At last night’s Star Trek: Discovery season premiere event in New York City, the red carpet was crawling with cast and crew from the sophomore series — and included in the slew of celebs was actor Rebecca Romijn, taking the mantle of Number One aboard Pike’s Enterprise.

Originally portrayed of course by Majel Barrett back in the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage,” Romjin as was announced for the role this past summer during San Diego Comic Con — and TrekCore had a moment to speak with the actor at the Discovery red carpet, sharing time with another outlet due to Romijn’s limited availability.

INTERVIEWER: Once you were approached to play Number One, how did you prepare for the role? 

REBECCA ROMIJN: The first call I got was, “Are you interested in playing an iconic role from the Original Series?” I jumped [at that], knowing how vast the fandom is, and how much I didn’t want to disappoint or let anybody down. I was a huge Trekkie as a kid; I watched the Original Series on rerun with my mom, and being on the sets I was on – which I’m not allowed to talk about! – in the gold uniform I was wearing, I mean, it was emotional for me.

TREKCORE: As you said, this is an iconic role, and such a small one in Trek history – but it has the extra weight of having Majel Barrett’s name attached to it. Everyone talks about the pressure of stepping into the role of Spock this season, but was it difficult for you, taking the place of the ‘first lady of Star Trek’?

ROMIJN: Weirdly, yes. It’s not the first time I’ve been a part of a franchise where I step into a character that had already existed, and as an actor you want some freedom, but in the back of your head….

[As for] Ethan Peck doing Spock – that was daunting for him, but he nails it. He’s not going to let anybody down, he’s so good.

INTERVIEWER: So what can you tell us about Number One, the character?

ROMIJN: Well, you know, she was only in that one episode, so as an actor you want a certain amount of liberty to help the character unfold. She’s got a vast skill-set, obviously she’s Captain Pike’s Number One, second in command; he feels comfortable leaving her in charge of the Enterprise when he’s not here.

I don’t even think we know how vast her skill-set is; I think there’s a lot of exploration to do, you know. She knows her shit, and I want her to be a little bit of a fast-talking dame, in a way. It was really fun to play her.

INTERVIEWER: Do you have scenes with characters other than Pike? 

ROMIJN: Yes, I do.

INTERVIEWER: Can you tell us who? 

ROMIJN: No! I feel so scared to reveal anything!

TREKCORE: Will you be in several episodes? 

ROMIJN: Yes — but I can’t be more specific! (Laughs)

TREKCORE: Can you tell us how soon we get to see her?

ROMIJN: Not tonight! (Laughs) I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m allowed to say at this point. They asked me not be more specific. All I want to do is talk about it!

While we don’t know for sure exactly when we’ll first see Romijn’s take on Number One in Discovery Season 2 — and the actor wasn’t sharing — two CBS press photos featuring the character boarding the USS Discovery have been labelled “Episode 204,” giving us at least a hint of when Romjin will beam to our television screens.

We still have much more from the Discovery premiere to come, so keep coming back to TrekCore for all the latest coverage!