Star Trek Officially Replaces Paul Giamatti With Its Newest Oscar-Caliber Actor

Published Oct 14, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a 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.

Paul Giamatti will not return in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2, but another Academy Award-caliber actor is taking his place in the second and final season. Executive produced by co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 will premiere March 2027 on Paramount+.

Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Paul Giamatti delivered an acting clinic as Nus Braka, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1's villain. A hybrid Klingon and Tellarite, Braka was an intergalactic terrorist bearing a lifelong grudge against the United Federation of Planets. Braka nearly brought down the Federation before he was foiled by his nemesis, Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), and Starfleet Academy's cadets.

Giamatti was specifically cast as the villain for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, and Braka's story concluded with his capture at the season's conclusion. The door was open for Paul to reprise Nus had Starfleet Academy been renewed for season 3, but the series had different plans for the cadets' sophomore year. Happily, those plans include the arrival of another celebrated actor who is also an Academy Award nominee.

Oscar Nominee Bill Nighy Replaces Paul Giamatti In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 2

Legendary British thespian Bill Nighy takes Paul Giamatti's place as Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2's Oscar-caliber actor opposite Holly Hunter, who is also an Academy Award Winner. Nighy is a Best Actor Oscar nominee for Living, and he is also a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Tony Award winner.

Nighy will play Nyk Ake, Captain Nahla Ake's father, in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2. Nyk is a full Lanthanite, a race physically resembling humans that can live for thousands of years. Nyk may be an unwelcome presence on the USS Athena, possibly disrupting Nahla's efforts to maintain Starfleet Academy's decorum as Chancellor while creating some family tension. Hunter will also play Nahla's twin sister in season 2.

Bill Nighy may be best known for playing Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, although he was encased in prosthetics and enhanced by CGI. Another popular Nighy movie is Love Actually, a holiday classic revisited annually by fans. Nighy also played Viktor in the Underworld movies, and Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

Another acclaimed movie star who worked with Bill Nighy voiced SAM's (Kerrice Brooks) Kasqian Maker in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who got a Best Actor Oscar nomination for 12 Years a Slave, starred opposite Nighy in The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was executive produced by Alex Kurtzman.

Why Star Trek’s Current Era Attracts Oscar-Level Actors

The Star Trek franchise has always cast talented, award-winning actors, but there has been an impressive uptick of A-list, Oscar-level talent in the Paramount+ Star Trek series executive produced by Alex Kurtzman. Star Trek: Discovery launched with Jason Isaacs and Michelle Yeoh in lead roles, with Yeoh going on to win the Best Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Zoe Saldaña, who played Lieutenant Uhura in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, won an Academy Award for Emilia Perez.

The high quality and production values of Alex Kurtzman's Star Trek series, and Kurtzman's own clout as executive producer from his movie successes, such as writing the Star Trek and Transformers franchises, is a draw for some of the best talent in Hollywood, many of whom are Star Trek fans like Paul Giamatti. Paramount+'s Star Trek franchise is a prestigious gig for A-listers.

Certainly, an Academy Award winner like Holly Hunter leading a Star Trek series is a green flag for other top talent to accept roles in the final frontier. Star Trek: Section 31 even boasts a cameo by Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis. They all follow the proud legacy of Oscar-winning Star Trek actors like Whoopi Goldberg, F. Murray Abraham, and the late Christopher Plummer.

Paul Giamatti tore up the screen in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, and Bill Nighy should also be memorable and impactful as Nyk Ake in season 2 opposite Holly Hunter as his daughters. There's also every possibility that other A-list, Oscar-level actors will appear in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's second and final season.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 is streaming on Paramount+

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  Holly Hunter

  Nahla Ake

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  Sandro Rosta

  Caleb Mir