After joining the Star Trek universe with a leading role on Starfleet Academy, Zoë Steiner expressed gratitude for the franchise’s efforts to foster inclusivity on and off screen.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which premiered on Thursday, January 15, follows the first new class of Starfleet cadets in over a century as they come of age and train to be officers. Steiner debuts in the second episode as Tarima Sadal, who is the daughter of the president of Betazed and a new student at the school. Her character — and the rest of the Sadal family — use American Sign Language to communicate due to their father’s (Anthony Natale) hearing loss.
“That was amazing. We had a sign language coach and we had quite a few intensive sessions where they would video what the signing was for our lines so we could practice that. That is just another great example of the inclusivity of Star Trek,” Steiner exclusively told Us Weekly. “Literally everyone can be represented.”
Steiner was grateful for the opportunity to learn some ASL for the role, adding, “It was amazing to learn the small amount that I had. There is so much soul in sign and I was really struck by my coach and Anthony. Just the heart [of the language] when he is signing — you feel everything.”
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Before joining the franchise, Steiner recalled not knowing “a lot” about all things Star Trek, which worked in her favor.
“It helped me not to have too many preconceived notions about the characters. Like most people, obviously, I know the original series. Once I was cast, I delved into everything,” she shared with Us. “At the very beginning, I was very nervous and fearful of the fact that I hadn’t seen a lot of it. So I did do a real deep dive and then I did have to find my way back.”
Steiner continued: “Of course, I need to be informed and understand the world, but at the end of the day — for me as an actor — the story that I need to get across is the one we’re telling right now.”
The actress was grateful for the way showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau immediately introduced the world on the page.
“With Tarima, literally, the moment I got the first audition side, I felt so connected to her. There are differences, but at her core, there wasn’t that much creating to do. It was more like, ‘Can I allow myself to drop into this?’” Steiner explained. “When I read the sides and got more scripts as they came through, it was just like looking into a mirror. [Especially with her empathy], ever since I was little, I’ve literally been told I’m too sensitive. Then to get a role where that’s not a weakness at all, it’s such a gift.”
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Steiner acknowledged that while it was “definitely challenging” at times, getting to explore a character so driven by her emotions was “a gift.”
“The whole team was very collaborative from the start. That’s been amazing. Once I got cast, we all got the first eight episodes sent through. So I could plot her emotional journey, which was really helpful. When we first meet her, she’s feeling quite restricted. There’s that element of status and the restrictions that come with that,” she teased. “But she’s also got these emotional walls up as well. It’s a kind of fear of how sensitive and empathic she is.”
Steiner added: “That’s where we meet Tarima. Then her arc starts when she meets Caleb, played by Sandro Rosta, who is incredible. She sees in him a [sense of] freedom. He sees something in her. They are kind of like two magnets. Over the course of the season, we see her journey through becoming more free and integrating her empathic abilities and coming to see them as a superpower.”
New episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy air Thursdays on Paramount+.
