Star Trek's Holly Hunter on new TV series

I'm so excited. Joining us here in the Broadcast Center is Academy Award-winning actress Holly Hunter. Welcome. Hi. It's good to see you. So you were telling us earlier on CBS Mornings that you used to watch Star Trek with your dad, the original what we call TOS, The Original Series, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and all the greats.

Yes. Yes. Take me back to those moments. Well, that was when the series' first came on. So I was there with my dad and my mom but really my dad and maybe my brothers. But I just really remember my father, and so many people, it seems like, remember watching it with her father. But it's iconic. It was such a visceral show, how they looked standing like marble statues with the uniforms on. They were iconic and almost like Gary Cooper. There was something kind of about the West--

High Noon-ish,yeah. Very High Noon-ish. --about the formality and the strength that emanated from the show. So, yeah, that was just kind of in my DNA. One of the things that's in the DNA of all of the entire Star Trek universe is this ideal, that Gene Roddenberry came up with this notion that we could be better as humans, not as individuals and individual countries but that there was a United Federation of Planets and that we were all working towards a better tomorrow. And that is carried on in each of the series, and it's very relevant in this series as well. And what's important is you are, as not only a captain but the chancellor of Starfleet Academy, you are developing the future captains for Starfleet. Yes. Yes. I mean, I think that that's very relevant even now, the positivity that comes from Star Trek and the optimism about the future and that people are talking about-- we take place-- it takes place in the future. So it's already kind of an optimistic story. But yeah, and I think that the youth of Starfleet Academy just emphasizes how-- I mean, the kids are so fresh and vivacious and chaotic and just filled with positivity. They've got hope for the future. Can you just take me into the mindset of an actor who's taking on a role? Your character is 400-years-plus old in this series. What are you thinking about when you read the script and you talked to Alex Kurtzman about what he wanted and what he wanted to see? As an actor, how did you develop your-- because the way you do it is very different than the way somebody else would do it. Talk to me about that, your craft and developing this persona and this character. Well, I think the fact that when I was first reading the script, I was like, oh, wow. So I'm chancellor. That's interesting. And then as it went on, I realized that I was also being offered the role of captain, which blew my mind, and I thought my father would never be able to believe that this was happening. But I just felt that it was an opportunity to imbue the captain as well with an incredible sense of empathy. And I think the great teachers in the world are great listeners. And so I thought-- and the young people that I know in my life, they want to be listened to, and they often are not. It's very easy to tell young people what to do or what you think they should do, but I thought that that would be an incredible gift that I could bring to the character of the chancellor and that it would completely enhance my job as being captain as well. Amazing. All right, you won an Academy Award for your performance in The Piano. But as a journalist, of course, I want to talk to you about broadcast news, your unforgettable portrayal of a-- I was about to say a CBS News producer because your character was based on our legendary icon, Susan Zirinsky, who's probably somewhere in the building. Well, she feels like-- --this morning. --she might be, yes. We love Z. And I want to play a little clip for you-- if folks-- everyone's seen Broadcast News,but if you haven't, let me just play a little clip for you just to get a flavor. Then you're going to have the carrier pilot from the Sidra in time-- what? No! You missed him? We only have 10 minutes left. How can you talk to me about parking problems? No. Not you'll try. You'll do it. Do it or I'll fry your fat ass, Estelle. Goodbye. I had no idea she was this good. Tom. Tom. Bill for a second. Tom. So Roger Ebert called this one of the greatest-- the greatest movie about journalism that he had ever seen. And there's a compelling-- there's a scene where you are breaking down, Holly, in the control room while delivering a flawless newscast. And my executive producer wishes he was as good as Jane was in Broadcast News. He's pretty good. But, I mean, it was such an iconic role for you. It was such an iconic film. And you base it off of little old Susan Zirinsky. Susan allowed me to shadow her for a month at the Washington, DC, bureau of CBS News. But in that scene, I so remember Albert Brooks getting drunk and listening to Gladys Knight and the Pips and some French song. I mean, Albert was hysterical in that performance. But it was fantastic too.

It was an incredible moment. It's an incredible movie. And I was saying to you that Susan once was helping me track a piece for 48 Hours, and she didn't like what I was doing. And so she came into the tracking booth-- she became the president of this network, and she sat at my feet. And I had the script, and I read a line. And she would read the line the way she wanted me to do it, and then I would read it into the script. And you personified her brilliantly. Thank you, Holly Hunter, for being here with us. I'm so excited. Thank you.

Oh my gosh, this is such a thrill for me.