especially because it's something that I know, the
00:35:20
fans want and have been asking for since since season one
00:35:24
premiered. And I've gotten so much wonderful feedback from,
00:35:29
from fans who are excited to see a Latina at the helm of the
00:35:33
enterprise. And it's really made me kind of realize, again, that
00:35:37
responsibility that we have when we step into these roles and
00:35:40
into a show like this into a franchise like this, of what
00:35:42
what it means for people have been fans for so long. And
00:35:45
suddenly they see themselves in a new way on the bridge. And so
00:35:50
speaking to fans, and especially young fans that they see
00:35:53
themselves in Ortegas, and, and they see themselves on the
00:35:56
bridge, it's really special. So anything, anything that I can
00:35:59
kind of keep bringing forward from, from my own experiences
00:36:04
that also kind of meld with, with what the writers have
00:36:07
crafted for Ortegas. When that comes together, and it works. It
00:36:11
works. So, so yeah, so I'm excited to see everything that
00:36:14
the writers have in store for Vegas, and definitely her fight
00:36:18
background, her talents, all of that I see I see a world for it.
00:36:22
But I'm very much like I just kind of step back, I let the
00:36:25
writers do what they do. They do always ask us producers writers
00:36:29
have said this since the beginning. They're very, very
00:36:32
collaborative. And and I hear that's not always the case on
00:36:35
sets, but I've just had such a wonderful experience on our set
00:36:39
that I don't care about all those other cases. Since day one
00:36:42
since season one, they've been like, what do you see in your
00:36:45
character? Where do you see this going? And they've kind of taken
00:36:49
some of that and and incorporated into into their
00:36:53
storylines and so so it all in the end comes out and it works
00:36:56
and the fans end up digging it so yeah, so So thank you so much
00:37:01
for that. I hope that that gives you a little bit thank you for
00:37:03
doing research on me and and more eyebrow raising to come.
00:37:07
Cameron: Did you have an example of something you've suggested
00:37:10
that was that's made its way into a script? From
00:37:13
Melissa Navia: the from the get go? Do you know I said I said I
00:37:15
love that Her background was was described in the in the initial
00:37:18
breakdown as Latina. So I said I love that. I said that's that's
00:37:21
my background as well. And I said, you know, my parents are
00:37:24
Columbian. And that's, that's a big part of my heritage. I was
00:37:26
like, it'd be cool if if she was also if Ortegas was and so they
00:37:31
have they went with that. And and so we saw some things in
00:37:36
season two, and and yeah, and I'll leave it at that. No.
00:37:43
John T Bolds: All right. Well, we have another new callers. And
00:37:47
that's perfect time to hear from him. Here's Joseph. Hi, guys.
00:37:50
Unknown: Thanks for the opportunity to ask a question.
00:37:52
From Melissa. I just wanted to say I was thrilled to see you
00:37:57
appear on screen the very first time I saw you, it was it was
00:38:00
emotional. I was kind of moved to tears. I'm getting choked up
00:38:03
now. Because for the first time in a long time, really, for the
00:38:08
first time ever, I saw someone that looked like me, my family,
00:38:13
my people on screen. And I know we've had Mallanna Torres as far
00:38:17
as like, you know, Latino, Hispanic, whatever, you know,
00:38:21
actor in Shrek before, and I don't want to presume about
00:38:26
about your background. But you were the spitting image of my my
00:38:31
cousin. And I don't know, it just meant a lot. You know what
00:38:34
I mean? Anyway, I'm really looking forward to see you
00:38:38
morning in the following season.
00:38:40
Melissa Navia: Yeah, thanks a lot. Oh, Joseph. I love that.
00:38:43
And look, now I'm getting I'm getting emotional, too. And
00:38:47
John, and Jesse and Cameron can all see that. Absolutely
00:38:50
beautiful. Thank you so much.
00:38:50
I've heard this in person, and I've heard it in messages and it
00:38:55
never gets old. It's, it's, it's, well, first of all, I am
00:39:00
so grateful to be in this role.
00:39:09
And the fact that that fans like you are seeing me and they see
00:39:13
themselves and they see their family members. Like I'm I'm
00:39:17
right there with you. Like, I know that. Growing up, I always
00:39:21
felt like for a lot of different reasons. I always felt like I
00:39:25
never saw myself on screen. And then I said, without really
00:39:32
realizing, I guess until I got older that I was always just
00:39:34
kind of like, you know, I'm just going to grow up and be that,
00:39:37
you know, when I'm going to be an actor, and I'm going to make
00:39:39
it you know, in films and on TV, I'll just be that it never
00:39:43
occurred to me that you know, that I had to wait for anybody
00:39:47
to show me my cell phone screen, if that makes sense. And so now
00:39:51
that that I am and that I get to play this role in somebody who
00:39:55
was who was written as Latina, and I happened to be that as
00:39:58
well. What I love about it is that is that the spectrum of
00:40:02
being Latina is so vast. And I think sometimes in Hollywood,
00:40:06
it's very narrow what they think it is to be Latino. And I know
00:40:13
that, you know, auditioning and acting for as many years as I
00:40:16
have, How often have I wanted to go in for a role? And, you know,
00:40:21
everybody is kind of like, you know, you're you're ethnically
00:40:24
ambiguous, but you're not kind of, you know, we can't see you
00:40:26
in this role. We can't see. And I'm like, but I, you know, our
00:40:28
people are like, Oh, well, you don't look, quote unquote, look,
00:40:31
you know, Latino, I'm like, what does that what does that mean? I
00:40:34
look like everyone in my family.
00:40:34
So what does that mean? So, I've been very adamant in saying
00:40:37
that, for however long I have, on this earth, telling stories
00:40:42
that haven't been told before.
00:40:46
And that also are our stories about Latinos and families,
00:40:51
Latino families that exist in our inner world, but we just
00:40:55
don't see them on film and TV.
00:40:55
And you know, I'm looking for projects that, that do that. And
00:40:59
that fight any sort of stereotypes that I think we have
00:41:03
enough of in film and TV. And so when I see young fans of Latin
00:41:07
and Hispanic background, they come up to me and they're just
00:41:12
like, we're so happy to see you at the helm of the enterprise.
00:41:14
The more that I hear it, the more that it like it resonates
00:41:17
with me just how important that is. And so So Joseph, I am with
00:41:20
you entirely completely. You got me all discombobulated over here
00:41:24
and emotional. But yeah, it means so much. And, and yeah,
00:41:29
it's one of those things where it's just like I I never tire of
00:41:32
hearing people tell me how much it means to them. So So yeah, so
00:41:36
I don't even have Joseph, do you even have a question? Are you
00:41:40
just telling me Did I answer your question? But yeah, please?
00:41:42
Yeah, that's what I Yeah. Oh, you got me all motional here,
00:41:48
Joseph. Thank you. Thank you.
00:41:51
Fantastic
00:41:52
John T Bolds: answer.
00:41:52
Cameron: I think he responded perfectly. Yeah.
00:41:54
John T Bolds: All right. Here is Mariah returning to the bike
00:41:57
night stage.
00:41:58
Mariah: The Listen now via thank you so much for coming back to
00:42:01
open pike night. I can't wait to hear you chat with the guys and
00:42:06
answer all of our questions. I would like to know how many
00:42:11
times a day you say to yourself, I'm Melissa Nivea, and I fly the
00:42:17
ship. Because I sure as heck do with my own name. But it sort of
00:42:23
in all seriousness, I want to know like what you've learned
00:42:27
from Erica, or take us and what you've sort of taken back into
00:42:31
your own life from the experience of playing her.
00:42:35
Thanks again, live long and prosper. Oh, this is Mariah, by
00:42:39
the way. I forgot to say that.
00:42:41
Melissa Navia: Hey, Mariah. So I actually I don't say it all that
00:42:44
often to myself, because a lot of people say it for me and to
00:42:48
me, which is great. But I do. I do love that so many people have
00:42:55
told me that it's become their mantra. So I do love that. And
00:42:57
I'm also I've spoken about it.
00:42:57
Definitely a lot more than I've been practicing it. But I say
00:43:02
it's because I'm filming but how I want to become a pilot so So
00:43:06
Erica has absolutely inspired me to want to do that see fans have
00:43:11
inspired me to because I have met fans at conventions that
00:43:15
told me they want to grow up to be a pilot, they are getting
00:43:18
their pilot's license, I have met a lot of pilots, I have met
00:43:20
a number of astronauts who are also pilots. So yeah, I would
00:43:24
say that, that it's definitely the flying aspect of of what she
00:43:28
does. So yeah, so she she flies the ship. So I don't necessarily
00:43:32
say it to myself a lot. But I do love that. The fans are saying
00:43:37
it to themselves. And I do do.
00:43:42
Like I think about how she is so very confident and she is very
00:43:46
cocky and she is very good at what she does. And so at any
00:43:49
point when I kind of feel like myself being like, I don't
00:43:52
actually know what I'm doing. I kind of tried to incorporate
00:43:55
what what would Erica do? Yeah, I guess I guess Yeah, I'm like,
00:43:58
What would ever say well, what Eric could do. And I'm like she
00:44:01
would she would go and fly a plane. And so that's what I'm
00:44:06
trying to do. So yeah, definitely just her confidence
00:44:09
and all those things that fans and the writers have said that
00:44:11
they love about her. I I would love to kind of be more of that
00:44:17
in my own life, which is just you know, kind of that you know
00:44:20
what you're about but I guess I do know what I'm about. I don't
00:44:22
know guys, I don't know these gentlemen who are here with me
00:44:26
on this podcast, they know that I'm here being like, what am I
00:44:28
talking about? Um, but yeah, but again, it's it's that whole
00:44:32
thing of like, you know, kind of, you know, if you're if if
00:44:35
you are really good at what you do, there is a level of
00:44:37
humility, which I guess I have and I guess Erica has that as
00:44:40
well so so I do I am confident a lot of the time just like her
00:44:45
but uh, but all kinds of those those those flying aspects those
00:44:49
working within a crew, you know, being answerable to people
00:44:53
around you which I feel is very similar to what we have to deal
00:44:56
with on a film set. You know, you you have not one person or
00:45:00
one group of people don't make it happen, we all make it
00:45:03
happen. And I did a, an interview with an astronaut on
00:45:07
the International Space Station.
00:45:07
And we were talking and he was saying that he can totally see
00:45:11
how a film set a lot is, is is like what it takes to get an
00:45:15
astronaut to the space station, you know, it, it takes so many
00:45:19
different groups of people working together to make it
00:45:22
happen. And we were actually talking about, I actually asked
00:45:26
him about kind of, has he had his eye fly the ship moments do
00:45:31
you know, when you're in space, and you're like, What am I
00:45:34
doing? And he said that you have to kind of fall into knowing
00:45:38
that you have trained for this, you you know what to do you know
00:45:42
how to handle pressure, and you just have to, to kind of trust
00:45:48
that you that you are able to dig into your resources and and
00:45:53
do what has to be done. And so in so many ways, like it was
00:45:56
just very like, layers of everything. It was like Erica,
00:45:59
it was like astronauts, it was like Starfleet. It was like
00:46:01
life. It was like, you know, meaning of life. What are we
00:46:03
doing? How do we do it? So?
00:46:07
Yeah, so that is that is? That is my answer. I have brought a
00:46:10
lot of Ortegas into my life, and I've brought a lot of my life in
00:46:12
tour. Tigges.
00:46:14
Cameron: So was getting your pilot's license? Were you
00:46:17
curious about that at all before started tractor? did that all
00:46:19
come after? Ortegas? Yeah, so actually,
00:46:22
Melissa Navia: probably 10 years ago, I did one of those, like
00:46:26
discovery flights, okay, because I was interested in getting my
00:46:30
pilot's license, but then I kind of not that I forgot about it,
00:46:33
but at the time, and I still am a working actor. Do you know, I
00:46:35
wasn't, you know, I didn't have money to spend on on flying
00:46:38
lessons. I have a little bit more money now. And so I now can
00:46:43
do that. But yeah, the funny thing is, like, you know, when
00:46:46
you see in your pictures pop up, I'm like, oh, man, 10 years ago,
00:46:49
I did fly plane. And I brought Sariah my, my little sister with
00:46:53
me. And she was in the back taking pictures. And and yeah,
00:46:59
so I did you know, it was like one, you know, you have the
00:47:00
pilot next to you. And you know, you take off and you land the
00:47:03
plane, but I didn't have any idea what I was doing. But I've
00:47:06
always loved flying, I've never had a fear of it. I've always
00:47:10
always loved it is one of the coolest things that we do as
00:47:15
human beings right up there with space travel. And then like
00:47:19
learning the history of aviation, which I've definitely
00:47:22
gotten more into now, like I used to not be into Do you know,
00:47:26
watching, like, I like military documentaries, but I was never
00:47:29
really super into the aviation aspect of it. Now I am a lot
00:47:33
more. And it because it plays so much to into what we do on the
00:47:37
show. So I incorporate that kind of into it. But so in so many
00:47:41
ways, it was always there, like my love of flying and my lack of
00:47:44
any sort of fear around it. But now it's kind of like, oh, I
00:47:47
want to do it. And the funny thing is, when I talk to people
00:47:50
who are not pilots, they make me scared a little bit again,
00:47:53
because they think it is the craziest thing. And then when I
00:47:56
talk to pilots, both professional and also, you know,
00:48:02
pilots who just have their pilot's license and enjoy doing
00:48:04
it, and also astronauts, they always instill in me just a
00:48:07
calmness. And they're like it is it is the most fun and it it
00:48:13
makes you kind of tap into a part of your brain that you just
00:48:16
wouldn't otherwise. And so, when I speak to them, I'm like, yes,
00:48:20
let's do it. We're going to become, you know, real life
00:48:22
pilot. And while I speak to everyone else, I'm like, maybe I
00:48:25
have to remind myself that I have not overtaken us. So it's
00:48:28
that it's that battle. And when we finished filming, and I get
00:48:31
back to New York, it is you know, it's it's, it's time for
00:48:34
action, so
00:48:35
John T Bolds: just remind them like, Hey, if you drove to work
00:48:37
today that was more dangerous than
00:48:41
Jesse: I don't know, John, if you've been paying attention to
00:48:43
like news around airlines lately, because so knowing.
00:48:49
Knowing that you've spent some time with actual pilots learning
00:48:53
to become a pilot, you've spent some time with actual
00:48:55
astronauts, for example, Dr.
00:48:55
Sian Proctor, who's an actual astronaut and the first black
00:48:59
woman to pilot a spacecraft. Is there maybe a trip to space in
00:49:03
real life in the cards from Alyson Avia?
00:49:09
Melissa Navia: Did you guys are like you? All these secrets? All
00:49:12
these secret missions in my head? You're making me say them
00:49:15
out loud. So yeah, definitely in the last year like meeting
00:49:18
meeting, Dr. Sign proctor I met her at this convention called
00:49:22
humans to Mars. And it was so incredible, because it was
00:49:28
really an academic conference where they were bringing me as
00:49:32
an actor from from Star Trek franchise as somebody from the
00:49:37
world of entertainment. And it was this melding of kind of like
00:49:40
the world of conventions and the world of conferences. And it was
00:49:43
so beautiful. It was so perfect, and it was something that I
00:49:46
think we need to see more of, because there's so many
00:49:51
interesting, exciting, groundbreaking things happening
00:49:54
in the world of space travel.
00:49:54
But I don't know if it's because do you know the times that we
00:49:58
live Again, an information is coming so fast and from
00:50:01
everywhere. And there's just so much happening that I feel like
00:50:03
there, that a lot of space travel news doesn't get kind of
00:50:06
the headlines or the, or the excitement that it should be
00:50:10
getting. And people in the community feel the same. But
00:50:12
when you have somebody who, you know, who people know about in
00:50:16
the entertainment world, do you know, like interviewing an
00:50:18
astronaut, and seeing like, all the records they're breaking and
00:50:22
what incredible things they're finding and and the studies that
00:50:26
they're that they're doing in the end, the new missions,
00:50:29
they're embarking on, you know, you have this, this coming
00:50:31
together, that suddenly becomes you know, a headline, it becomes
00:50:34
more of a moment. And so yes, so I would love to do more events
00:50:37
like that. And my reps and my team, they all know that and
00:50:41
people in the space community know that something else that
00:50:44
that I saw, that wasn't surprising, but it's still
00:50:46
wonderful to see in the moment is, every single person I spoke
00:50:48
to everybody was just like, my love for doing what I do. And my
00:50:53
desire to do it began with Star Trek, began with watching this
00:50:56
show as a kid, and I'm talking to I mean, the people who are
00:51:01
really making our trip back to the moon and our future trip to
00:51:07
Mars possible. They're working at NASA, they're working at Blue
00:51:10
Origin, they're working at SpaceX. Do you know they're
00:51:12
they're behind the, the Artemis shuttle? They're they're behind,
00:51:17
you know, the research that's going into how would we actually
00:51:21
live on Mars and something that Dr. Proctor says, which has
00:51:24
stayed with me, and she said it when we when we met was when you
00:51:27
solve for space you solve for Earth. And I love that. And so
00:51:32
if I ever meet anybody who, you know, gives you that kind of
00:51:37
that line about like, oh, well, we have so much going on, on
00:51:39
Earth that isn't right, you know, why should we spend any
00:51:42
time with space travel. And it's this idea that to do every
00:51:46
little step along the way to get back to the moon, to get to Mars
00:51:51
to do anything, when it comes to space travel is a problem to be
00:51:53
solved. And you can't solve the next thing until you solve this
00:51:57
problem. And when you solve that problem, you are then also
00:52:00
solving for something that could help us impact us here on the
00:52:05
earth. And it just seems to me so logical, it makes so much
00:52:08
sense. But to hear her say it in that way that just kind of keeps
00:52:12
resonating. And so yeah, I used to say I remember with Brian, we
00:52:16
had this conversation. It was after season one being like, you
00:52:21
know, we would we go to space, and we joke that we're like, you
00:52:24
know, let the let the first 100 trips, go to space and then do
00:52:28
that we'll talk about but now, with everything as it's
00:52:32
happened. And as it's been happening, I'm just kind of
00:52:34
like, if I were to get that opportunity, I would take it
00:52:37
without without question. So, yeah, so you could say that I
00:52:41
am. I am getting all these these astronaut connections in the
00:52:47
hopes in the hopes that one day I will I will go up
00:52:53
Jesse: there. Very cool. Well, we'll see see NASA on the
00:52:55
release of this episode.
00:53:00
John T Bolds: The NASA podcast.
00:53:00
All right, we have another one of our longtime returning
00:53:05
callers. Here is Abby summer.
00:53:10
Abby from First Flight: Hey, open pike. And Melissa, this is
00:53:12
Abby, summer from the first flight podcast. Melissa, so
00:53:15
great to have you on with the guys again, you are just a
00:53:17
joyous light in the universe.
00:53:17
Speaking of joyous things, I was wondering, what are three pieces
00:53:21
of entertainment that you think everybody should experience in
00:53:25
their life? This could be music, books, TV, movies, whatever
00:53:29
three things that are bringing joy consistently to you and that
00:53:34
you would like to share with others. I hope all of you are
00:53:37
well, and we'll talk soon.
00:53:42
Melissa Navia: Hey, Abby. So wonderful question. What are
00:53:45
three pieces of entertainment that bring you joy that you
00:53:48
think everyone should see? Now?
00:53:48
This is like three specific pieces, not just like general
00:53:52
right? Yes, I believe so. Cool.
00:53:55
I'm hoping it was General so I could get out.
00:54:00
John T Bolds: music and TV shows. Yeah.
00:54:02
Melissa Navia: Cool. All right.
00:54:02
So I'm just going to give me a second guys. Let me think. Can I
00:54:05
get away with saying strange new worlds? Oh, yeah.
00:54:11
Jesse: I would hope so. Yeah. So I'm gonna have
00:54:13
Melissa Navia: to kick it off after the strange new worlds.
00:54:17
Yeah, just gonna have to say stranger worlds. And I'm going
00:54:19
to have to say I've spoken about it at length and last couple
00:54:25
years. When I was back for season two, I started watching
00:54:30
Downton Abbey. I was dealing with grief. And it was it was
00:54:36
painful in so many ways. And I wanted to watch something that I
00:54:39
had not yet watched with my late partner because it was difficult
00:54:44
but now I'm definitely able to watch our shows again and the
00:54:47
films that we liked and the shows that he introduced me to
00:54:49
and that we enjoyed watching together but for a long time
00:54:51
there I just I couldn't do it.
00:54:51
And so I wanted to find something new and I started
00:54:54
watching Downton Abbey and it's I think it's just it's a
00:54:57
beautiful show. Wow, that does a really good job of discussing
00:55:01
grief. And and there's so many young widows in the show young
00:55:07
widows and widowers, it just allowed me to kind of think
00:55:11
about my grief in a way that didn't have me falling apart all
00:55:16
the time. So So Downton Abbey for me has just taken a very
00:55:21
very very special place in my life because it it kind of
00:55:24
helped me from going absolutely mad when I was coming home from
00:55:28
from set everyday in season two and being beside myself with
00:55:32
grief you know, the also what helped me greatly was was was
00:55:39
being on set and we can touch on that before this interview
00:55:44
finishes guys in terms of grief and how being on set helped me
00:55:47
but um, but yeah, so strange new worlds Downton Abbey.
00:55:53
Cameron: Well, what about I mean, other than bluegrass
00:55:54
what's what's some music that's on Melissa? Yeah, yes. Playlist.
00:55:58
Oh, goodness.
00:55:58
Melissa Navia: That now that is a secret. You guys are trying to
00:56:00
get into my head. So, okay, so So Abby, what have we talked
00:56:05
about? We talked about strange new worlds Downton Abbey. And so
00:56:09
yeah, so definitely talked about bluegrass and I love I love
00:56:13
Irish music as well. I love great live Irish music in New
00:56:17
York in particular, which is very specific, but I am I'm very
00:56:22
biased. All my friends are the best when it comes to live
00:56:26
musicians. But I'll say a third thing. Okay, so so back to that
00:56:31
Australia New Zealand convention tour. Sometimes I'd be on the
00:56:34
bus, right and everybody would get on the Boston, they'd be
00:56:36
ready to go to like our next stop. And science people would
00:56:39
notice that, like, I'd be like, you know, kind of in my
00:56:41
headphones. And so I forget who it was. If it was I forget if it
00:56:45
was I forget who it was, but they were just like, oh, most of
00:56:49
them. You know, she's listening to music. And I'm like, Yeah,
00:56:51
I'm listening to my adventure music. And they were like vice,
00:56:55
and I said, Yeah, and I've never said that out loud. But ya know,
00:56:58
adventure music. I'm just gonna leave it at that. You just have
00:57:02
to Google and YouTube just music that makes you feel like you're
00:57:05
on an adventure. I think everybody should have it. It's
00:57:09
kind of like a mix between like pirate music and cowboy music
00:57:13
and fantasy music. And, and yeah, and sometimes I dip into
00:57:19
into adventure music when I'm when I'm on a on a trip for a
00:57:22
road trip or going somewhere. So yeah, so I would say those are
00:57:27
my three things happy, very
00:57:29
Jesse: cool. Anybody who's spent any time on Instagram and seen
00:57:33
reels with that backing track hoist the colors. Hi, that might
00:57:37
be a good, good spot to start for adventure music. I think
00:57:40
there you go.
00:57:41
Melissa Navia: There you go.
00:57:41
Sounds already just the name alone. That is in the vein of
00:57:43
what I speak. Well,
00:57:47
John T Bolds: we have a nother brand new caller to the open mic
00:57:50
night stage. Here is Elizabeth.
00:57:54
Unknown: Hi Melissa and open pike night. Thank you for having
00:57:57
me on your show. strange new worlds changed my trajectory
00:58:00
from casual viewer to raving Star Trek fanatic. And Eric
00:58:03
Ortegas is a big part of that.
00:58:03
Melissa, thank you for giving life to this amazing character.
00:58:07
I could talk about her all day, but since I only have 90 seconds
00:58:10
I'll try to narrow it down. One thing I love about season two is
00:58:14
the many sides of our tickets we get to see she pranks a time
00:58:16
traveler stands up to an old enemy drops a shuttle out of the
00:58:20
sky. Pilots her shipped safely through a massive debris field
00:58:24
when she can't even remember her own name. She encourages a
00:58:26
hoorah bickers with Spock and steadfastly supports nurse
00:58:30
chapel, whether that means singing back up in the lounge or
00:58:33
flying into a deadly gravitational anomaly. She has a
00:58:35
history with chapel and mbanga that I'd love to see more of.
00:58:39
Can you talk about what it was like to bring all those
00:58:42
different aspects of her to life, and also that cliffhanger.
00:58:44
It kills me that Ortegas ended the season thinking her closest
00:58:49
friend is dead, and then being kidnapped by aliens. I know
00:58:51
cliffhangers are something of a Star Trek tradition. But an
00:58:55
ending like that in the middle of a double strike. Not knowing
00:58:58
if we'd ever get to see the resolution was brutal. Did you
00:59:00
have a sense of the time that a strike was coming? What was it
00:59:04
like for you as a storyteller, leaving that unfinished while
00:59:07
also having to fight for your right to make a living? And one
00:59:10
more just for fun? If Ortegas had her own song and the musical
00:59:14
episode, what would it be about?
00:59:18
Thank you for all your incredible work and for coming
00:59:20
back to open pike night.
00:59:22
Melissa Navia: Elizabeth I think you summed up everything you
00:59:24
just asked me perfectly incredible. Thank you so much
00:59:29
for that. I'm so happy that that's strange new worlds and
00:59:31
Erica has has brought you aboard for life. It was everything that
00:59:36
you want as an actor. You know, I every time we get a script,
00:59:39
you know, you don't know what's coming. But I'm a I'm a writer
00:59:44
myself. And I'm also like the biggest fan of our writers. I
00:59:48
just I think what they do is incredible. I I seeing all of
00:59:53
their talents come together and then and then we see we see it
00:59:57
come together in a script. I just I sit there and I'm reading
00:59:59
it And I don't even really think about the fact that I'm in it,
01:00:02
and that I'm going to be bringing it to life. So, I don't
01:00:06
know, like for that first question, it's just, it's a
01:00:09
dream come true, which I know I say a lot. But But I mean, it's,
01:00:13
it's just yeah, you just take it as you come you, you know,
01:00:16
sometimes I have conversations with with writers I was, you
01:00:20
know, have a conversation with the director for every episode
01:00:22
to see what they're thinking what the, what they see in my
01:00:27
character in particular, and where they see the episode going
01:00:30
to kind of get a better feel for it. And then you just you just
01:00:32
jump into it, and make it happen. Did you know A strike
01:00:36
was coming, I definitely did not know that when we were filming
01:00:39
the cliffhanger. I don't think any of us quite anticipated
01:00:42
that. And so it was, it was tough. The strike was was
01:00:46
definitely tough, it was very tough to see. Do you know how
01:00:49
many of my friends and my acquaintances and people in the
01:00:52
industry were not able to do the work that they love, but, but
01:00:57
seeing the union solidarity that that was on display, 24/7,
01:01:02
throughout the length of the writers strike, and the actors
01:01:04
strike was extraordinary. Our writers went on strike first. So
01:01:09
writers in the industry went on strike, and then and then the
01:01:12
actors went on strike. And so just seeing us all kind of, you
01:01:16
know, fighting for our rights and our livelihood, and our and,
01:01:20
and, and how we make a living in this industry, and being able to
01:01:23
come to a resolution, it definitely took a lot out of us.
01:01:26
But I think it also taught us all a lot. And yeah, it just I
01:01:30
just keep going back to the Union solidarity. It's just
01:01:32
like, what makes a film set and the TV set happen is because of
01:01:36
all the moving parts that come together to, to make it to make
01:01:42
it to your screens. So So yeah, so it was it was difficult. But
01:01:46
while we were in the strike, we were picketing. You know, our
01:01:49
producers or writers, fellow actors, we were all on the
01:01:52
picket lines at some point together. And and we knew that
01:01:56
there was a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was also it
01:01:58
was awesome. You know, it was great to kind of have so much
01:02:04
fan support. You know, our unions allowed us to continue
01:02:08
going to conventions, sag AFTRA allowed us to to go to
01:02:11
conventions, and still speak with fans. And every fan I spoke
01:02:16
to understood entirely what we were doing and they respected.
01:02:18
Do you know, the guidelines that we had to follow? And so and so
01:02:22
that was, that was a relief, that you guys knew that we were
01:02:27
just, we were just doing this because we had to and that we
01:02:30
couldn't wait to get back and start filming season three, even
01:02:32
though it was going to take a bit longer? And then what would
01:02:34
have taken us a song had been about I don't know Well, what I
01:02:37
say for I always joke that then the musical episode or take us
01:02:40
did not get a song and she totally should have gotten a
01:02:42
song because Alyssa loves to sing. But the writing part of it
01:02:49
makes sense, right? plotline story wise, like that episode
01:02:52
was about it was about what it was about. But the reason that
01:02:55
everybody's saying right was because their emotions, like got
01:02:59
the best of them. And there was just an overflow of emotion,
01:03:01
which then prompted the character to start singing. So
01:03:04
it made sense in the episode that Ortegas should not kind of
01:03:09
belt out a whole song because she wasn't having any sort of
01:03:12
emotional crisis. Do you know and so the fact that like her
01:03:16
big, her big, her big verse was like, Hey, I'm the pilot, and
01:03:20
I'm great. And this is awesome.
01:03:20
And years ago. It just it made sense, right? So yeah, no, I
01:03:23
feel like I feel like if she had had a song it would have been
01:03:28
like, I don't know what everyone's flipping out about.
01:03:30
Everybody needs to pull it together. Dude.
01:03:34
Cameron: That would have been good. Yeah.
01:03:35
John T Bolds: Or just play this straight foil to everybody be
01:03:38
like you guys really need to deal with what you got going on
01:03:41
in your life right here on the ship in space.
01:03:44
Melissa Navia: Exactly. Like High School relationship drama
01:03:48
needs to get it together. So So yeah, so that's what her song
01:03:52
would have been about and but I completely understand why she
01:03:55
did not get a full song but but she was there she was you called
01:03:58
it out Elizabeth. She was singing back up. She was
01:04:00
dancing. She was she was fully there.
01:04:03
Cameron: One of my favorite parts of the episode is the
01:04:05
synchronized ship flying you and wrong voodoo. Yes, it wasn't
01:04:10
vocal but you had so yes, and navigational dancing. That
01:04:13
Melissa Navia: was that was wrong and and wrong. and I were
01:04:16
just coming up with that. We were like, that was us. Yeah,
01:04:20
that was us. And I was just talking about to was wrong about
01:04:23
it recently, where I was just like, you know, we're at the
01:04:25
helm. We have our own storyline.
01:04:25
We create this whole thing that we're like, it may never play,
01:04:29
nobody will know. But we knew and so when that made the cut of
01:04:32
that episode, we were so happy because I was totally that just
01:04:35
came about by like what we were doing and then and then they
01:04:39
captured it and edit worked out.
01:04:43
But yeah, that's that's a great example to have just kind of
01:04:46
like at all times, even if you don't see a lot of heartache a
01:04:49
sudden episode. There's like all these storylines that I've
01:04:51
created. You have to have all that that underlying life, that
01:04:55
that informs everything she does and why she does it. And so her
01:04:59
friendship With with Michel, so take us and Michel, they're
01:05:02
really like, you can see that they're, you know, they're
01:05:05
they're a duo. And and I like that and when fans like you
01:05:08
know, call it out and they're just like, Yeah, we love Michel.
01:05:11
I'm like, Yeah, so do I.
01:05:13
Cameron: We love Michel to has I assume Ron has told you about
01:05:16
her headcanon for what Mitchell's up to or thinking
01:05:19
sometimes? Yes,
01:05:20
Melissa Navia: yes, yes. Yes.
01:05:22
Jesse: So you had mentioned earlier that during season two,
01:05:26
just being on set was really helpful for your grieving you're
01:05:30
grieving process? Is that part of it, just, you know, having to
01:05:34
lock in and having to build these little backstories? That
01:05:37
kind of a thing? Yeah,
01:05:38
Melissa Navia: definitely. Thank you for asking this question. So
01:05:41
one thing that I wanted to talk about a bit, but I could not
01:05:44
because we were in the middle of the strike was like after Season
01:05:47
Two completely premiered. And it was out and everybody loved it.
01:05:51
And it was just got fantastic reception. But some of what I
01:05:57
was kind of seeing or hearing about was this desire absolutely
01:06:01
to have more or take storylines, which I completely appreciate.
01:06:05
And and I love it. And it's it's the best compliment as an actor,
01:06:08
you can get that you play a character where everybody wants
01:06:10
to see more of your character.
01:06:10
But what I started to see was, during my promotional work and
01:06:15
publicity of season one, while we were filming Season Two, I
01:06:19
was very open about not just my grief, but especially my late
01:06:23
partner. And the reason I was was because it was so important.
01:06:26
And you guys were were a big part of that, it was so
01:06:29
important for me to speak about him, because he was a huge part
01:06:33
of my life remains a huge part of my life. And, you know, you
01:06:39
expect that something is going to happen in a certain way. Like
01:06:43
I expected when season one premiered, we would be
01:06:45
celebrating together. And that didn't happen, as I had
01:06:47
anticipated it would. And so here I was, you know, finally
01:06:51
with with a fan base, and people interviewing me, and I was just
01:06:55
like, I need to tell you about Brian, because Brian is, is as
01:06:57
much a part of me as anything else I can tell you and so that
01:07:04
is that is one reason that I was very open about my my grief and
01:07:07
what it is to be in the world and and also be trying to
01:07:14
navigate kind of a new life. And so many fans have reached out to
01:07:18
me from that moment to this moment, and I feel like it's
01:07:22
gonna happen for the rest of my life. So thankful for how much I
01:07:24
have spoken about grief and how much I'm trying to normalize
01:07:28
talking about it. And that for me at any moment when you know,
01:07:33
I think you know, am I saying too much about it, am I but when
01:07:38
I hear from fans, and from people in general, who are just
01:07:40
like, Thank you for saying what we would love to say, but we
01:07:44
don't have a platform to say thank you for giving light to
01:07:46
something that should not be awkward and difficult to talk
01:07:49
about. Like I am so so happy that I was as vocal as I was
01:07:53
then. But what I noticed too, was was, and this is maybe just
01:07:58
me being like new to this world where like anything that you say
01:08:03
or do, you know people then create a narrative out of it.
01:08:06
And I think back to how Brian Judo was always telling me,
01:08:10
like, as I was kind of preparing to enter this world, and you
01:08:13
know, even when I had, you know, other guest star roles leading
01:08:16
up to this, he'd be like, you know, he'd be like, you know,
01:08:18
just focus on the work. Because if you start telling to tell
01:08:22
people too much, you know, like, then they're going to start to
01:08:25
create all these narratives. And so what I was seeing was people
01:08:28
and it all came from a great place. But saying that the
01:08:31
reason that we did not get more Tigger storylines, was because
01:08:34
Melissa was grieving. And that started to get me and this was
01:08:40
during the strike, it started to get me frustrated, because, and
01:08:42
I had to kind of really examine why it was getting me so
01:08:46
frustrated, I guess, is the word. And I think what it is, is
01:08:50
because like when somebody who's grieving speaks, listen to them.
01:08:54
And I think I had done so much that I had met but I'd never
01:08:58
once said, Oh, do you know it was? Do you know, because I was
01:09:01
grieving? You know, I it was difficult to get to work. No,
01:09:05
never ever, if anything, I said the opposite. I said, because it
01:09:08
took us so long to get here. And Brian wants me to do this. And
01:09:13
he is one we just and I wanted to do this. It means everything
01:09:16
to me to be on set. And so I was ready for work every single day.
01:09:21
So to hear people, you know, kind of say, Oh, well, I not
01:09:25
only did I hear but oh this is fact that Melissa could not do
01:09:28
you know that they couldn't do more ticket storylines, because
01:09:31
Melissa was grieving is infuriating. And that's what
01:09:34
people who are grieving I think they want you to know it's just
01:09:38
like it's like don't create these narratives around things
01:09:40
that they didn't say like all I think I ever said in my
01:09:43
interviews was just going to work meant everything. The fact
01:09:45
that I get to work with an incredible cast and crew on this
01:09:49
fantastic show was so important to me was difficult. Yeah, like
01:09:53
I think I had that ready room interview where I told well, I
01:09:56
said, I said they're absolutely I feel like ever Every day in
01:09:59
some form or another on my own, do you know in a turbolift when
01:10:03
nobody was looking, I had tears.
01:10:07
I was upset, and I would reel it in because I'm a professional.
01:10:11
But at no point did any storyline change, because I was
01:10:16
grieving. And I think that's what that's what just got me was
01:10:19
I was just like, No. And it also like it also, like second
01:10:23
guessed is like what our writers are doing, like even went to our
01:10:25
show runners and I read I was like just to be just to be
01:10:28
absolute 100% You guys didn't change any storylines like,
01:10:31
like, you know, like Ortegas wasn't going to have like this
01:10:33
big log of love affair with Kirk in the third episode of season
01:10:37
two, right? And suddenly you're like, Oh, no. And they were
01:10:41
like, no, they were like we we?
01:10:41
They said, if you had needed more time, we would have given
01:10:44
it to you. But you were ready to rock and roll? And I said
01:10:46
absolutely. Did it was it you know, was it difficult? Getting
01:10:50
back to sec getting back to work, of course, because your
01:10:55
world is shattered. And for me in particular, in that moment,
01:11:00
like a whole new world was opening up. So it was so
01:11:02
difficult but but what I really want to stress is that is that
01:11:07
is that for me, this cast this crew, this show this fan base
01:11:11
was such an integral part of, of how I was able to get through
01:11:18
that grief. And also my my family and my close friends and
01:11:22
people who understood that, you know, it was it was so difficult
01:11:26
for me in those months to necessarily respond to people or
01:11:30
to get out to do things like stuff that I'm still kind of
01:11:33
getting used to again, or wanting to do and and you really
01:11:36
change you become a different person after you lose your
01:11:39
partner. But But yeah, that was that was just important for me
01:11:45
to be like that. This this whole kind of storyline of Oh, because
01:11:49
Melissa was grieving. That's why we didn't see more Ortegas
01:11:52
backstory in season two, I said that could not be further from
01:11:57
the truth. I think at one point like I was, I was starting to
01:11:59
like write out a response. And I wanted to be like I showed up to
01:12:02
work every day. Do you know I was getting my hair cut, like
01:12:05
every day. But then I was like, Don't do you know, and I also
01:12:09
couldn't speak because of the strike. And because we couldn't
01:12:11
speak about the show. So and then I spoke to like some some
01:12:14
some Star Trek actors who've been doing this a lot longer
01:12:19
than than I've been doing it.
01:12:21
And and they were just like, yeah, it what it feels like, is
01:12:25
that it is it's like the work that I did in 2022. Right? While
01:12:30
we were filming Season Two, while we were promoting Season
01:12:32
One, that was the hardest. I have ever worked in my life,
01:12:38
right. And when people are grieving, and they're still
01:12:41
working, and they're doing all those things. There's so many
01:12:45
layers of work that are happening, that you don't see
01:12:47
that people don't want to talk about that people don't want to
01:12:49
let other people know. But they are working so hard. And so then
01:12:53
to hear anybody in any sort of capacity, even though it was
01:12:57
just like, you know, little bits here and there. But, but saying
01:13:00
that, Oh, we didn't see more of this character because Melissa
01:13:03
was grieving it. It devalues all the work that you are doing. And
01:13:09
the fact that I was just like looking back, I'm like, so proud
01:13:12
of myself for not having fallen apart. And for the amount of
01:13:16
interviews that I did and the amount of of work that I was
01:13:19
able to do in the fact that I didn't do you know, kind of
01:13:22
throw in the towel because I just couldn't have this is, you
01:13:25
know, my life's work. And I love doing it. And I know Brian is
01:13:28
super proud of me. So so that's what it is. That's what it is,
01:13:31
is that when you create narratives around people who are
01:13:33
grieving, it just, it just undervalues the truth of what
01:13:37
they're saying. And I think when all the fans who have spoken to
01:13:40
me about they're so thankful for the fact that I am speaking
01:13:44
about grief and what loss is like, I would just encourage
01:13:47
people that in your own lives, when people who are grieving,
01:13:51
talk to you listen to them, listen to what they're saying.
01:13:54
And and don't create your own narratives when when their story
01:13:59
is right. They're like, yeah, yeah. Does that make sense?
01:14:06
Jesse: Absolutely. Totally.
01:14:06
Yeah,
01:14:07
Cameron: I mean, it sounds like it's coming from a good place
01:14:09
from them. But yeah, as as the words you said undervalues all
01:14:13
the hard work you were putting in you. You did rise to the
01:14:16
occasion, you put it in, you went in, did every episode put
01:14:19
it out an amazing performance.
01:14:19
And you would have with any stories they would have given
01:14:23
you
01:14:24
Melissa Navia: totally totally Yeah. And I just and I also just
01:14:26
want to because I was so open and I will continue to be about
01:14:31
grief and loss. I also want to to also underscore just how
01:14:38
incredible this production was to make sure that I had
01:14:41
everything that I needed, and I felt truly like I was just in
01:14:46
like in such good hands. Do you know what I mean? Yes, I just
01:14:51
felt like I was really just in such good hands, not just not
01:14:54
just that especially from the production but also from the
01:14:57
fans and from this fan base. And it was spoken about this before
01:15:00
when I hear from fans, you know, and they're just like, Oh, we
01:15:03
love this about Erica, we love what Melissa does on screen in
01:15:06
this way. And I have to laugh because I'm like, It's things
01:15:09
that Brian had told me. Do you know, so I'm still in it, we
01:15:12
might have spoken about this in our last interview, like, I can
01:15:14
hear him and all of that. So that means so much. But yeah,
01:15:18
but for anybody for a moment to be like, you know, that, that,
01:15:21
uh, that grief in any way impacted story that is, couldn't
01:15:25
be further from the truth. The stories that we told are what we
01:15:29
are telling, and life happens.
01:15:29
And you have to, you have to keep going. And the best thing
01:15:35
that you can ask for is to be surrounded by people who help
01:15:39
you keep going and who helped give you that support and that
01:15:43
strength and and essentially that feeling of safety and
01:15:49
that's that's what I have not just from, from the show, but
01:15:51
from my family and my close friends who are now you know, my
01:15:55
my circle forever? Well,
01:15:59
Jesse: I can tell you, from our personal experience, there are
01:16:02
people that we have been in contact with through open pike
01:16:05
night, that tell us you have been exactly that for them, just
01:16:10
through your example. So you are absolutely living up to that. So
01:16:16
don't ever worry about that.
01:16:20
John T Bolds: Let's hear from Trev from failure franchise,
01:16:24
here we go. Hey, it's Trev
01:16:26
Trev: beaming in from failure to franchise the podcast devoted to
01:16:29
failed movie franchise starters.
01:16:29
I know. I've been busy. It's been a while since I've been
01:16:32
able to call in. But I did not want to miss an opportunity to
01:16:35
talk to Melissa, as Ortegas is definitely just a breakout
01:16:38
favorite character of mine since I started watching strange new
01:16:41
worlds. Let me explain my question A while back, I had
01:16:44
tweeted and I think Melissa saw it, that I have this new
01:16:47
headcanon where the great Ensign j from next generation played by
01:16:51
Tracy CoCo was inspired by Ortegas. And that kind of
01:16:55
explains her unique look. And I know it's probably a little
01:16:59
reductive to try and link two characters together just based
01:17:01
on hairstyle alone. But I don't know, I thought that was a
01:17:04
little bit of fun headcanon. And to me, it allows her tickets to
01:17:06
become kind of a legend in ongoing Star Trek canon. So I'm
01:17:09
just feeding off of that though.
01:17:14
The other thing we know about Tracy Coco is that after playing
01:17:16
in Sanjay and you know, over 100 episodes and three of the
01:17:19
movies, I believe, she also went on to play a lot of alien roles
01:17:23
in Voyager and Deep Space Nine.
01:17:23
And so I was wondering just to kind of continue this connection
01:17:26
I've created in my head. If Melissa had an opportunity to
01:17:29
play any Star Trek aliens underneath makeup in either
01:17:33
strange new worlds or another show, is there a particular
01:17:36
race, she would love to like kind of dive into and get to
01:17:39
play? All right. Thanks. And keep up the great work, Melissa.
01:17:44
Melissa Navia: Thank you so much. Trev. So let's see. Yeah,
01:17:47
I love anytime you guys are creating kind of these
01:17:51
connections between worlds between shows. And yeah, I even
01:17:56
kind of do that myself. Like when I think about Ortegas and
01:18:01
the other roles that I've played, how it all kind of like
01:18:03
led up to this and in some way, it's all connected. Like my my
01:18:07
character on billions who was supposed to go to Mars and
01:18:10
didn't get to go to Mars. But then do you know, now I get to
01:18:14
fly around the galaxy. So forget Mars. If you had a chance to
01:18:19
play an alien future trick shows the race you love to play? Uh
01:18:22
huh. I think I would. So there's a there's a couple, but the
01:18:30
first one that jumps out is a Vulcan. Because I would love to
01:18:34
see if I could rock that hair.
01:18:34
It's so very different. And I feel kind of like the the hair
01:18:39
that Ortegas had in Episode Episode for season two, she kind
01:18:44
of had like, you know, bangs down, do you know, like, kind of
01:18:46
like a hint of it. But yeah, and then and then harkening back to,
01:18:50
to what we were talking about with with the eyebrow raise, and
01:18:53
the fact that people who've never watched the show, just
01:18:55
assume I play a Vulcan. I feel like it's kind of it's kind of
01:18:59
perfect, and then I'd be able to chat with Ethan about our our
01:19:02
shared love of prosthetics early in the morning.
01:19:10
Jesse: humblebrag we asked Bernadette Croft to pick out
01:19:13
alien races for the three of us and she picked Vulcan for me, so
01:19:17
I will see you in makeup.
01:19:19
Unknown: Yes
01:19:23
John T Bolds: I will. I'd like to get a quick shout out to
01:19:25
tribe and failure franchise if you haven't listened to that
01:19:28
podcast. Just listen to the intros of the episodes and see
01:19:32
how good he is at making a meandering connection to get to
01:19:36
the movie they're talking about that week. A are awesome to have
01:19:39
you guys over there. Keep up the good work every podcaster who's
01:19:42
called in, keep up the good work. We love your shows 100%
01:19:46
Pretty related question from Jen. Here we go.
01:19:50
Unknown: Okay, I'm gonna try this one more time, and then
01:19:52
we're just gonna go with it.
01:19:52
Hello, Mike, and Melissa. So glad that we've got you back.
01:19:57
Your characters One of my favorites and the scenes some of
01:20:00
the other stuff you've done too, which is pretty cool. So
01:20:04
hopefully we get to see you do other things in addition to Star
01:20:07
Trek. My question is of the other Star Trek shows,
01:20:11
regardless of production timeline or timeline in this
01:20:15
universe, which character or type of character would you have
01:20:20
liked to have played and why? I personally think that you, you
01:20:25
would have made a pretty good Jordan fight alongside Kira,
01:20:28
because you know, nobody, but Nana can do that character. And
01:20:31
maybe you would have all come that would be interesting, too.
01:20:35
Anyways, I looking forward to seeing the season and anything
01:20:38
else coming up that you might have. I hope you all have a
01:20:43
great day. So
01:20:46
Cameron: you already answered race, but maybe are there any
01:20:48
characters from other Star Trek shows that you just think would
01:20:51
have been super fun super cool to play?
01:20:54
Melissa Navia: To Nam? So. So partial to the character that I
01:20:58
do play in my head at the moment, like I'm so right now,
01:21:02
in the middle of filming, that it's so funny when you get these
01:21:05
questions. That's like one of the things too when you're
01:21:07
filming and then and then I do interviews, like my head is like
01:21:10
somewhere else, you know, it's like onset so it's like I can't
01:21:13
even isn't it enough playing one character but uh, but you
01:21:19
mentioned now visitor and Kira, and I know for me and we've
01:21:24
talked about this guys that like, you know, Brian, when I
01:21:27
when I booked the show, he was like, doing like a like a Deep
01:21:30
Space Nine binge. And so he definitely he saw He saw the,
01:21:35
the comparisons that the similarities between me and Cara
01:21:41
even before you know, we started shooting Ortegas. So I do love
01:21:44
her character, too. I spoke about Commander Riker again,
01:21:47
kind of like I feel like in a lot of ways are taking us as the
01:21:50
Riker of of strange new worlds.
01:21:50
But yeah, I'm very much like when anyone asks me and Jen,
01:21:55
thank you so much for this question. But it's, it reminds
01:21:57
me of like, when people ask me like what actor, you know, do
01:22:00
you see yourself like or even, you know, especially as like,
01:22:04
you know, in the years that have been, I've been a working actor,
01:22:09
and you know, so many casting directors and agents and
01:22:12
everybody they're like, Who do you Who do you see, that's,
01:22:14
that's like yourself, and I've always just kind of, because
01:22:16
I've been kind of working so hard in this industry to make a
01:22:19
name for myself, I'm just kind of, like, defaulted to, like, I
01:22:22
don't see anyone who's like me, and I don't, I can't think of
01:22:25
any other character I would like to play except for Tigges. Like,
01:22:28
and I love to that, like, you know, the the last name is, is
01:22:32
an homage to like, you know, the original character that Gene
01:22:35
Roddenberry wanted in the pilot, which I think is just a really
01:22:39
cool thing like is both as both Star Trek can in history and
01:22:42
also just as an actor that you know, it's taken me a while to
01:22:45
find a character that was perfect for me. And this
01:22:50
character also in a way was a character that should have been
01:22:53
on our screens. Although it was different and it was a it was a
01:22:56
male character and his name was Jose and but it was it was
01:22:59
something that was back in the 60s and now here we are and 2020
01:23:03
whatever year it is, and and this character has in some form
01:23:07
or another finally made it to the screen so so yeah,
01:23:10
definitely Kira. I love her and I love her short hair. And, and
01:23:14
Commander Riker played by Frakes. But uh, but yeah, I
01:23:19
think I'm just right now. My head is completely engrossed in
01:23:23
all things or take us.
01:23:27
John T Bolds: Well, what will make your deal? Like you go back
01:23:29
to set and film, and you're having an off day, you can be
01:23:32
like, sorry, I had an interview with open mic night it threw me
01:23:34
off. But if you have a really, really good scene and like
01:23:38
deliver a solid gold performance, or like, dang,
01:23:41
Melissa, you brought it you gotta be like, Yeah, I talked to
01:23:43
open bike night. It really inspired me so
01:23:48
Melissa Navia: it really seemed off. I spoke with these three
01:23:50
guys. I had just left and pieces.
01:23:54
Jesse: Were happy to take either direction. They're
01:23:59
Melissa Navia: on different ships in different time zones.
01:24:02
What's happening?
01:24:04
Jesse: We can be that
01:24:06
John T Bolds: speaking of other trek shows, with discoveries
01:24:08
final season about to start and section 31 becoming a movie
01:24:12
rather than a series. Have the cast and crew have you guys felt
01:24:16
any different pressure energy knowing you'll likely be the
01:24:21
only live action star trek show on the air when season three
01:24:25
begins?
01:24:26
Melissa Navia: I think that because we're just working every
01:24:30
day. Counting out really, really incredible episodes like we just
01:24:36
don't have any time to think about it. You know all that
01:24:39
much. It's just kind of like we're just at we're taking every
01:24:43
episode as it comes. And, and yeah, we haven't really thought
01:24:48
about that too much. I'm very excited for Discovery's
01:24:50
premiere. I'm very excited for Section 31 They had a rap party
01:24:54
section 31 had a rap party the other night that I was able to
01:24:59
to I get an invite to. And it was crazy because it was after a
01:25:03
long day of filming. And my good friend Chrissy also made it and
01:25:08
she had an even longer day of filming. And it was, it was so
01:25:11
wild. Because as you can tell, even because I've mentioned it
01:25:14
multiple times during this interview, like how my head is
01:25:16
still like on our set, like, think about like filming all
01:25:19
day, and then go into the wrap party of another set. And then
01:25:23
seeing like, you know, faces that, you know, from discovery
01:25:26
and faces that you know, are going to be in Section 31. And
01:25:29
kind of like your brains like what's happening, do you know
01:25:31
like, what's going on. But it was it was very exciting. I was
01:25:35
happy to be with so many crew members who are going to be
01:25:39
celebrating not only this film that's coming out, but many of
01:25:42
them have also worked on Discovery. And so I'm just
01:25:45
excited right now that there's kind of so much Star Trek in
01:25:48
this moment, like we're filming, discoveries coming out section
01:25:51
31, just wrapped and I got to meet Michelle Yeoh. And she was
01:25:54
wonderful. Just so wonderful.
01:25:54
And yeah, and getting to be there with her and to see
01:25:59
everybody interacting with her like, yeah, she's just in many
01:26:02
ways she is is a role model in this industry. So So yeah, but
01:26:06
but in terms of yeah, that we're going to be kind of the only
01:26:09
ones. I mean, we're not, though, because Starfleet Academy is
01:26:12
coming out. And so there's like, so much happening. And they're
01:26:15
just right now, I was just thinking about this yesterday,
01:26:18
because somebody had posted, you know, one of the actors at the
01:26:23
section 31 wrap party posted a picture of all of us. And so it
01:26:26
kind of made the rounds. And they were like, oh, cool, like
01:26:29
strange worlds and section 31 discovery. Everybody's together.
01:26:31
And I was just like, Yeah, I was like, right now. It's a very,
01:26:34
very cool time of like, something's about to come out.
01:26:35
We're filming something. And there's just a lot of Star Trek
01:26:38
excitement. And I'm like, this is a really great franchise to
01:26:40
be a part of. And as a fan, I can only imagine it is just,
01:26:44
it's insane. Yeah, there's no like, there's no shortage of
01:26:47
what's coming. Fantastic.
01:26:51
John T Bolds: All right. Well, we have another call here.
01:26:54
Newman from the movies for days podcast.
01:26:57
Newman: I opened pike night Newman, the space hippie from
01:27:00
the movies for days podcast, 90 seconds. I've only got 90
01:27:04
seconds to tell the Melissa navio how frigging amazing she
01:27:08
is and how marvelous her performance and character are,
01:27:11
how she's quite possibly my favorite character on this show
01:27:14
that is just littered with favorite characters. Actor nerd
01:27:18
question, did you ever build a character geography for Ortegas
01:27:23
that makes more sense for a character that exists in a stage
01:27:27
play not in a serialized form of television that's going to
01:27:31
change based on different writers and different
01:27:33
evolutions. But every actor has their process. So I'm genuinely
01:27:37
curious, did you ever build one for her a backstory? Has it
01:27:41
required change over time. And also, just thank you so much for
01:27:47
the outstanding work you do with this character. Speaking very
01:27:51
personally, as somebody who always felt like I was
01:27:53
everybody's confidant, who had a lot of energy and a lot of
01:27:57
personality. But I don't know how to say this, I'm five foot
01:28:01
four inches. So to see somebody like that, rockin so hard being
01:28:05
such a badass character, on this really great Star Trek show. It
01:28:10
gives me personally such an extra little bubble of joy,
01:28:14
whenever you get to be in a scene, or we get to spend more
01:28:18
time with Ortegas. Thanks to you, and thanks and all my love
01:28:23
of course, as always, to the entire open pike night crew knew
01:28:26
him in the space, it'd be out
01:28:28
Melissa Navia: new and I love that. And five, four is an
01:28:30
incredible height. So wonderful.
01:28:30
Thank you so much. And to everybody to all the people who
01:28:32
have called in like I can, I can tell just how much you guys have
01:28:36
put into these calls. And thank you so much. Like it means so
01:28:39
much like, yeah, you just have no idea. So thank you, Newman. I
01:28:42
love when when people meet me in person, and they're just like,
01:28:45
they're like, I thought you were taller. And I'm like, I am tall.
01:28:48
Are you talking about? Like I walked all it feels all I am
01:28:51
tall? Did I build a character geography. So I think so much of
01:28:54
it is that, um, so much like, I work with the script that I'm
01:28:59
given. And then as it's kind of happening, I kind of start to
01:29:01
build that backstory. And I've, I've definitely built a lot of
01:29:04
backstory as we've kind of traveled along. And I have I
01:29:08
have, I have storylines that you know, will never come to
01:29:14
fruition. And that also do and that also when, when things are
01:29:17
coming up in scripts that make me kind of tap into what I
01:29:22
thought was how things were. And then it turns out, it's not like
01:29:28
that, like, I'll speak to the writers and I'll speak to the
01:29:29
director. But I kind of I try not to stay too attached to
01:29:34
anything, like in life. But I love that I kind of have like
01:29:39
these backstories like me and Dan who plays Sam Kirk, we're
01:29:41
like, you know, Ortegas and Sam, we're like buds. Do you know
01:29:44
like they have like this, this whole backstory that that
01:29:47
whenever we're in a scene together like we know is there.
01:29:50
We don't know if anyone else knows. I think I've started it's
01:29:54
kind of like dropping hints with directors and anyone who will
01:29:57
listen to me on set See if it does anything to see if it kind
01:30:00
of does like what like wrong.
01:30:04
And my Do you know coordinated skills during the musical
01:30:07
episode did where like, it found its way into into the final cut.