'Star Trek' Actor On How It Was a "Devastating Day" For Surprising Scene

If you have seen Star Trek: Picard, you would feel devastated about THAT scene.

Jonathan Del Arco’s Third of Five, a former Borg (or "Ex-B") that Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "I, Borg", was killed in "Nepenthe," the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard. And in a tragic dose of irony, the fan-favorite character died aboard that from which he was set free — a Borg cube — moments after helping his liberator escape. 

Star Trek fans are on the verge of obsessive behavior (reference!) when it comes to all things Hugh, and this was not lost on the actor when The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke to him about Hugh’s impact on the franchise and how lucky he was to shoot Hugh’s final moments the way he did — which he learned was coming much later than one would expect. 

"I didn’t know until I was almost getting ready to shoot it," Del Arco revealed. Whereas actors on shows like Game of Thrones had more advanced warning on being told when their characters were going to sign off permanently, Del Arco actually liked getting the head’s up when he did. 

"It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know way early because, the moment I did find out — which, of course, I was upset — it actually ended up liberating my work quite a bit. I mean, I was able to prepare — there were phone calls with [executive producer] Michael [Chabon] and everyone early on — but basically, I realized I had X amount of scenes and moments in which to work and do all the things I wanted to do with the character. And take some risks as an actor. And so, in a way, it was helpful, because, like when you know your character is going to die — the way humans know they are going to die in real-life — you kind of live for the moment. And that’s what I was able to do building up to the scene."

Jonathan Del Arco’s Third of Five, a former Borg (or "Ex-B") that Picard helped free from his nemesis’ collective 28 years ago in the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "I, Borg", was killed in "Nepenthe," the seventh episode of Star Trek: Picard. And in a tragic dose of irony, the fan-favorite character died aboard that from which he was set free — a Borg cube — moments after helping his liberator escape. 

Star Trek fans are on the verge of obsessive behavior when it comes to all things Hugh, and this was not lost on the actor when The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke to him about Hugh’s impact on the franchise and how lucky he was to shoot Hugh’s final moments the way he did — which he learned was coming much later than one would expect. 

"I didn’t know until I was almost getting ready to shoot it," Del Arco revealed. Whereas actors on shows like Game of Thrones had more advanced warning on being told when their characters were going to sign off permanently, Del Arco actually liked getting the head’s up when he did. 

"It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know way early because, the moment I did find out — which, of course, I was upset — it actually ended up liberating my work quite a bit. I mean, I was able to prepare — there were phone calls with [executive producer] Michael [Chabon] and everyone early on — but basically, I realized I had X amount of scenes and moments in which to work and do all the things I wanted to do with the character. And take some risks as an actor. And so, in a way, it was helpful, because, like when you know your character is going to die — the way humans know they are going to die in real-life — you kind of live for the moment. And that’s what I was able to do building up to the scene."

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