The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 16, "Preludes," now streaming on Paramount+.
Of all the plot twists on the acclaimed animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, few have been more shocking than the reveal of Ensign Asencia's true nature. Not the bright-eyed Starfleet officer she appeared to be, Asencia is actually from the same time-traveling race as the villainous Diviner and has traveled back to the past to take revenge on Starfleet for the destruction of her world. Voiced by Jameela Jamil, Asencia's heel turn completely puts Prodigy on its head, leaving Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway at her mercy and the pursuit for the Protostar all the more unpredictably perilous.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Star Trek: Prodigy actor Jameela Jamil unpacked the shocking reveal about her character Asencia. She explained how she approached embracing her inner villain and shared how much fun it is to take on a surprisingly antagonistic role within the Star Trek Universe.
CBR: Jameela, the cat's out of the bag. How much did you know about Asencia when you first approached the role?
Jameela Jamil: I didn't know anything until I was in with [series creators] Dan and Kevin [Hageman], and then, when they broke it down to me, I was so excited because I have a natural desire to play villains. They're my favorite characters in everything. They always have been, and I don't know why -- it probably explains quite a lot about me. [laughs] I was so excited, and as a voice actor, you always get to play so much more because you're less self-conscious because no one is looking at you. To be able to take that and run further with that as a different side of the same character in a different accent was just a really fun challenge -- and also deeply offensive that the English accent is what was used for the evil side for Asencia. [laughs] It is quite classic and an American tradition [where] Brits are the villains.
How was it layering that nuance into your performance, knowing what you know about the character, leading up to the big reveal?
I actually tried to completely shut it out. I didn't want to give anything away. I tried to block it out of my mind entirely so that I could bring a real innocence but also a believable resistance to Ensign Asencia. That was something I was being very mindful of. I think it was quite similarly with The Good Place, where they purposefully didn't tell us the truth about our characters until the week before we shot the [season] finale. It was so helpful for my performance to just block it out, so that's what I did with this.
This isn't your first voice performance -- you were Wonder Woman in DC League of Super-Pets -- but how was it working with voice director Brook Chalmers here?
Amazing! Just everyone involved in this has been so incredible. The only thing I was really sad about was not being able to record my part directly with Kate [Mulgrew], but just knowing that she was going to be a part of this and we were going to go head-to-head at the level that we did, my inner child's brain just exploded, and that was really fun. Also, Dan and Kevin gave me so much creative freedom in how I created this role, and they just pulled it out of me. By the end of it, I just looked like a madwoman in the booth. I'm putting my whole body into the performance of Asencia's dark side. It was a real joy to play -- one of my favorite voice characters that I've ever done when she becomes the villain.
You mentioned enjoying playing characters with a flair for the antagonistic. Between Asencia and Titania, what do you find appealing about embracing the dark side?
I think it's the story, right? I think the more we get into Asencia's past, the more you start to empathize with her. No one is born bad. I think people become sad, and I think that comes out in bad behavior. I'm very interested in the core of people and what motivates us, and she's motivated by something quite pure and understandable, as with a lot of people in conflict. For me, it's such a meaty role in playing someone who has ended up with a huge shift in their path and what caused that shift.
You talked about getting a particular amount of creative freedom in the booth. What touches to Asencia are you most proud of getting to instill into the character?
I think making her cheeky. She wasn't as cheeky or written as someone gratuitous, and I think I really enjoyed making her gratuitous -- how much she taunts people during fights and her smugness. All of those things are really fun to inject into the character. My favorite villains are the ones who really love being villains, and also, she doesn't think that she's the villain, which is something that I think is really interesting. She thinks that she's the good guy and that they're the bad guys, and just the way that she revels in all of it, I think, made the performance fun for me to do.
For all the revelry, Asencia is an incredibly tragic character, having lost her whole world and everyone she knows except the Diviner. How do you find the character's joy in the tragedy?
Well, she doesn't see it as tragedy or redemption. She sees it as revenge. I really empathize with her, as I said earlier. I think she's incredibly sad, and that's motivated her. I feel for her, and I think because of my deep empathy for Asencia, that helped me humanize the performance and layer the character. I think it's just so interesting, two people's different perspectives on the situation. Most people within any conflict think that they are in the right and that the other person is bad.
It's very rare that we ever come to a resolution and realize that everyone wants the same thing. Everyone wants to be safe and wants their loved ones to be protected. She wasn't afforded that, and now she's ready to just blow it all up, like, "If you took this from me, I'm going to take everything from you." I'm big into karma and revenge. I'm quite a petty person, so I think I find the gratuitous revenge of it all quite fun and relatable, personally. I never rise above. I'm like the opposite of Michelle Obama -- when they go low, I go lower. [laughs]
Was there a line in the script or something you heard from Kevin and Dan that helped you find the character's voice?
No, we just sort of found it, and we found it almost halfway through the first day of recording her. Once we found her, we knew we found her, and then we had to go back and re-record the entire episode because it just took a minute to find her voice. We all knew that we would know her when we met her, so it was just one of those things that happen with most voice work. You have to wait until you [find it] because it's such an abstract thing. Having to do it during the pandemic means that you're doing a lot of it over Zoom, which means that you're very detached. It takes a while to sink into your body and also try to create a character not quite like any other we've ever seen in Star Trek before.
With that in mind, do you find voice acting to be liberating or a bit intimidating?
Completely liberating! I think it's my favorite kind of performance to do because you get to really access your inner child because you're much less self-conscious. As much as you may be disconnected at first, once you get into it, you get completely lost into it. When I'm performing a fight scene, I'm really making the gestures of a fight scene and throwing myself on the floor. I must look bonkers in the recording booth because I'm just throwing myself against the walls. My hair is everywhere, I'm normally in my pajamas, and it looks really unhinged, but you really have to make sure it translates to the animation. You really have to throw your whole body and voice into it, and you can't be self-conscious at all because you have to communicate so much with just your voice and live up to such beautiful animation.
This is one of the most beautiful animations that I've ever seen, and I genuinely mean that. I was stunned when I first saw it as to how much time, thought, and creativity went into it. This, to me, is such an important show because we've never had something that is so welcoming to a younger audience, and I think Star Trek is vital for younger audiences. It had such an important impact on me as a kid, and I think it's such an important show that tells important stories. It's an important franchise that's told important and diverse stories. It's amazing to have something tailored to a younger audience, but that also works for the parents who are Trekkie nerds.
Jameela, with the truth about Asencia now out, what else can you tease for this next set of episodes for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1?
She is so much more intense than you can imagine. Just when you think she's reached the peak of her intensity or pettiness, she'll surprise you again. [laughs] I think you're also going to be surprised by how much of it you can see from her perspective and empathize with her at times. I think she's so vile at first that it takes a minute, but the more we dig into her backstory, she kind of breaks you down, and it becomes confusing for a while, at least as to where she should stand with all of this. I think that kind of empathy is really important, especially in this day and age with so much division. To understand the opposition and the people who are angry and why they're angry is the only way to figure out some solution -- not that she's looking for one! [laughs]
Created by Kevin and Dan Hageman, Star Trek: Prodigy releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.