Kerrice Brooks Unpacks Starfleet Academy’s Torch-Passing Deep Space Nine Tribute
The sci-fi saga has a new dark horse to root for.

Radical inclusion has been built into the Star Trek brand from its inception. The hopeful vision of the future created by Gene Roddenberry is an outsider’s paradise — and Starfleet Academy, the latest feather in the franchise’s cap, pushes that idea to a new limit. This is not your parents’ Star Trek: the young adult-centered series was made with a new next generation in mind. Its cadets are far removed from anyone’s idea of Starfleet material, but that’s what makes them so compelling. And none are more so than the fleet’s first photonic (that is, holographic) student, SAM.
Portrayed with buoyant delight by Kerrice Brooks, SAM — short for Series Acclimation Mil — fills the role of Roddenberry-esque outsider characters, previously occupied by the likes of Spock and Data. As a hologram programmed to experience the world as a 17-year-old girl and study humanity, she’s mostly served as comic relief. But the show’s latest episode marks a sharp pivot both for SAM and for Brooks, forcing character and actor to confront Star Trek’s daunting legacy. It goes deep into the lore of Deep Space Nine, focusing on the disappearance of Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) way back in the finale of that series, “What You Leave Behind.”
This new episode was penned by another Trek alum, Lower Decks’ Tawny Newsome. It’s a rollercoaster of a tribute, one that unequivocally passes the torch to SAM — much to Brooks’ surprise.
“It was very symbolic for me, trying to connect to a past that I know that I’ve come from,” Brooks tells Inverse. Working with Newsome and Cirroc Lofton, who returns as Jake Sisko, was also a comfort for the actor. “It felt like there was someone that I could finally talk to about that missing link. They don’t even know me, but they immediately protected me and empowered me.”
Brooks’ SAM is quickly becoming a fan favorite.
Connecting past and present was a no-brainer for Newsome. As one of the minds behind SAM’s creation, the actress and writer was adamant about focusing on a Black female character as a bridge between old Trek and new.
“Without Avery Brooks, there’d be no Michael Burnham,” Newsome told Inverse. “There’d be no Mariner, and there’d be no SAM. So that was really important to honor for me.”
Though Sisko doesn’t return to impart his wisdom on SAM in Starfleet Academy, his influence is definitely felt — and in an interview with Inverse, Brooks breaks down SAM’s surprising connection to DS9, and their show’s place in the Trek universe.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Were you a Star Trek fan before you were cast, or are you learning as you go?
I’m learning as I go, but I definitely consider myself a nerd. I think this [Starfleet Academy] makes the most sense for me somehow…I’ve always been a little bit off and a little bit socially weird because I’ve transferred to so many schools and dance studios growing up, I’m used to having to start over and make new friends. And people gotta get their jokes out, because I know there’s a lot. When I was growing up, I used to show up to my dance recitals in fully sequined booty shorts and a f*cking fedora because I thought I was Bruno Mars for some reason. So I definitely feel like SAM in a lot of ways: socially weird, can’t do nothing to help it, happy to be here, and very observant because of that.
What I love about SAM is that she is so weird, but she’s beloved. She walks through the halls, and everyone’s like, “Oh my God, SAM!”
She’s kind of the future, too, in a sense. Shout out to Tawny, because Tawny told [the writers’] room, “If we’re going to make a character that’s supposed to be the future of humanity, then it has to be a Black woman.” There’s power in that. What makes stories so powerful is when they transcend what we are programmed to think. Whoever you are is exactly who you should be. That’s why I love the world of Trek in general: everyone just brings such a fullness and a roundness to their characters. That’s the beautiful part about SAM, too. It was on the page. I just happen to feel it with this vessel that happens to be Black.
The cast of Starfleet “brings such a fullness and a roundness to their characters,” Brooks says.
Tawny wrote Episode 5, which passes the torch from Deep Space Nine to now in a way that feels really personal. I’m curious what it was like working with her and Cirroc, especially in the scene where Jake “appears” to SAM.
It really was emotional getting to work with them, going in with that emotionally charged state that I was in. It was very symbolic for me, trying to connect to a past that I know that I’ve come from.
My lineage is so rich in culture, and I feel like, as Kerrice, I felt really disconnected from it. And as SAM, it’s almost parallel in the sense that there’s been the severance of her connection to those who came before her. She wants to get an idea of who she is and how she’s going to turn it out in this world, and if it’s possible for her to even do what she’s been tasked to do, what she’s been chosen to do, what she’s been made to do.
Working with Tawny and Cirroc, it felt like there was someone that I could finally talk to about that missing link, as SAM and as Kerrice. I felt like they took me in. I don’t even know why. They didn’t have to. They just met me. They don’t even know me, but they immediately protected me and empowered me. They even let me talk to Avery Brooks. Avery Brooks don’t answer the phone for nobody. But they all immediately welcomed me with open arms.
While Avery Brooks doesn’t appear in Starfleet Academy, Sisko’s legacy looms large over the show.
SAM is occupying a role in the show that’s so traditionally Trek. Before her, you had the Doctor, before the Doctor, there was Data, and before Data, there was Spock — they’re all outsiders. I’m curious if you took any inspiration from those performances.
You know who really influenced me in the building of SAM was Jake Sisko, because I really admired his —the pressure of trying to live up to something when you have someone so great ahead of you, but you don’t know necessarily what you want to do. I drew from Data for sure, and his genuine striving to connect, but also being very deadass about his job. But I really drew from — he’s not even in the Trek world, but David Jonsson’s performance in Alien: Romulus.
God, I’m obsessed with him.
I’m obsessed with him! And to have Alien: Romulus come out right as we were starting to film Season 1, I was like a thief in the night: “I’m stealing that, thank you. Another one, thank you.” I think he’s a genius… And I drew a bit from Bob [Picardo] because there were a few Voyager episodes about hologram rights: the right to feel, the right to exist.
I don’t want to say I drew from Bob too much, though, because the Doctor’s emotions manifested in just irritation — and he’s said that, too — and SAM’s is such the opposite. SAM’s emotions manifest in deeper curiosity. Whether it’s a good or bad experience, she doesn’t run away from it because she doesn’t know how to.
Starfleet Academy might be divisive, but Brooks says it exists to be provocative.
It’s no secret that the Trek fandom is opinionated. Have you been following along at all, or are you more tuning it out?
We’re filming, so that’s a nice distraction. I don’t really like to feed into fandoms because I know, even before I booked this, the internet’s a toxic place... Opinions are opinions, but I definitely have been on the internet a lot less. There’s certain shows for certain audiences, and I think people get mad sometimes when they feel like they’re not included, but I’m like, “You’re included somewhere.”
Someone commented on my post and said, “This show sucks. The Borg would assimilate you.” I’m like, “That’s the point of the show!” [Laughs.] And I think that’s the point of art, too, in general: to provoke sh*t. I went to an art gallery one day, and I hated a painting in front of me, and I was so mad that it was in the spotlight. But I was like, “You know what? Someone’s got to hate it, but also, that’s okay because at least I’m talking about it.” So I’m like, do with it what you will, but art imitates life. I’ll leave it at that.