“Breaking Protocols” & “Objectifying” Spock: Tawny Newsome’s Hilarious Strange New Worlds Crossover Memories

Star Trek: Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome shares her favorite, hilarious memories from filming the crossover episode with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Newsome and Jack Quaid brought their animated Lower Deckers, Ensigns Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler, to live-action when they came aboard Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) USS Enterprise. In real life, Newsome and Quaid hit it off with the cast of Strange New Worlds and formed genuine friendships with their fellow Star Trek actors.

Tawny Newsome exclusively told Screen Rant about some of the antics she got into with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cast members Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Melissa Navia, and director Jonathan Frakes. The wacky chaos in the Strange New Worlds crossover episode also translated off-camera. Check out her quote below:

Oh my gosh, I mean, there’s so many things. I could just spit random things out to you. Chrissy Chong and I probably breaking COVID protocols and going out and dancing in a crowded disco pizza restaurant, and dancing on tables one night. Celia [Rose Gooding] really wanted to eat cheese puffs in one scene. And finally, Jonathan Frakes took them away. He was like, “No cheese puffs at the scene!” And she was like, “Why? It looks cool.” He was like, “In fact, it does not.”

Ethan! Ethan [Peck] is my darling sweet friend. I just love him to death, and he really allowed me to say a lot of objectifying things about his face and body because I was like, “The fandom wants this. The fandom wants Mariner to thirst after Spock. So do I have your permission?” He gave me permission, and what ended up in the episode is not even half of the probably disgusting things I said about him. But he was such a good sport. Rebecca Romijn is one of the funniest women I’ve ever met, and she is so, so funny and good on camera. I wish he got to do more comedic moments on that show.

Melissa [Navia], I didn’t know before we’d gotten started. And Melissa has a real aversion to strange liquids. So those Orion Hurricanes traumatized her. They were green Gatorade, and they had like coconut milk poured in them, and she was going through it. She was having a rough time. I do not blame her. (laughs). She was a trooper.

Strange New Worlds’ Crossover Was A Love Letter To Star Trek Fans

Mariner and Boimler are the biggest Starfleet fans of all.

The gimmick of Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ lead Ensigns meeting the crew of Strange New Worlds‘ USS Enterprise turned out to be a love letter to Star Trek fans. Aboard the 24th century USS Cerritos, Ensign Brad Boimler is the biggest Starfleet fanboy there is. Getting to time travel to the 23rd century Enterprise was a dream come true for Bradward and Mariner, but it also came with stark realizations about meeting your heroes. Still, Boimler’s thrill at meeting Pike, Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) was matched by Mariner’s own delight (and realizations) at meeting her hero, Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding).

The Strange New Worlds crossover included animated sequences of the show’s opening titles and Pike and his crew turned into their animated selves. As pure fun, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks was unforgettable. But one wishes they were a fly on the wall when the episode wasn’t filming. Hopefully, Tawny Newsome will share her pics and videos from the crossover on social media.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks are available to stream on Paramount+.