WARNING: Contains mild spoilers for Quantum Leap season 1, episode 1.The 2022 Quantum Leap revival has arrived, and here's a guide to each of the new characters and stars. The sequel series airs on NBC and Peacock, and picks up 30 years after the events of the original Quantum Leap series' notoriously open-ended finale. This means that, rather than recasting the characters of Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) and Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), the new Quantum Leap has a whole new cast of characters who return to Doctor Beckett's experiments.
The format of the 2022 Quantum Leap is very similar to that of the original series. Each week, the lead character, physicist Dr. Sam Beckett time traveled by leaping into the bodies of numerous figures from across history. This is roughly the same format followed by the 2022 revival, albeit with some updates for a modern television audience. The revival finds a new team of scientists restarting the Quantum Leap accelerator to attempt to solve the mystery of what happened to Sam Beckett all those years ago, with predictable results.
The original Quantum Leap focused primarily on Sam's leaps through time, receiving regular support from the hologram of his best friend Al. The 2022 revival has much more of a focus on the people on the other side of the Quantum Leap accelerator as they attempt to help the new quantum leaper, Ben Song in his time travels. This means that there's a larger, more diverse cast of characters in the Quantum Leap franchises' 2022 revival, and here's what viewers need to know about each of the characters and the actors who play them.
Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song
Following in the quantum footsteps of Dr. Sam Beckett is Dr. Ben Song, who steps into the Quantum Leap accelerator 30 years after Sam disappeared. It's Song who will be the 2022 revival's Beckett, a gifted physicist leaping into various people from across time. The trailer released by NBC shows his leaps into the bodies of an astronaut, a female rock star, a soldier, a boxer, and a 1980s getaway driver. The sci-fi TV show character Dr. Song is played by Raymond Lee, who was one of Top Gun: Maverick's new characters - Lt. Logan "Yale" Lee. He also played the role of Sam in Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy's subversive sitcom Kevin Can F**k Himself and starred as Duc Bayer-Boatwright in Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball's short-lived comedy-drama Here and Now on HBO.
Caitlin Bassett as Addison Augustin
Replacing Dean Stockwell as Al in the Quantum Leap sequel is Caitlin Bassett as Addison. Like Al, Addison appears to Ben as a hologram, providing him with guidance on what he needs to do in order to initiate his next leap. Unlike Al and Sam's fraternal friendship, Ben and Addison's connection is much more romantic in nature. Playing the character of Addison marks Caitlin Bassett's first major screen role, having previously worked as an archive intern on Burn, Motherfucker, Burn! Showtime's documentary about the LAPD's problematic relationship with race.
Ernie Hudson as Herbert "Magic" Williams
While Scott Bakula isn't returning to Quantum Leap, the character of Herbert "Magic" Williams is. The character was originally played by Christopher Kirby in the original Quantum Leap season 3, episode 2, "The Leap Home, Part II (Vietnam)". Williams was a soldier serving in Vietnam alongside Sam Beckett's brother Tom (David Newsom). He was called "Magic" Williams because of his cheating of death, as Herbert, Sam eventually saved the life of Tom Beckett, and continued leaping through time. In the sequel series, Williams is now head of the Quantum Leap project, bridging the gap between the scientists and American military intelligence at the Pentagon.
The older Herbert Williams is played by Ernie Hudson, who is of course best known for playing Winston in the original and future Ghostbusters movies. Hudson is therefore no stranger to the world of beloved sci-fi franchises. Other credits for Ernie Hudson include as Lily Tomlin's love interest Jacob in Netflix's Grace and Frankie and as the patriarch of the Duncan family in the crime series The Family Business.
Mason Alexander Park as Ian Wright
Ian Wright is the new Quantum Leap project's lead programmer, tasked with rebuilding Ziggy, the artificial intelligence that assisted Al and Sam in the original Quantum Leap series. Ian Wright is played by non-binary actor Mason Alexander Park, most recently seen as Desire in the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Park also played Gren in Netflix's swiftly canceled live-action remake of Cowboy Bebop.
Nanrisa Lee as Jenn Chou
Completing the core team for the 2022 sci-fi series Quantum Leap is Jenn Chou, the new project's head of digital security, who is also attempting to find out why Ben Song entered the Quantum Leap accelerator. Jenn is played by Nanrisa Lee, who has had a number of guest roles in shows such as Star Trek: Picard, in which she played one of the FBI agents who arrested Picard and Guinan. Lee has also appeared in episodes of CSI: Vegas, NCIS: Los Angeles and in American Horror Story season 7, episode 1, "Election Night". Before Quantum Leap, Nanrisa Lee is probably best known for playing Tiffany Hsu in four episodes of Bosch.