‘Star Trek: Picard’: Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut Is Hoping For The Spin-Off

Normally, fans will wait for the end credits to roll on a series before they start clamoring for a spinoff. Not so with Star Trek: Picard. Pretty much as soon as the series introduced the next generation of Starfleet crew members, and more specifically the children of the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, a fan — and showrunner Terry Matalas — supported spinoff tentatively titled Star Trek: Legacy has gone from a fond wish to constant demand.

This fervor makes sense, too. Picard Season 3 drew critical and fan acclaim, and a spinoff seemed baked into the premise, with the Next Gen crew passing the baton to their literal next gen. But even for the cast, the amount of passion was a surprise.

“[Did we] expect the fandom to go crazy like this?” Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who plays Sidney LaForge in the series, told Decider. “Absolutely not. I mean, I didn’t. I was hoping for a spin-off because it leaves everything open-ended, and even Terry Matalas said, ‘We’re not done with all of these characters,’ there’s still room to keep going and keep playing. But I didn’t anticipate the fans.”

Despite the outcry of support and an end credits scene that almost directly set up the spinoff, as of the finale no plans are currently ready to be announced, according to Paramount. And when we talked to Chestnut a week later, there was still no movement on Legacy, even with a petition that currently stands at over 40,000 signatures. There was still plenty to talk about, though, including her week later reaction to the reaction, the various relationships Sidney LaForge has on Picard (including her crush on Ed Speleers’ Jack Crusher), and much more:

Decider: Now that we’re a week past the show, what has that experience been like for you? What’s your reaction to the reaction, now that you’re free to talk about the whole thing?

Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut: Yeah. overwhelming, but in the best possible way. I mean, the positive response from fans globally has been just mind-blowing. I’m so honored to have been able to have the opportunity to be a part of the show, this franchise.

I’m curious what the audition process was like, did they tell you anything about the role? Was it one of those things where you came in there, like, we can’t tell you what this is?

Yeah, they definitely have to give you dummy sides. The character’s name at the time was Bryce. And it wasn’t until I officially booked it that they told me that I was playing Geordi LaForge’s daughter because at first I think in the breakdown, it just said, “daughter of legendary character.” And so I was like, okay, that’s very vague, but in the Star Trek realm, I knew it could only be, you know, either LeVar Burton or Michael Dorn’s kid.

Were you a Star Trek fan? It sounds like you were at least a little bit before you booked this role.

Yeah, I had base knowledge just because my mother’s a huge Trekkie. But me, I’ve only seen like a few episodes of TNG, the classic show… I grew up watching the Chris Pine movies more so, but I had knowledge of William Shatner. Nichelle Nichols… I knew who these people were.

So then was there a moment where you first felt like, wow, I’m on Star Trek? Was it putting on a costume, or going on set just some other part of the experience?

Yeah, I think the first moment aside from stepping onto the bridge for the first time was putting on my onesie, you know, like Star Trek is infamous for, their onesies. And then, having them pin it up on me, put my com badge on my chest, that moment really solidified in my brain like, “Well, I’m here I can’t back out now.”

I remember talking to Sonequa Martin-Green for Discovery, and she said putting on the uniform, firms up your shoulders and tightens you up… Did you have the same sort of experience putting on the costume?

Absolutely. My crappy body, shoulder posture immediately shifted. I feel like there were no more back issues. For me, I was straight as a board.

Sidney’s an interesting character because when we first meet her, she has already come in with all these pre-formed bonds. I want to talk about them individually in a second. But what does that pressure feel like, as an actor, to essentially hit the ground running like that? Or is it freeing to know you already have all of these pre-established relationships?

It’s a mixture of both… You’re part of this cool franchise, it’s cool people, but also, it’s nerve-wracking. You don’t know if people are going to be receptive to you and your character. I’ve just been lucky that on all fronts, it’s just been a positive experience.

One of the bigger relationships, of course, is that she’s Geordi’s daughter. We don’t see them in scenes together until about halfway through the season, but did you get to talk to LeVar Burton at all to flesh this relationship out, or was it more about figuring it out on set?

Figuring it out on set. We didn’t really talk about it outside of that… So just to give you some context, I initially signed up for this, and I was told that I would only be in like two to three episodes at the time. There was a rumor that my character was going to get killed off. And so I remember talking to Levar, and him being like, “There’s just no way, Geordi is finally getting the chance to have this family that he’s always wanted. It wouldn’t be a good move to kill one of his children off.” And so I think, Levar specifically advocating for me and Sidney’s character to stay on was a huge part [of it].

I mean, similarly, you’ve got Mica Burton as your sister, we don’t get to see a ton of them together. But I was curious about what it was like working with her and also coming in the middle of this real-life family dynamic with the fictional family dynamic.

Yeah. So I met Mica while we were shooting. I mean, I was shooting, but she was there for like a hair test. And she came by set to say hi. And again, we immediately hit it off talking about like, random anime, to boys. We were just talking about any and everything. And then Mica and… Levar were welcoming to me not only to the LaForge family but also to the Burton family… They invited me to Thanksgiving.

It was a little intimidating to step into this role, knowing the history that they’ve already experienced and had together and then, obviously, around the other cast members who’ve known each other for decades, there’s a little pressure, I’m not gonna lie. But they’ve welcomed me so much.

She also has this really fascinating bond with Seven of Nine… What do you think it is that draws Sidney and Seven together? What makes them friends?

I think their ability to have trouble making friends. Sidney kind of said that in that scene with Seven, knowing that even on the ship, Seven of Nine is still being deadnamed, she’s being called Commander Hanson. Which shows the audience she’s not welcomed by Captain Shaw. There’s a little animosity there, and I feel like Sidney’s bond with Seven goes to show like, “Hey, I’m here for you. I do want to be your friend.” It’s an olive branch if you will.

And then there’s of course, Jack. He’s clearly flirting with her and we hear some of her thoughts on the matter. Does she have a Crusher crush? Or is it one-sided?

Let’s be clear, he has a crush on her. [Laughs] No, I’m kidding. It’s definitely mutual. Even with talks of hashtag LaCrush, with hashtag Star Trek Legacy… The consensus is this relationship would continue to blossom into possibly more romantic territory.

We get to see this great new crew at the end here on the rebranded enterprise, but we never hear Seven’s captain catchphrase. Did she try out on set? Did you get to hear anything?

Yeah, but it was more playful. It wasn’t anything serious. One time, she was like, “Go!” and we all just busted out laughing. It’s not going to be “go” or anything like that. She was definitely being facetious. I don’t think there’s an actual catchphrase. Or if there was, we don’t know any. She said so many different things. If they do decide to choose one, we wouldn’t know the answer.

There’s obviously there’s this huge swell of support for a spin-off featuring this new crew throughout the run on the show as people really picked up on how good the season Picard was. Was that anything you all were expecting when you were filming it, or did it come as a surprise afterwards?

There was always the possibility just because we are the next generation. And so to be continuing that, the legacy of that, we kind of anticipated it. But [did we] expect the fandom to go crazy like this? Absolutely not. I mean, I didn’t. I was hoping for a spin-off because it leaves everything open-ended, and even Terry Matalas said, “We’re not done with all of these characters,” there’s still room to keep going and keep playing. But I didn’t anticipate the fans. I don’t know if you’ve seen the 30,000 and still going to sign the petition for the spin-off, these fans are going in. There was Discovery or Strange New Worlds, whichever one had a petition signed up…

It was a Strange New Worlds spinning out of Discovery. This feels like a very similar situation where they were surprised at how much people loved it. I know Terry Matalas has talked about this a bit. And I had checked in with Paramount last week after I saw that end credit scene just to prep our coverage, and they were like, “Nope, no announcements coming this week.” So… How about this week? Is there any movement there in terms of the spin-off? Or is it still TBD?

You know, I have no idea. I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m just hoping that this isn’t the last time that we see Sidney. I mean, like we’ve just said, 1000s of fans don’t want this to be the end. I just would hope that for the younger kids who are being introduced to Star Trek… I was tagged in so many DMs about like little kids and little girls watching the show. I’ve been amazed by the fans’ response. I just would hope that the powers that be would allow this story to continue.

That all said, while we’re waiting around to find out some sort of announcement about Star Trek Legacy, what else is next for you?

The finale just ended. I’m still basking in all of the positive responses and feedback, but I have a ton of friends in theater. The Tony nominations are next week. My heart is in theater and has always been in theater. I’m hoping to return to Broadway or Off-Broadway soon.

I’ll mention I talked to Brent Spiner, and he said he was looking to do a Broadway show. So maybe the two of you can team up.

I would love it.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.