Director Lea Thompson leaned on 'Back to the Future' time travel expertise in this week's Star Trek: Picard

Director Lea Thompson leaned on 'Back to the Future' time travel expertise in this week's Star Trek: Picard
Pictured: Annie Wersching as the Borg Queen of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Photo Cr: Trae Patton/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.

Pictured: Annie Wersching as the Borg Queen of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Photo Cr: Trae Patton/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.

MARCH 17, 2022 - It’s been a long road getting from Space Camp to here. By way of Back to the Future. But Lea Thompson, who directed this week’s episode of Star Trek: Picard, “Assimilation,” now (laughingly) claims to be “an expert on time travel” and is beside herself to be working on Picard, according to The Hollywood Reporter in a piece that contains spoilers.

Thompson went on to say, “There is a certain visual canon for time travel in Star Trek, so we tried to respect that, but also put our own spin on what it would look like going back in time.” She should know, having been a Trekkie since she was young.

Thompson also gave a shout out to those who created the “great female characters and let them sing, let them be complicated and not perfect because it does start at the top with the writing.” And she was thrilled and awestruck to direct Sir Patrick Stewart.

According to the article, Thompson also directed next week’s episode.

For more on Lea Thompson’s experiences directing on Star Trek: Picard, check out The Hollywood Reporter

Star Trek: Picard is streaming now on Paramount+.

David is a contributing writer for Daily Star Trek News on the Roddenberry Podcast Network. He is a librarian, baseball fan, and book and movie buff. He has also written for American Libraries and Skeptical Inquirer. David also enjoys diverse music, but leans toward classical and jazz. He plays a mean radio.