The recent episode of the third season of Star Trek: Picard finally introduced its main villain: the bounty hunter Vadic played by Amanda Plummer. For starters, her casting is an easter egg itself since her father Christopher Plummer played General Chang, the villain of the last The Original Series film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Now that the current season of Picard is set to be the last adventure for The Next Generation crew, a lot of fans have agreed that the younger Plummer's casting as the villain is an inspired choice and it is a great wink to the legacy of the franchise.
Speaking with TVLine, showrunner Terry Matalas revealed that they indeed wrote the character of Vadic with the actress in mind. Not just because of the legacy aspect, but they are admirers of her decades-long of work on the screen as well.
"I have always had this fascination with Amanda Plummer. I mean, going back to her winning the Tony for Agnes of God, to The Fisher King to Pulp Fiction to The Prophecy… I just loved her," he said.
"There were two actors that we wrote for: One was Amanda Plummer. The other was Todd Stashwick, who plays Shaw, who I’ve worked with before on 12 Monkeys. There was never anyone else ever envisioned in those roles besides those two people, and the value of that is you get to write towards their strengths."
However, they had an obstacle when they were casting the actress for the role due to availability and scheduling issues. Fortunately, they were able to work it out and found a way to include her in the series.
"Amanda was shooting another show, Ratched, so she came in after we had already shot the majority of Episodes 1 through 5. So we didn’t know who was going to appear on the viewscreen," Matalas shared.
"By the first rehearsal, we were all holding our breath, and [when] she gave that performance, people were hugging each other, people were congratulating each other. We were so thrilled to have a classic, larger-than-life Star Trek villain."
The showrunner also teased that they have more in store with the character in the upcoming episodes and promised that she "has her own story and reasons to sympathize with her as well" and "has very personal reasons, but she also answers to a higher power, let’s just say."
Based on the responses, a lot of fans were certainly delighted by Plummer's presence in the recent episode and she already made a great impression as well as showing the potential that she could be an all-time Trek villain. Let's just wait and see how she'll play out in the coming episodes.
Also Read: Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Showrunner Opens Up About the Shocking Jack Crusher Twist
New episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 3 premiere every Thursday on Paramount+. You can check more details about it here.
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