Paramount James Doohan as Scotty
Fans who watch “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” knew this moment was coming soon after the episode “All Those Who Wander.” The fan-favorite Hemmer (Bruce Horak) appears to have died while sacrificing himself to save the rest of the away team. Rather than allow a Gorn plague to ravage Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and the rest of the Enterprise crew, Hemmer allowed himself to freeze and then plummet to his death.
Some fans think that Hemmer could be back, as the engineer said that Valeo Beta V’s environment reminded him of Andoria, his home world. Speculation is that Hemmer may have survived the apparent fall and could return at some later point. Horak even hinted at that in an interview with fan site Warp Factor Trek.
This leaves a prominent spot open for the Enterprise crew, and Pike will need a new person in main engineering for Season 2. While viewers heard a glimpse of what will be — that is, with Montgomery “Scotty” Scott — during the season finale, no one saw Scotty. His voice, which gave Mr. Spock the hilarious feedback that fans have grown accustomed to, was provided by voiceover artist Matthew Wolf.
Scotty in ‘Strange New Worlds’
Ha! HAHAHAHAHA
Only the writers and producers of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” know if Scotty will indeed be included in Season 2. This is undoubtedly a secret, as they likely don’t want to let this news leak like the inclusion of Paul Wesley as Kirk did.
Not knowing if Scotty will be part of Season 2 does not stop folks from wondering who might portray the beloved “miracle worker” who appeared in the “The Original Series,” “The Animated Series,” seven feature films, “The Next Generation” and even “Star Trek: Prodigy.” James Doohan, who for so many is Scotty, passed away in 2005.
Unlike “Star Wars,” Trek does not have a problem recasting its main characters. So who should Paramount cast to play Scotty for “Strange New Worlds?” With the help of some experts, this is a possible list of contenders for the role in the series.
Simon Pegg
While this might seem obvious to many, since Pegg portrayed Scotty in the three “Kelvin Trek” films (and he also helped write “Star Trek Beyond”), he would not make a good choice for the role in “Strange New Worlds.” Pegg’s salary in these movies is likely higher than what a typical television actor would expect. His castmates Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) got hefty raises to return for “Beyond.”
Money aside, fans would likely balk at Pegg playing Scotty in the Kelvin and Prime Universes.
Ewan McGregor
Known to science fiction fans as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor might also command a large salary, making him a part of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” unlikely. The fact that he’s so identified with “Star Wars” also makes him an unlikely choice. But McGregor is an actual Scottish actor and wouldn’t need to develop an accent for Scotty. Scotland is so proud of McGregor as an actor that his photo is featured on the top of the nation’s website.
Sean Biggerstaff
Biggerstaff is another Scottish actor who might be suitable for the role. He’s best known for his role as Oliver Wood in the “Harry Potter” movies. He might be too young for the role, though. Doohan’s Scotty was older than William Shatner’s Kirk. Anson Mount is 49, while Biggerstaff is just 39.
Biggerstaff did use his natural Scottish accent in the Potter movies, so there would be no need to come up with something specific to the role.
Mike Myers
Younger fans know him best as the voice of Shrek, which featured the actor doing a Scottish accent. According to an interview with Vanity Fair (as reported by Games Radar), Myers said he did a British-like accent at first but decided against it.
“Then I said, ‘Can I record it again as Scottish?’” Meyers recalled in the video interview. “Because I know fairy tales are a Eurocentric form. Scottish people are near and dear to me. I have relatives in Scotland and background in Scottish, and they’re working people. It’s a working people accent. And they went, ‘No, we like it the way it is,’ and I said, ‘Oh, come on, just let me.’”
Interestingly, Myers is also a Canadian actor, like Doohan. In his days on “Saturday Night Live,” Myers even sold posters of Scotty during his series of “All Things Scottish” comedy sketches. He also used a Scottish accent in the movie “So I Married An Axe Murderer.” Myers could undoubtedly handle the Scottish accent and might be up for a return to television after his most recent project did not perform so well on Netflix.
Chris Doohan
Heavy spoke with Dan Leckie, the person behind the aforementioned Warp Factor Trek, on his thoughts. Not only is Leckie an influential voice in the Trek fan community, but he’s a native of Scotland. It made perfect sense to ask a Scottish Trek fan his opinion of who could bring Scotty to life on “Strange New Worlds.”
“I think the obvious go-to would be James Doohan’s son, Chris, who played the character brilliantly in “Star Trek Continues,’” said Leckie. For those not familiar, “Continues” is the fan-produced series of original episodes which were meant to finish out the five-year mission of “The Original Series.” That mission was cut short after NBC canceled Trek in 1969.
Chris Doohan was also in the Kelvin films, working along side Pegg in the engineering department.
“I do also find it interesting that — when I’ve done an AI search for celebrity lookalikes based on a screenshot of James Doohan in the role — one of the results is Ewan McGregor,” said Leckie. “He’d be an interesting casting choice if they wanted to go for an A-lister.”
“[McGregor]has the experience of interacting with a genre fanbase, but he’s probably too busy with other commitments as well as very pricey,” said Leckie. “And do the showrunners want to highlight the part with such a well-known actor? I’m not convinced, but it’d be… interesting.”
Trek fans can check out Leckie’s show on YouTube, “SubSpace Chatter.” The show had been dedicated to breaking down episodes of “Strange New Worlds” after they aired, but Leckie said “SubSpace Chatter” will change a bit.
“[We] will be doing episode reviews of random Trek episodes interspersed with occasional interviews with cast and crew,” said Leckie.
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