A NEW VOYAGE BEGINS

Sandro Rosta and Holly Hunter join the 'Star Trek' universe and help each other navigate

- BY ESTHER ZUCKERMAN

RISING actor Sandro Rosta and Oscar winner Holly Hunter lead new series "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy."

(BEXX FRANCOIS For The Times)

To land the role of a rebellious cadet in "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy," 26-year-old Sandro Rosta had to do a chemistry read over Zoom with Holly Hunter.

"I was intimidated as I could possibly be," he says over lattes at a Midtown Manhattan hotel restaurant, just before Hunter is set to join our conversation. "But I was trying to keep my cool."

Rosta had never acted professionally on screen before; Hunter was the Oscar-winning star of "The Piano" and a nominee for other classics like "Broadcast News." She was already set to play Nahla Ake, the chancellor of the title school where eager students train to explore the galaxy. He was hoping to win the role of Caleb Mir, an angsty young man whom she has recruited for her program.

To Rosta, however, Hunter was also Helen Parr, the animated superhero mom of "The Incredibles." "I'll be very honest," he confesses. "I'm a huge nerd geek dude. So, yes, I've seen 'Incredibles' a billion times. That was the thing that was in my head."

He didn't have to worry about disappointing Mrs. Incredible. When Hunter arrives at our table in a sleek black skirt, her warmth toward Rosta is immediately evident. She beams at him as she speaks.

"I felt a connection with Sandro immediately," she says in her straightforward Georgia lilt. “It was easy and that was weird because it was Zoom. Zoom is kind of a nonentity. I don’t feel a lot of connection with Zoom, but I did feel a connection with you when we read.”

While Rosta and Hunter are at the opposite ends of their careers, they are both utterly new to the “Star Trek” universe.