In the second and final season of “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” the romance surrounding Klingon cadet Jay-Den Kraag will be explored even further. This was confirmed by actor Karim Diané on the sidelines of the New York premiere of the documentary “The 60-Year Mission” in an interview with the American fan portal TrekMovie.com.
Diané portrays in the Paramount+ series the franchise’s first explicitly gay Klingon (as reported by TheColu.mn). In the inaugural season, Jay-Den was involved with Kyle Djokovic (played by Dale Whibley), a student at the rival War College. With him, Jay-Den danced and flirted at the Academy Bar, began a relationship, and planned a joint vacation. There was also emotional chemistry between Jay-Den and his Klingon fellow cadet Darem Reymi (George Hawkins).
Asked about the direction of upcoming episodes, the 24-year-old announced that the queer elements would not be pared back: “If you were happy about the gay elements in the first season: baby! If you were annoyed by the gay elements in the first season: get ready to be really angry.” He did not share details about the storyline.
Focus on the craft rather than online debates
When pressed about the historical significance of his role and the pressure that comes with it, the actor explained that he consciously tries to downplay this weight during filming. Above all, the physical demands of the production demanded his full attention: “This experience was personally like boot camp for me. The prosthetics, five hours a day, 20 hours a day shooting, 100-hour weeks… I worked, you know? I was far too focused on immersing myself in my craft to worry about what the rest of the world thinks about gay people or gay characters.”
The polarizing reactions on social media he acknowledges, but they do not gauge his acting work: “There was a lot of chatter online on both sides, and honestly, it all ends up in the same pot for me. I just do my thing, and whether anyone draws inspiration from it—or not—it honestly doesn’t concern me.”
Diané emphasizes the importance of diversity
Asked about his message to future creative teams within the Star Trek universe, Diané stressed the necessity of authentic and visible diversity: “Include people; that is the one thing I hope for in Star Trek’s future. Include real people. People look so different. I look different from you, I differ from you, and you differ from me. I hope we can both continue to see ourselves when we watch this series.”
Regarding speculation that negative fan reactions could have contributed to the show’s early ending after two seasons, Diané was cautious. There are “several factors” that cannot be reduced to a single reason. While co-star Robert Picardo criticized the ending harshly and claimed the production was “stifled at its birth,” Diané offered a more positive personal assessment: Two entire episodes were essentially his character’s own “mini-movies,” and he believes the second season is “even better than the first.”
The filming of the second season wrapped this spring in Toronto, Canada. The release on Paramount+ is slated for March 2027.
