Star Trek: Strange New Worlds took a gamble in Season 2 when it decided to cross over with the animated comedy Lower Decks, but the episode was well-loved by fans of both shows. Now, after hearing in recent weeks what the Star Trek shows learned from each other and how Lower Decks intentionally tries to make itself as close to live-action as possible, we’re now hearing from Jack Quaid about how he brought Bradward Boimler to life. A video of the actor describing his process hit the web, and I’m still in awe of how well he did.
The official Star Trek Tiktok account posted a clip of Jack Quaid talking about becoming Bradward Boimler in live action after four seasons of voicing the character. Quaid discussed his process and revealed what small parts he incorporated into the task of bringing Boimler to life:
I went back and looked at a lot of Lower Decks episodes to get the Boimlerisms down. I snuck a few things in there. He does a lot of this [gestures with hands] in the show, and I tried to get some of that in there. I did the Section 31 power walk. I got the Boimler scream in there. It was cool to see how he moved and then to try to bring that into my own body. It was such a weird and trippy experience, but so rewarding and so cool.
Hearing Jack Quaid talk about the process just made me love his performance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ “Those Old Scientists” even more. It speaks volumes to the fact that I didn’t notice any of this, but it still felt like I was just watching Bradward Boimler in the living flesh on the Enterprise. I shouldn’t be surprised given that he’s an absolute joy to watch on The Boys, but the whole episode really makes me wish another crossover is in the works for the Lower Decks crew to return to live action. I know I would’ve loved to see live-action versions of Tendi and Rutherford, as well as see how they’d bring a character like Dr. T’Ana to life.
For the time being, the only way I’ll get to see a repeat performance of Boimler is by re-watching the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode with a Paramount+ subscription. Fortunately, we’re also in the midst of Season 4 of Lower Decks, which has Jack Quaid doing his thing as Boimler. He’s back to solely delivering a voice performance, but given the amount of energy he brings to the voicework with that scream, it’s still amazing.
As for when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will return with new episodes, we’re still in the midst of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA writers’ strikes. Fortunately, once those conclude, it doesn’t even sound like the filming of the Section 31 movie will interfere with the show jumping back into production for Season 3 as soon as possible. I’m certainly excited to see a new season here soon, though with other upcoming Trek shows on the way, I can still be patient and wait a while longer.
Catch new episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount+ on Thursdays. There’s a massive collection of Trek on the platform for any fan to enjoy, so check it out and spend a day traveling through space with some of sci-fi’s greatest characters.