Due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, the actors appearing at this panel could not speak to promote any work that was considered a “struck project.” Actors did their best to answer fan questions as best as they could in respect to both the SAG-AFTRA strike and the WGA strike.
The following are some highlights from the Fan Expo panel We’ve Established Contact with Anson Mount and Ethan Peck – Captain Christopher Pike and Spock on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- The most anticipated question was how long it takes Anson to do Pike’s hair: “Between hair, makeup, and costume, they budget me an hour and a half. Not too long!”
- Anson says that he’s not “naturally gifted with a beautiful voice” like his co-star [Peck]. “I have to do a bit more training, but we had a tremendous amount of fun [on the recent musical episode]. We were scared shitless.”
- Ethan says that he would love to explore singing following the musical episode.
- The cast had to record the album before they filmed the episode. Most of the recording occurred on the weekend on during their own time so as to not take away from production time.
- Mount had hoped for more of a rock n’ roll vibe (like John Cougar Mellencamp) but it went a bit country. He doesn’t usually sing but confessed to singing out loud while driving. Says his taste in music is all about his daughter now and jokes that she loves Van Halen, AC/DC, Dolly Parton and Blondie. He’s trying to introduce her to some Metallica.
- Ethan enjoys listening to Sufjan Stevens and still has a tapedeck in his car with U2’s Joshua Tree cassette.
- While Pike is a cook, Anson just follows recipes. “Every guy has a hip pocket recipe from back when they were dating. It’s the closer move. You cook for a woman. That’s it!”
- Anson’s favourite meal is a bunch of Tennessee BBQ with a side of mashed potatoes, green beans, and a 2L Coca-Cola.
- Ethan says that he “weirdly doesn’t enjoy cooking.” But he does get the joy of it. “I have friends who love to cook and I love to eat it. Both my mother and stepmother are great cooks.”
- Ethan loves to eat Korean BBQ.
- Anson says he grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons.
- Scoffed when someone asked if they saw any merchandising fees from the action figures. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
- While the Strange New Worlds musical episode album hit number one on streaming (beating out Taylor Swift, “How is that even possible?”), Anson says that they didn’t “see a cent.”
- Anson now usually has the sound turned off on his phone. “I’ve had my phone on silent ever since I was on set with Christopher Walken. I had it set to ‘La Cucaracha.’” Walken was filming and Anson’s phone went off in the middle of the scene. “I went running outside [with my phone]. I hadn’t met him yet. I come back and the director (who is a friend of mine) and looks at me from across the room… If looks could kill. I went up to Mr. Walken and said, ‘I’m the jerk with the phone.’ The whole room stops and goes dead silent. He looks and my and says, ‘Why do all these cell phones have to have all these songs? Why don’t they just ring?’ The whole room died. Since then, I’ve kept my phone on silent.”
- Ethan says that his ringtone is also turned off.
- Anson says he’ll stick with acting instead of branching out into directing. “You are dealing with nightmares in different departments and there are enough white guys directing.”
- Anson says he’d like to work with David Lynch.
- Anson says he’d love to do a Western episode, “But I don’t want to do something kitschy with phasers in the holsters.” He’d want to do a “real dark and dirty” type of Western. “Like Sergio Leone.”
- Anson would also like to do a full stage production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.
- When asked if Ethan would ever do a Spellbound remake (which starred his grandfather Gregory Peck), his answer was an immediate no.
