‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Casts Paul Wesley As James T. Kirk

After portraying a 171-year-old cured vampire on the small screen, Paul Wesley is back with another iconic role for Season 2 of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”

On Tuesday, the official “Star Trek” website announced that the 39-year-old actor would be giving life to James T. Kirk once the show enters its second season.

“Paul is an accomplished actor, an astonishing presence and a welcome key addition to the show,” executive producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunners/executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers said in a joint statement.

They added that Wesley was also a “life-long” fan of the franchise, so they were excited to witness his interpretation of the iconic role that was originally portrayed by William Shatner in “Star Trek: The Original Series.”

Wesley previously starred in The CW’s hit series “The Vampire Diaries” as Stefan Salvatore in all eight seasons of the show. He was also part of the Paramount+ series “Tell Me a Story.” He has an upcoming horror film titled “History of Evil.”

Aside from acting, Wesley also worked as director and producer on several projects, including “The Vampire Diaries,” “Legacies,” “Roswell” and “New Mexico.”

Meanwhile, it will take some time before fans can see Wesley’s take on the beloved “Star Trek” character. His casting just comes ahead of Season 1’s launch on May 5 on Paramount+. The series was renewed for a sophomore run in January, Deadline reported.

Wesley joins a star-studded cast that includes Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock and Rebecca Romijn as Number One.

Other stars of the show include Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Nyota Uhura, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh, Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga.

It’s not surprising that Wesley is set to appear in the second season and not in the freshman run of the series. After all, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” will focus on Captain Pike, Spike and Number One’s adventures years before Kirk boarded the Enterprise.

Production on the second season is already underway in Toronto, Entertainment Weekly reported.