‘Star Trek’ Series: Angela Bassett At The Helm?

       The new Star Trek TV series will include Bryan Fuller as co-creator and executive producer, and he has mentioned Angela Bassett as his choice for captain of the ship, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly. Fuller began his career writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and then for Star Trek: Voyager, but he most recently has been known for shows like Hannibal and Pushing Up Daisies.

Fuller had this to say about Star Trek returning to TV and his opportunity to play a part in making that happen.

“My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls… Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire. It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand-new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

He spoke with Entertainment Weekly about some of his thoughts on the new Star Trek series and said that he’d love to see Angela Bassett as captain of the ship. But that ship may not necessarily be the U.S.S. Enterprise.

“I would love to do something on the Reliant… I want Angela Bassett to be the captain, that’s who I would love to have, you know Captain Angela Bassett and First Officer Rosario Dawson. I would love to do that version of the show… “

Let's make #CaptainAngelaBassett happen @CBS ! @ImAngelaBassett @BryanFuller @StarTrek @WeAreWakanda pic.twitter.com/3Pezegbrai

— Alex Marco (@TheAlexMarco) February 11, 2016

Star Trek fans are showing their support for the casting of Bassett as captain with a new hashtag that’s quickly gaining in popularity: #CaptainAngelaBassett. Angela hasn’t publicly commented on the idea, but we do know that Ryan Murphy told E! Online not long ago that she will be returning to American Horror Story for Season 6, so depending on the timing, Bassett may or may not be available. If the timing were right, would she be up for playing the captain on the new Star Trek series? Who knows. Angela did say this to Yahoo News back in October regarding the kind of roles she likes to play.

“I’m always cognizant of a woman’s persona in media. Be it film or television, you know it’s always been something that I thought about. Because I love the strength and the resilience of a woman, a woman in charge and kicking butt, and yet feminine but very bright and complex… “

A role as a Star Trek captain would seem to fit that bill, Ms. Bassett!
Of course, Angela Bassett wouldn’t be the first actress to play an important role on a Star Trek TV show. Kate Mulgrew played Captain Kathryn Janeway of the U.S.S. Voyager on Star Trek: Voyager from 1995 to 2001 and then Admiral Kathryn Janeway in the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis. And the iconic Nichelle Nichols played bridge officer Lieutenant Ohura on the original Star Trek series. She was the first African-American woman featured in a major television series in a non-servant role.
Angela Bassett’s resume, which includes 46 award nominations and 28 wins, leaves no doubt that she has the talent and experience to perform beautifully as the captain of a Star Trek ship or in any other role she chooses to take on. Bassett also has a history of playing strong women. Some of those roles are her performance as Tina Turner in the movie What’s Love Got to Do with It, a movie that won her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical in 1994, and her performance as Stella Payne in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, a role that won her an Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture and a Black Film Award for Best Actress in 1999.