Interview (With SPOILERS): Star Trek's First Blind Actor on Cancer, Family and Facing Death
By John Kirk
Warning: A SIGNIFICANT SPOILER for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season One, Episode Nine is present in this interview.
Bruce Horak, the Canadian actor who plays Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Hemmer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, belongs to a variety of families.
Whether it’s here on Earth in Stratford, Ontario, or somewhere in the final frontier, he has become a welcome addition to the cast of Strange New Worlds, and a Star Trek first – a blind character played by a legally blind actor.
Hemmer is an Aenar, a blind species of the Andorians, and has endeared himself to not only the family of the USS Enterprise, but to fans as well.
Hemmer (Bruce Horak) mentors Cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
“From the beginning, the writers wanted Hemmer to be a favourite,” he said via Zoom. “I’m overjoyed that people – fans – are having that emotional reaction. To me, he’s Uhura’s Obi-Wan.” Referring to the near-familial bond that Hemmer and Cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) have developed in this first season, Horak can strongly relate to that in these episodes.
A childhood cancer survivor, Horak was diagnosed with retinoblastoma at a year old. From parental experience, I can say cancer is a horrible thing for anyone. But when it strikes a child, the entire family feels it at an extremely poignant level. When you are a childhood cancer survivor or patient, you automatically join a very exclusive family, a welcoming one, but one you wish you hadn’t joined.
“My mother noticed there was something wrong with my eye. She took me to the eye-doctor, who recognized it right away. I was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and they initially recommended that both eyes be removed.
“But they spoke with my father, who had lost the sight in his left eye as a child. At the time, nobody told him it was cancer or even used the word. It was that generation. They just told him, ‘You got a virus, and then you lost your sight.’ Retinoblastoma is one of those cancers that is genetically inherited. So, there he is, at 34, being told that it was his fault.
“Well, that was how he took it, at least. But he found strength enough to say that they had to save what sight they could. There was a doctor at Sick Kids in Toronto who had developed a radical new procedure. And my mom dropped everything, called him, and we flew to Toronto for surgeries and radiation. I couldn’t tell you how many treatments, radiation and then observation, under an anesthetic, every six months for four years.”
The Enterprise away team on tonight’s Strange New World
Sacrifice is a common experience shared in any childhood cancer family. Parents sacrifice time, careers, even their mental wellness, because that’s what parents do. Guilt, is a common experience too and is also felt by childhood cancer parents feel as well.
In S1E9 “All Those Who Wander”, the theme of sacrifice is obvious and extremely prominent in Hemmer. There’s a near-fatherly bond with Uhura, who has lost her own parents and has taken to Hemmer as a sort of mentor. This developed in S1E4 “Memento Mori” as Hemmer helped guide Uhura through emergency repairs to save the ship.
It is Hemmer who helps her to realize her direction in life. Life lessons are what all parents teach, whether they are cancer-parents, regular parents or even Andorian Aenar.
To offset the guilt and the brutal experience of cancer therapy, it’s common for parents to submerge their kids in fantasy to escape the harsh reality of the treatment. This was Bruce’s experience too.
“My Dad was a huge nerd. He collected comic books. His study was floor-to-ceiling with old comics, pulps, newsprint. He was a big “Prince Valiant” fan and started the Alberta Comic Collectors’ Association. He wrote a book called “The Prince Valiant Companion” and had a newsletter called “The Caniffites Journal”.
(At this point, I was able to pull out my hardcover copy of “Prince Valiant, Volume 1.)
“You have “Prince Valiant”?” Bruce exclaimed in surprise.
Something told me that Bruce’s father, Karl, and I would have gotten along.
“He was a huge Milton Caniff fan. He used to cut the old newspapers out and bound them all the comic strips together. So, I’d lie on the floor and read them – and they were huge! Basically, how I learned to read was with “Prince Valiant.”
“Yeah, he was quite the guy. Dad’s study was the sanctuary. Action Comics #1, X-Men #1 – I got so excited about Alpha Flight! He also was an English Teacher and did his Master’s Thesis on teaching science fiction in high school. There was no way we weren’t going to be immersed in the world of fantasy.”
Karl, after surviving his own retinoblastoma, passed away from esophageal cancer and had a remarkable take on his disease.
“The way he spoke about his cancer was quite profound. He lived with it his whole life. It wasn’t like he’d had a sudden heart attack and died on the lawn. He had a year before he died and he often said that cancer had given him the time to say good-bye and for that he was grateful. But he was also a comic, so he also had a sense of humour about it.”
It was this profundity that perhaps inspired Bruce to develop his own darkly humourous one-man stage show called “This is Cancer.” Star Trek was just another family that was meant to be for Bruce. It came calling through traditional means, via his agent.
“When they mentioned the character was a blind engineer – that was totally cool with me.” Bruce said.
SPOILER ALERT!
Hemmer doesn’t take life for granted either. And that’s a strong theme in “All Those Who Wander.” In this episode, the Enterprise detects a downed ship on a planet with an inhospitably wintery environment. In the course of sending landing parties to recover the USS Peregrine, a smaller version of their Constitution-class starship, they discover that the survivors are infested with Gorn eggs, which hatch within their hosts. Hemmer becomes infected himself, but saves his shipmates..
I asked Bruce if he had any regrets.
He laughed.
“Regrets? No. From the time, I was told the character was going to go – which is kind of a nice thing for an actor to know actually - but my number one concern, which I expressed on many occasions (chuckle) was: ‘Please make his death cool.’”
At a casual glance, it may seem like a simple request, but when one lives with cancer, death is sometimes a reality. Living with cancer gives one a unique perspective on death in that the way we go out. Bruce had a chance to make Hemmer’s death one that would be decided in his terms and remembered.
“When I read the script – he gets a hero’s death. I think that’s what every actor wants. Instead of a surprise or getting sucked out the airlock or something, he gets to sacrifice himself. No cowardly death for him. This is the hero’s moment and that feels really good.
“He went out the way that was valiant – there’s the “Prince Valiant” moment! I saw the edit and I thought he looked really great. It left an impact and I walked away feeling good about that and the work I got to do.
“I wish, as a cast, that we had more time to hang out, because COVID protocols prevented us from hanging out. But on set, we had our masks and PPE off, and that was when we could connect in the way that we are supposed to connect. If there is anything that the pandemic has taught me, it’s that we have such a human desire to connect with each other, to see and be seen.”
Hemmer’s death is glorious. His arc was cut short, but in that time, he quickly became a key member of the crew. He was accepted, loved and at the end of the journey, appreciated by his family for what he was.
Citing Jeffrey Coombs’ prolific performances as various characters in the Star Trek franchise (Deep Space Nine, Enterprise), I asked if there was a chance we might see him again.
“I have been allowed to say this, that this is not the end of Bruce Horak’s journey with Strange New Worlds.”
That’s good news.
“This is my first real foray into television. I was on Warehouse 13, along with commercials. But to land in this world – I feel like a little bit like fish out of water. But I’m eating it up! I feel like Hemmer had a great run, but I’m really eager to meet the fans because they’ve made me feel like one of the family.”
Hemmer really isn’t lost. Film is forever, as Bruce says, but Star Trek characters not only have a way of returning somehow, but also survive in other mediums. Comics, novels, animated shows and films have all seen the return of favourite Trek figures in some shape or form.
“From the very first, the writers said we want to make him a favourite - and, in my words, wanted his loss to be felt. He wasn’t an inconsequential character. Hemmer tells Uhura to make a home for herself with those around you, to connect. And isn’t that a great message? Especially in these times?”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. starring Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun and Bruce Horak. Streaming on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave.