As Lt. Spock in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Ethan Peck convincingly steps into the iconic role (and ears) originated by the legendary Leonard Nimoy. Peck debuted as Spock in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, which set the stage for the Vulcan spinning off into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a prequel that charts the voyages of the Starship Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount).

Screen Rant interviewed Ethan Peck about Spock's real name, his relationship with his Vulcan betrothed, T'Pring (Gia Sandhu), and Paul Wesley joining the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 as Spock's future best friend and Captain, James T. Kirk.

Related: Strange New Worlds Can Finally Show How Kirk Met Spock In Star Trek Canon

Screen Rant: A couple of weeks ago, a poster came out with Spock's real name and Paramount redacted it. Do you know what Spock's real name is?

Ethan Peck: I never got to see it, to be honest with you. Unfortunately, I can't really comment on it. I'd heard about it, and that's about it.

So it doesn't really factor into Strange New Worlds as far as you can tell us?

Ethan Peck: No.

Strange New Worlds does go into Spock's relationship with T'Pring, which is pretty exciting. What can we look forward to finding out about their relationship that The Original Series didn't tell us?

Ethan Peck: I think that Strange New Worlds offers an opportunity for all of us involved to see more deeply into these characters' lives. Spock included and, obviously for me, most interestingly. What's he like behind closed doors? What's he like in the bedroom? These are things that I think we get to speculate on.

You're playing the younger version of Leonard Nimoy's Spock. Can you talk about how you prepared for the role of Prime Spock? Do you feel pressure to live up to Nimoy's portrayal?

Ethan Peck: Yeah, I feel a huge amount of pressure to live up to Nimoy's portrayal and to fans' expectations of the role. That has been a huge component of this experience and part of my process. When I was first cast in the role, I didn't know what I was auditioning for. So I had an interpretation of some scenes that were given to me that I'm very grateful will always remain mine. I had an experience with these scenes that was me.

Of course, when I discovered which character it was, I began to do my due diligence and research Leonard Nimoy's portrayal of the character, and that, of course, informed my work. But I'll always have the seed of my imagining of whatever this character was. So yeah, it's an ongoing process.

I haven't watched The Original Series in quite a while. Quite frankly, I'm a little afraid to because, after a certain point, I felt something was alive in me that was Spock. And I've really tried to maintain the integrity of that and keep the growth of that to my own. I had very much an impression in me of Leonard Nimoy as this character that I check in with every day, almost hour-to-hour when I'm working. But I'm sure that's changed over time and become something unique in myself.

Strange New Worlds Spock

You guys are shooting season 2 now, I believe. And they announced that Paul Wesley is joining the show as Kirk. 

Ethan Peck: Yeah!

Did you guys have a chemistry test? Did you get to feel each other out and see if the Kirk/Spock dynamic really is there?

Ethan Peck: I don't think I can comment on that, but I will say that he is a fantastic guy. We get along great. He's taking this with a depth of seriousness, which I think I do, which is very comforting for me and exciting for me.

Looking ahead, with you and Kirk together and meeting each other, what happens if the fans fall in love with you two together and they demand a spinoff? Will it just be called Star Trek?

Ethan Peck: [laughs] That's a great question, and I have no idea. That's so far in the future. We're just trying to get through these first couple of seasons. That's a question for the guys above that are putting the shows together.

Strange New Worlds starts not long after Discovery season 2 ends. Where is Spock mentally and emotionally now that Michael [Sonequa Martin-Green] is gone?

Ethan Peck: I think that he's in sort of a delicate and fragile place, relatively, for him. He's just had this enormous trauma with his experience with this entity called the Red Angel [Sonja Sohn] that has led to his unraveling psychologically and emotionally. He's connected to his sister, who I think has been hugely important to his discovery of his human self and his human side. He has then lost her to time.

He's been more or less exiled from Vulcan, in a way. He's been disconnected from his father who is probably his deepest Vulcan connection. And so, you're left with someone who maybe doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere and doesn't yet feel like he belongs in Starfleet, and is learning to feel what it's like to be accepted. Wanting to accept the different parts of himself that seem to be in eternal conflict with one another. So it's a very exciting place in his life because he will have to experiment and search and problem-solve day-to-day in his experiences and the situations he finds himself in.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Synopsis

The cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1.

The series follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise as they explore new worlds throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

Don't forget to check out our interview with star Anson Mount as well.

Next: Strange New Worlds Retcons The Enterprise's Star Trek Role

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres Thursday, May 5, on Paramount+.