Diedre Hall Made Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Soap Opera Legit (Exclusive)

Published Sep 11, 2026, 10:04 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.

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Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 7 - "Like Chronitons Through The Hourglass"When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds decided to do a soap opera episode in season 4, it was only logical to bring in daytime TV icon Diedre Hall to guest star.

"I was stunned and thrilled and very surprised" about getting the call to join the Star Trek universe in Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 7, Hall tells ScreenRant's John Orquiola. "And then it turned out to be sort of a Dr. Marlena Evans in space. I mean, it really is what I play every single day. But just a little better costume.”

This past June, Diedre celebrated an incredible 50 years playing Dr. Marlena Evans on Days of Our Lives. When John brings up that Hall has played her character longer than William Shatner played Captain Kirk, Diedre quipped, "Well, somebody should mention that to him, I think, don't you?”

Diedre Hall Legitimizes Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Soap Opera Episode

ScreenRant: You coming aboard for the soap opera episode made me think about how back in 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek for the big screen. Leonard Nimoy came in to give it authenticity. I feel like you coming into Strange New Worlds for the soap opera episode gave it authenticity. This is like them saying, ‘Yes, we are a soap opera for this hour.’

Wow, what you said, it's all true. Yes, and also, let's bring in the soap audience because they get to see Marlena in space now, so they know who she is, and now they're meeting everybody else on the starship.

Hall says that, as written, her Star Trek character, Dr. Eleanor Chivers, "didn't require any changes." Chivers is a Starfleet therapist assigned to help Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) with his "cosmic amnesia." However, Pike was harboring real, unresolved grief from losing his alternate future wife and daughter in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's finale.

"I think the monumental moment is at the end of the piece when she helps Pike confront his past heartbreak," Diedre points out. Once the soap opera fever dream instigated by the meddling space god, Trelane (Rhys Darby), lifted, Dr. Chivers could finally counsel Pike.

"It opens him up much more emotionally, which is great for himself, and his crew, and everybody around them," Hall says. "So that was the takeaway from that episode. Very sweet.”

Diedre Hall Praises Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Production & Costumes

Image via Paramount+

Hall traveled to Toronto to film Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and she was surprised by how beautiful and immersive the show's USS Enterprise sets were. "It is a staggeringly beautiful set. Of course, Pike's office. Every inch of it is beautifully done," Hall raved. "The hallways are beautifully done. It's like walking through a spaceship. You don't walk off the set and then go into a new kind of set. It's all right there. The bar is right there, and the lighting is spectacular. It's an amazing set design, and they really brought it home.”

"Let's talk about [my] costume, okay?

Diedre reserves her biggest applause for Strange New Worlds' hair and makeup team, and costume designer Bernadette Croft, who outfitted her with a fashionable, blue 23rd-century Starfleet counselor's uniform.

Let's talk about [my] costume, okay? Should we talk about that? Gosh, oh my gosh, Bernadette Croft, is a genius designer. I met her, and thought I had no idea what [Dr. Chivers] would be wearing because she's, of course, a doctor, but then she's on a spaceship. So, hard for me to reconcile those two things... And Bernadette really, I think, brought it home. I thought every inch of it fit perfectly, felt perfectly, moved perfectly when I walked. I mean, you could not find her wanting anywhere. So, shout out to Bernadette for that.

Deidre Hall Reveals Anson Mount Was About To Have A Baby While Filming Strange New Worlds' Soap Opera

Image via Paramount+

Deidre Hall's scenes were mainly with Anson Mount and Celia Rose Gooding. In Trelane's soap opera melodrama, Dr. Chivers tries to help Captain Pike bond with Ensign Uhura, who believes she is his long-lost daughter. Hall called Anson and Gooding "a fine oiled machine."

Anson, at that point, was in the middle of waiting for a baby, so his second child was about to be born. So everybody was on alert. He may get up and walk out at any moment because he needs to be there. So we were very aware of his state of mind, and excitement, and obviously eagerness to be there when his baby was born. So that was going on.

One Soap Opera Trope Strange New Worlds Missed The Boat On

Image credit: Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hit the mother lode of soap opera tropes, including amnesia, Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) having an evil twin, Uhura as Captain Pike's long-lost daughter, and Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) suffering from "space madness." However, Diedre Hall's most famous Days of Our Lives storyline, when Marlena was demonically possessed, was glossed over.

“Yes, I think we missed the boat on that," Hall says. "Maybe she could have been possessed for a moment. Well, maybe not. Yeah, but that would have been wildly clever, wouldn't it?”

"Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass" felt like watching a real soap opera to Diedre, and she was moved by the episode's emotional denouement, praising Anson Mount's performance and "the ending with Pike realizing his heartbreak and evolving into more of a complete human being".

ScreenRant: Soap opera fans are rabid and loyal, and they also have the same kind of attention to detail as Star Trek fans. Now, you're a crossover star. You're part of both universes, and Star Trek is going to be part of your life forever. On that note, would you come to a Star Trek convention?

Oh, goodness, yes. Yes. I know that the fans are completely avid, and impassioned, and know every moment that's ever happened, and it would be great. I'd like that. That would be fun.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming on Paramount+

Check out our other Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 interviews:

• Anson Mount
• Dave Foley
• Celia Rose Gooding
• Rachael Harris & Joe Lo Truglio
• Jess Bush
• Rhys Darby

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  Captain Christopher Pike

• 

  Spock