Akiva Goldsman had two cameos on Star Trek before he started writing episodes

Akiva Goldsman has had many ups and downs in his career as a Hollywood screenwriter. The writer won an Academy Award in 2001 for writing “A Beautiful Mind,” but had previously been nominated for Razzies (in honor of the worst in cinema) for writing the screenplays for “A Time to Kill.” and the atrocious “Batman & Robin.” He has been deeply involved in major blockbusters and media franchises, writing “The Da Vinci Code,” 1998’s “Lost in Space” and “The Divergent Series: Insurgent.” He also wrote “I, Robot,” “I Am Legend” and, most recently, “The Dark Tower.”

Since 2017, Goldsman has joined the “Star Trek” brass, serving as one of the franchise’s executive producers and writing multiple episodes of “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard” and “Star Trek: Strange “. New Worlds.” He has also directed five episodes, taking his new place at the top of “Trek.” Goldsman is also working on other projects (he created the 2023 series “The Crowded Room”), but “Star Trek” appears to take the top spot. most of his time.

Goldsman has been a Trekkie for a long time, so joining the new wave of Paramount+-era shows was probably a dream come true for him. As it happens, it wasn’t the writer’s first time playing in the “Star Trek” sandbox either. In 2009, Goldsman arranged with director JJ Abrams, a friend of his, to make a cameo in his 2009 film “Star Trek.” Take a close look at the image below and scan the faces of the two members of the Vulcan tribunal who They look at young Spock (Zachary Quinto). The one just to the right of the head judge is none other than Akiva Goldsman in a wig.

In the image above below from “Star Trek Into Darkness,” Goldsman can also be seen as a human Starfleet admiral. It’s the bald man in the white-chested uniform on the right side of the table.

Goldsman spoke about his Trekkie credibility in a 2014 interview with StarTrek.comand how their cameos came about. The writer grew up watching “Star Trek” and is a big fan who has an opinion on the “Trekkie vs. Trekker” debate. He even attended conventions back in the day. He said:

“I’m a hardcore, die-hard Trekkie, 1,000 percent. And I say Trekkie, not Trekker, and I don’t care what the nomenclature has become. I think my first ‘Star Trek’ convention was at the Statler Hilton Hotel in 1977 or 1978. I grew up in Brooklyn and what you watched was on WPIX, Channel 11. And you watched it at 7 every night I don’t think I’m old enough to remember. having seen it in prime time, but I learned it very quickly in syndication.

Goldsman remembers the wild, confusing days of the 1970s, when a group of teenagers could go out of town on their own, get a hotel room and do nothing but watch “Star Trek” and roll joints (mostly seeds and stems, he said). on vinyl copies of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (by recent EGOT Elton John). It’s probably no coincidence that his production company is called Weed Road Productions. He said he associated “Star Trek” with his own sense of teenage liberation, and eventually found “something” of his own.

Goldsman said he followed all The Bizarre Legal Battles Harlan Ellison Instigatedand read every design book written by the program’s designer, David Gerrold. When “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was released, Goldsman said he was in college and fell in love with Persis Khambatta. There was never a time when Trek wasn’t a part of his life.

It seems that Goldsman, since he was friends with JJ Abrams, could have simply called his friend and asked for a cameo. Abrams was co-creator of the 2008 television series “Fringe” (with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci), and Goldsman worked on “Fringe” as a writer, consultant and producer. Goldsman ultimately wrote 18 episodes of that show and even directed one. Knowing that Abrams was working on “Star Trek,” Goldsman reached out and subtly asked for a small favor. Okay, actually he begged. In Goldsman’s words:

‘I introduced JJ to his wife. I did’Fringe.’ And so when I was making the first one’trip to the stars‘ I basically begged. That went well, so I guess maybe it was a good idea to bring back the people from the first one (for ‘Into Darkness’). I could have begged a little more. And there I was. I couldn’t love him more. “I have a gum card right here in my office at the Vulcan council.”

Akiva Goldsman, interestingly, is not one of the many, many producers included on the list. the upcoming TV series “Starfleet Academy”currently in development. Both “Discovery” and “Picard” have come to an end, so in “Star Trek” terms, Goldsman may be focusing all his energies on the upcoming seasons of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” Its third year will begin in the first months of 2025.