Christina Chong Talks La’An’s Kirk vs. Spock Choice and Her Big ‘Strange New Worlds’ Journey
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has put La’An Noonien-Singh through just about everything, but according to Christina Chong, all of those experiences have been pushing her character toward one thing: finally accepting herself.
The TV Cave recently spoke with Chong ahead of Season 4, Episode 9, “Once La’An a Time,” which premieres Sept. 17 on Paramount+. The episode returns to the world first introduced in Season 1’s “The Elysian Kingdom,” only this time the Enterprise crew finds itself on a real fantasy planet. La’An once again becomes a spoiled princess as the crew is forced wildly out of character during an adventure that promises to have lasting consequences for her.
But while Princess La’An gave Chong another opportunity to have some fun, our conversation eventually turned to the much bigger question hanging over La’An's romantic life: Kirk or Spock? And Chong actually picked one.
Christina Chong Thinks Kirk Is the Better Fit for La’An
“I think La’An ultimately probably Kirk is a better fit for her because of where she is in her journey,” Chong told The TV Cave.
Her reasoning comes back to just how much La’An has changed. Chong believes her character has reached a point where she can embrace being human, including all the messy and imperfect parts of herself. That makes Kirk a better match for the woman La’An is becoming.
“She’s learned to fully embrace that, her human flawed self,” Chong explained. “And so Spock obviously has a very repressed emotional life, and therefore I think Kirk is gonna help her to grow. So I think Kirk is the right direction to go.”
That's a pretty definitive answer from the woman who has been playing La’An for four seasons.
La’An's complicated connection with James T. Kirk stretches back several seasons, including the alternate-reality Kirk she fell for during their time-traveling adventure. Season 2's musical episode later forced La’An to confront those feelings with the prime-timeline Kirk, only to learn that his relationship with Carol Marcus was more complicated than she realized.
Then came Spock. Chong admitted that even she was caught off guard when La’An and Spock's relationship ended so quickly. “That was a shock, actually,” Chong said. “I was like, ‘What? We only just got together, huh? We’re breaking up already?’”
Although surprised by the decision, Chong ultimately understood why the writers went there and suggested that the breakup could become another piece of Spock's journey toward the character Star Trek fans already know.
“Maybe, you know, the breakup with La’An, it fuels his future and who he is to become,” she said, calling it “a great move on behalf of the writers.”
‘Once La’An a Time’ Brings La’An's Journey Back to Herself
For all the Kirk-versus-Spock talk, Chong sees “Once La’An a Time” as something much more personal for her character.
La’An entered Strange New Worlds guarded, carrying trauma and struggling with everything attached to the Noonien-Singh name. The fantasy adventure in Episode 9 may look completely removed from the serious security chief viewers know, but Chong says it gives La’An an opportunity to reach an important point in her emotional journey.
“I think for La’An it’s been a long journey for her to accept herself and love herself,” Chong said. “And I think that’s where she finally realizes and is able to do it.”That acceptance doesn't mean getting rid of the more difficult pieces of herself.
“Accepting all of who she is, the anger, the paranoia, the fear, all of that is not good or bad, it just is,” Chong explained. “And therefore when she’s able to fully accept herself, she’s able to open up and fully love others, hence her connection or reconnection with Jim Kirk.” The same idea extends to the Noonien-Singh name itself. What once represented an enormous burden for La’An is becoming another part of herself that she no longer needs to fight.
“It’s acceptance,” Chong said. “It’s acceptance that, you know, that is who she is. She has these recessive Khan genes and she’s just going to choose to be okay with that and learn to love it.”
Princess La’An Returns And So Does Runa
Of course, Strange New Worlds isn't sending La’An on this emotional journey without letting Chong have a little fun first.
“Once La’An a Time” revisits the fantasy concept of Season 1's “The Elysian Kingdom,” where La’An became the very un-La’An-like Princess Thalia. That original episode also featured Chong's real-life dog, Runa Ewok, alongside her.
Chong was thrilled to step back into the role.
“Amazing. So much fun,” she said. “There’s no boundary and she can do whatever she wants and I can play as an actor.”
Making the experience even better was getting to work with Runa again. Chong revealed that while production had a trained show dog available as a backup, Runa didn't need much help. “She did all her own stunts,” Chong joked.
Runa is accustomed to the Strange New Worlds environment because, according to Chong, she's regularly around the production and knows the crew. Being surrounded by cameras throughout her life may have helped prepare her for her latest close-up.And apparently Runa isn't finished with Star Trek yet. When we asked Chong what she could tease about the future, she offered one very specific Season 5 promise: “More Runa.”
Christina Chong Had a Blast Going Full Soap Opera
With Strange New Worlds regularly throwing its cast into different genres, choosing a favorite experiment isn't easy. But Chong pointed to Season 4's soap-opera adventure as one of the most fun.
The challenge wasn't simply playing everything badly. It was figuring out exactly how heightened the performances needed to become. “It was a real challenge to not act badly, but act as if we’re in a soap,” Chong said. “So I was like, where is that line? Where do we pitch that?” That meant mastering dramatic stares into nowhere and trying to keep a straight face while watching Ethan Peck embrace Spock's own soap-opera transformation.
Chong also revealed that the production style changed to help capture the soap aesthetic. Instead of the show's usual maximum of three cameras, she remembers four or possibly five cameras being positioned around the set.
“They wouldn’t tell us when they were moving closer,” Chong said. “And so we just had to keep doing the scenes.”
After musicals, alternate realities, fantasy kingdoms and soap operas, there doesn't seem to be much Strange New Worlds won't ask its actors to try. But for La’An, all those wild swings have been accompanied by a much quieter evolution.
“Once La’An a Time” appears poised to bring that journey back to the person underneath all the armor, a La’An who, as Chong sees it, is finally ready to accept every part of herself and see what comes next.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 409, “Once La’An a Time,” premieres Thursday, Sept. 17 on Paramount+.
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