Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek movie Section 31 officially begins production as the Oscar winner leads the cast alongside iconic British soap actor

Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek spin-off film Star Trek: Section 31 officially began production in Toronto this week.

The Oscar-winning actress, 61, reprises the role of Emperor Philippa Georgiou as she joins a secret division of Starfleet.

Michelle, who originally played the character in Star Trek: Discover, leads the star-studded cast, including former EastEnders star Robert Kazinsky.

Robert rose to fame on the BBC soap as Sean Slater in 2006-2009, before briefly reprising the role in 2019, finding success across the pond after starring in Marvel’s Captain Marvel and The Gray Man with Ryan Gosling.

The new film follows Michelle’s character as she leads a team tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets while also confronting the sins of her past.

The cast also includes Ted Lasso’s Sam Richardson, Power’s Omari Hardwick and Hannibal’s Kacey Rohl.

Executive producer Alex Krutzman said, “And we’re off to the races! We welcome our incredible cast of new characters as they join our beloved Michelle Yeoh on her next wild adventure across the Trek universe.”

It comes after actress Michelle expressed her disappointment at Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig both being snubbed from the Academy Awards.

While appearing on the Today show, the Malaysian actress spoke about the couple’s unexpected omissions in the Best Director and Best Actress categories.

When asked about her feelings about the Babylon star, 33, and Barbie director, 40, not being recognized for their summer blockbuster, which grossed over a billion at the worldwide box office, the Everything Everywhere All at Once star gave admitted that it had cost her on the sidelines. surprise.

“You know, joy and disappointment seem to go hand in hand,” Yeoh told Hoda Kotb. “For us, it’s just like there aren’t enough nominations.”

She continued, “All you can think is, it’s so competitive there and there’s no guarantee because you’re not the only voter, you know? It’s widespread.’

‘Thank God the film was nominated for Best Picture. But you do think, ‘How do you get nominated for Best Picture, but not Best Director and not Best Actress?’ she asked.

Last year, Michelle made history as the first Asian woman to win an Oscar for leading actress.

Margot and Greta’s criticism immediately sparked outrage on social media and was called out by Barbie’s stars who did receive nominations, including Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera, for their supporting roles.

Even Hillary Clinton chimed in on Instagram to send the stars a supportive message.

“Greta and Margot, although it may be difficult to win the box office but not take home the gold, your millions of fans love you,” the former foreign minister wrote, 76. “You’re both so much more than Kenough.”

America told Variety it was ‘incredibly disappointing’ that Gerwig and Robbie were not nominated for best director and best actress.

“Greta has done just about everything a director could do to deserve it,” Ferrera explained. “Creating this world and taking something that had no inherent value for most people and turning it into a global phenomenon. It feels disappointing not to see her on that list.”