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For Enterprise security chief Lt. La’an Noonien on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – portrayed by Christina Chong (Doctor Who, Dominion, 24: Live Another Day) – dealing with her family’s reputation can be difficult. She shares a personal connection to one of the franchise’s most notorious and dangerous foes, Khan. That baggage, combined with a troubled childhood and witnessing her people either be eaten or bred by the savage Gorn not only continues to haunt La’an but shapes her into one of Enterprise’s most dedicated, resourceful, and invaluable crew members.
Alongside Captain Pike (Anson Mount), La’an proved instrumental in rescuing Number One / Una (Rebecca Romijn) from captivity. She participated in a field mission that almost resulted in the destruction of the Enterprise. Despite all the bravado and heroics, the demons of La’an’s past are about to catch up with her. Chong recently spoke to CBR about joining the Star Trek franchise, La’an’s PTSD, relating to her character’s struggles, and the Gorn.
CBR: You weren’t a diehard Trekkie in the beginning. What was the appeal of doing Strange New Worlds?
Christina Chong: It was during the pandemic that I got this, so nobody was working. We didn’t know what was going to happen. It just came and fell in my lap. I was like, ” Of course, I’m going to do it. ” But it could have been anything. It was great that it was Star Trek, but the goalposts changed for everybody during that time. It’s been a really great surprise to me how much I love being in the show, how much I love Star Trek and everything that it stands for. It’s been a continual learning process about the Star Trek world and understanding, ” Oh, how did I end up here? Why this job? ” And thinking of life in a bigger picture.
The other day, I realized with the strawberry scene with Una in Episode 3, I was given that for the last audition, so I didn’t have a lot of time to work on it. But I really connected to it, and they said they particularly liked that scene that I had done for them. I was like, ” Why did I find that so easy to connect to? ” It was because of La’an being related to HIM (Khan) and being a descendant of his and being judged for my name. I, too, was judged for my surname and bullied. I don’t necessarily look Chinese, and I don’t necessarily look English. So, it was the name that the kids would pick up on and bully me for.
Every character has their quirks, nuances and baggage. What part of La’an’s DNA did you zero in on? What did you want to infuse into the character?
For her, most of it is about the trauma that she’s been through with the Gorn and the loss. I wanted to make it really personal. I burn it all down to, ” What’s the core primal emotion here? What is she trying to achieve for herself? ” I boil it down, and then I think about how that is similar to my life and those emotions I have been through and the experiences I have had. I use that in the work. Hopefully, the intention in that makes it more accessible for people to connect to her.
La’an lives in the shadow of Khan. How much do you feel she is trying to prove something to herself and to others?
Similarly, to me and to how I felt her and I related to my experience, you have to accept who you are for other people to accept you. My learning experience has been a long journey. I went from being ashamed of being my father’s child with [that] surname, until more recently. I have been working on a project [that] I have been writing which is all about my family. I have had to go into my dad’s roots and my ancestral roots and do a lot of research. It’s realizing and understanding what they went through, [and] all the trauma they experienced throughout their lives, which made them how they are.
I slowly started to see a pattern [that] came through my grandfather to my father and to me, even though I had never met my granddad on my Chinese side. I started to understand why I am how I am. I think a lot of actors are trying to prove they are worthy of love, and for me, that was understanding that need to prove myself and where it was coming from and that I didn’t need to take that on anymore. In a similar vein, La’an is going through the same thing. She’s accepting the loss she’s been through, the survivor’s guilt, and that the loss wasn’t her fault – and, also, learning how to own her name and be her, regardless of if she is related to Khan or not.
How has joining Starfleet helped that process, maybe by pushing La’an outside of her comfort zone but also by allowing her to open up more?
It’s facing her fears. And literally, in Episode 4, she faces her fears full-on. That’s how she starts to overcome her PTSD, with the gentle kind of pushing and support from Una to open up and be more vulnerable. And Pike says in Episode 1, ” There’s surviving, and then there’s living. ” All of these things are adding up for her. Then, she’s suddenly faced with this thing, that history could repeat itself. The Enterprise crew are her new family, and the same thing could happen again. By overcoming that experience with the crew around her, and the support from them and realizing, ” OK, it doesn’t have to be that way, ” that is the start of her journey of consciously trying to open up and be more vulnerable.
How big of a pinch-me moment was it stepping onto the bridge the first time?
Even though I wasn’t a Trekkie before and had zero understanding of how big of a thing that is for fans, even then, it was almost like a gasp of, ” Oh my God. Where am I? How did I get here? ” And then, just seeing the lights of the bridge and how incredible the set is, it really feels like a spaceship when you are on the set.
You also get to kick a little bit of ass in the pilot. How excited were you to explore that warrior side of La’an?
Oh, very excited. I studied kung fu and did a lot of parkour. I used to dance professionally, so movement, for me, is one of the things that I love most, and infusing it with my acting. To do that first fight, we didn’t have any stunt doubles. It was all of us, which was great. They gave me a great little fight to do. It’s just a shame that when I watched it back, we couldn’t see more of it. It was really cool, but you are cutting between different fight moments.
What have you enjoyed about the shared history between La’an and Number One?
It’s nice to have that big-sister dynamic, and it kind of translates off-screen as well. Obviously, Rebecca has been in this industry a lot longer than I have. She has a lot more experience than I have. She’s also done Star Trek: Discovery. There are times when I am like, ” Hmm… Can you help me out with this? ” For advice, she’s great, and she’s fun as well.
It’s really nice for La’an to have that confidant in the show. The fact that Una has been there for her darkest moments, she knows how and when to push La’an in a gentle way. It helps her to grow and move past her issues. And the fact that they have this history and shared secrets, it’s nice to have someone to understand La’an and who she really is.
Each episode gives viewers these little nuggets of the characters and what makes them tick. What will audiences learn about
La’an over the course of the season? What is her arc?
For her, it is very much overcoming that guarded outer layer. In order to do that, she has to face her fear. The fear is the repeat of what happened to her as a child with the Gorn. It’s to overcome her fear, to break through her walls, in order to connect and start to live. It’s a slow journey. PTSD doesn’t just disappear. She has to work on it.
What alien race are you most excited for La’an to interact with?
For me, quite honestly, it’s the Gorn. You will see. And also, because of La’an’s relationship with them, there is a lot more for me to play in that. It’s not just the look and what it is physically, it’s also the emotion for her behind it.
New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiere every Thursday on Paramount +.
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