Popverse's top stories of the day

• Superman celebrates kindness and love in his DCU reboot, says writer/director James Gunn during CinemaCon 2025 presentation
• MEMBERS ONLY: Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud's The Cartoonist Club is for all the indoor kids (past and present)
• Spider-Man vs. Venom on the big screen? "We got close" to a Tom Holland/Tom Hardy movie, says Hardy

Have you ever used a weird accent during a job interview?

Melissa Navia did, and as a result she didn’t get the job. However, she landed the role of Erica Ortegas on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as a result.

Confused? It was a long and interesting road, as Navia explains.

“I remember auditioning once for Discovery for a guest-star role, and I was asked to do an accent,” Navia recalls during the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds panel at Emerald City Comic Con. “For some insane reason, I chose a Scottish accent, and my partner and my reps were all like, ‘What.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know why, but I’m feeling Scottish for this character.’ At the time I was watching a Scottish show that I really enjoyed called Shetland, so if I ever meet anyone from that show, I’m going to be like you somehow helped me to get Strange New Worlds.”

---

Watch now the 'Charting New Frontiers: The cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' panel live from the Emerald City Comic Con 2025 Main Stage powered by Xfinity:

---

She didn’t get the role on Star Trek: Discovery, but this opened the door for her to audition for Ortegas later. “For me, the audition sides and the character name, everything it was Ortegas. What you see onscreen is what I was auditioning for,” Navia says during the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds panel at Emerald City Comic Con.  “At the time, it was nearing the end of 2020, so as actors we were self-taping 100% of the time. When I saw that it was a Star Trek audition, instead of thinking about the weight of that, I was like, ‘I’m so tired of auditioning. What is this life that I’m living.’”

“I think part of that helped, because it just kind of took all the tension out of it, because I was like, ‘Oh, one more audition. What’s the world going to be like in 2021.’ And I just loved the breakdown. It was well written sides,” Navia continues.

“My initial audition was a scene with a R’ongovian that has not happened yet, but who knows, maybe one day. I enjoy playing a non-legacy character, because I get to create something that they’ve never seen before, and the audience reaction has been fantastic, and we are really blessed with an extraordinary cast, and I love doing panels with them because I learn new things all the time.”

As for her Scottish accent, Navia thinks it’s only a matter of time before her Star Trek: Discovery audition leaks. “Those audition scenes exist, so they’ll come out and you’ll hear whatever it is I did.”

Hey Paramount, I have an idea for the special features section on the next Strange New Worlds DVD.

You can watch Charting New Frontiers: The cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds from ECCC 2025's Main Stage powered by Xfinity for yourself as part of Popverse's all-encompassing coverage of Emerald City Comic Con 2025. Be there from anywhere.

Here's how to watch Star Trek in order: the shows, the movies, the cartoons (in chronological or release order).