Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Christina Chong on 'That Toronto Episode' and Ice Cream Dreams
By John Kirk
Of all the current Trek iterations, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seems to be on the most must-watch lists.
And Toronto Trekkers got a special treat when Hogtown was not only a location set for Season Two, but the downtown core and various other parts of the city were also the story setting for Episode Three titled “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.”
Christina Chong, a.k.a. Lieutenant La’an Noonien Singh sat down and chatted with us about her experiences in Toronto and about shooting the episode. The interview took place before the current Screen Actors Guild strike.
“In the summer, I love Toronto!” Chong enthused. “In the winter, not so much!”
Lieutenant Singh (Christina Chong) and Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley) assess a Class M city called Toronto
Both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have been shot in Toronto. Many recognizable Toronto features can be seen in each series, which imparts a sense of not just civic, but national pride. Canada and Star Trek have many connections and it’s incredibly gratifying when a cast member like Christina Chong expresses what many Canadian Star Trek fans are proud about.
“But even when it’s cold, it’s still always sunny in Toronto!” She laughs. “In the summer though, the food, the restaurants, and the ice dream – Bang Bang Ice Cream on Ossington is my favourite place to go for ice cream in Toronto! Oh, and Ed’s Real Scoop! If I’ve worked hard on set, and I deserved some ice cream, then I will head there! Dark Chocolate at Ed’s Real Scoop and the raspberry, rosewater and lychee flavour at Bang Bang Ice Cream!”
As an ice cream aficionado, myself, those are two local Toronto names to check out.
For those who haven’t had the chance to see the episode, the present is changed when a temporal agent fails to protect the timeline. He taps Security Officer, Lieutenant La’an Noonien Singh to go back in time, along with Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) of the United Earth Space Fleet (see the change?) to 21st century Toronto to protect her ancestor, Khan Noonien Singh.
There’s a lot for Star Trek fans to sink their teeth into, especially given the mention of Khan. But that solidifies the Canadian connection between Trek and Canada, especially since Khan’s origins can now be traced back to Toronto.
Chong’s character is a tough cookie and a stern one, a “by-the-books” security officer with a rough childhood in her wake. I asked about similarities between her and La’an.
“Well, she’s a part of me, so we have some similarities. But not really. I am very disciplined, scheduled and doing my job well. I trained in martial arts but I’m a lot more fun than she is! I laugh and I’m not closed-hearted. But that’s something that shocks people at conventions because I’m not like her!”
We asked Christina about being on how being on set in Toronto compared to other locations.
“At the end of the day, it’s still a building. There’s the way film works. Your trailer’s got to be there, and you know, it’s a street. But, the extra lovely people? The Toronto crew? It made it a lot nicer. Toronto is special.”
Working with co-star, Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk) provided a few moments of laughter for Chong.
“It got to the point where we had a crowd of girls at the end of every scene. They’d be clapping and screaming his name, and I had to ask him why! He answered it was really because he was the star of the episode and it became a bit of a running joke between us, actually.
But then he told me that he had been on this successful show, The Vampire Diaries, but there were so many of them that we had to get security! I had to go to the toilet and all of a sudden there’s this large man in a black suit standing outside when I got out, and he was following me everywhere! I was like: who is this and what does he want?”
Toronto fans were chuffed with the idea that this was the first city outside of the U.S. to be both a Star Trek production location and story location. It’s one for the record books, at least to my knowledge. Christina had a chance to explore some of the retail culture during the shoot and we talked a bit about the shop on Yonge-Dundas Square they found themselves in.
“No, it was Roots!” Christina excitedly told me, after I asked if was H&M. “In the Eaton’s Centre. The guy who runs it is originally British and he generously gave the whole crew massive discounts! I’ve got socks, joggers, hoodies, and I even got a little jumper for my dog! Paul got one for his dog too!”
The Roots clothing line is practically ambassadorial. If you’re wearing Roots, then people outside of this country know you’re either from Canada or you’ve been there.
The connection between Star Trek and Canada has always been a note of pride for fans. Starting with William Shatner’s real-time Montreal origins, Jimmy Doohan’s service in the Canadian Forces, or fictional characters like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Michael Eddington (Ken Marshall) who hailed from Canada, and Vulcan, Alberta’s claim to fame, the vaunted Vul-Con Star Trek Convention.
It's great to be able to celebrate that with Chong who also appreciates the fan nature of Star Trek.
“There’s such a familial nature to working on this show. I just don’t mean our show, and the relationships with the cast, but Star Trek as a whole. It’s inclusion, as well – everyone is welcome into the Star Trek bubble and obviously the diversity of it all as well. It was ahead of its time.”
Those aren’t just Star Trek ideals – they’re Canadian ones as well.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is on the CTV Sci-Fi channel and streams new episodes on Paramount+ every Thursday. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” and other past episodes are available to stream on Crave.