Star Trek: Prodigy: Brett Gray and Ella Purnell on Creating a Series for a New Generation of Fans
40With Star Trek: Prodigy launching on Paramount+ with a one-hour episode on October 28th, I recently spoke to Brett Gray and Ella Purnell about being part of the the new animated series. Aimed at a much younger audience, Star Trek: Prodigy will follow a group of children and teenagers who try to escape the hard life of a mining colony after discovering the U.S.S Protostar. The Federation ship might be their ticket to a better life, but the ragtag team will first have to learn to act as a real crew as they’re guided by a hologram of Captain Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew).
During the interview, Brett Gray and Ella Purnell talked about getting to be part of a new series that’s introducing Star Trek to a younger audience, how they’re looking forward to being action figures, if they were Star Trek fans before getting cast, and if they’ve taken more ownership of their roles as they’ve recorded more episodes.
While some Star Trek fans might be wondering why Paramount is launching a series aimed at kids and teens, I think it’s a really smart idea. If you want an IP like Star Trek to attract new viewers and keep growing year after year, you can’t rely on the same people to tune in. You need to appeal to a new generation of fans.
Think about what Lucasfilm and Disney have been doing with all the Star Wars animated series. Not only did they give some children their first exposure to Star Wars, they sold a lot of toys and merchandise, and adults also tuned in. Star Trek: Prodigy has the chance to do the same thing for Paramount. I think if you’re a fan of Star Trek, you want kids getting excited when an adult talks about the Federation, or who their favorite captain is.
The voice cast of Star Trek: Prodigy also includes Brett Gray (Dal, 17 years old and an unknown species who fancies himself a maverick and holds strong onto his unwavering hope), Ella Purnell (Gwyn, a 17-year-old Vau N’Akat who was raised on her father’s bleak mining planet and grew up dreaming to explore the stars), Angus Imrie (Zero, a Medusan: a noncorporeal, genderless, energy-based lifeform who wears a containment suit to protect others from viewing their true face), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk, a Brikar and a shy, but unusually bright eight-year-old girl), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf, an endearing, indestructible blob with curiously good timing and an insatiable appetite for ship parts), and Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog, a 16-year-old Tellarite who will always play devil’s advocate for the sake of hearing all sides).
Kevin and Dan Hageman serve as executive producers, as well as Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin, and Ben Hibon is director/co-executive producer and creative lead on Prodigy. The new children's animated series joins the impressive Trek catalog on Paramount+, including new seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the upcoming spinoff Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Brett Gray and Ella Purnell
What it’s like being part of a Star Trek series that’s introducing the show to a new generation.
How they hope they get to be action figures.
Were they Star Trek fans before getting these roles?
Have they taken more ownership of their characters as they’ve recorded more episodes?
#StarTrekProdigy #EllaPurnell #BrettGray
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