Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will be the ultimate and likely final adventure for the characters of The Next Generation, but there are plenty of new faces who will appear in the last season as well. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut is one of those newcomers to the franchise, stepping into the very important role of playing Sidney, the daughter of LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge. Burton's other real-life daughter, Mica, will play Geordi's other daughter, Alandra. Off-camera, they're not all related, but one could see how this entire crew as a family given how warmly Chestnut says the Burtons welcomed her in.
Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut spoke to CinemaBlend ahead of the premiere of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 and recalled how LeVar Burton made her feel like she was part of the family. Chestnut talked about the Burtons and the special invite she received when she first moved to Los Angeles:
They invited me to Thanksgiving when I first moved to LA, so being able to see their family dynamic [really helped]. They’re just really genuine, good people. Mica [Burton] and I, we had lunch not long ago. We still keep in contact. And LeVar too. They’re just great people.
Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut thinks the Burton family is great, but you don't have to take her word for it. LeVar Burton's general public persona after Star Trek has shown he's someone audiences want to stick around, even if he'll never host Jeopardy! full time. Still, it's nice to hear that he and his daughter Mica welcomed Chestnut in with open arms.
The good news for Star Trek: Picard fans is that we'll get to see the fruits of that friendship play out onscreen during Season 3. Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut spoke briefly about Sidney and Alandra La Forge's relationship, and how it's rooted in her real-life friendship with Mica Burton:
Alandra and Sydney have this really great relationship, and I think that’s a testament to our relationship off-camera and the friendship that we started to build.
Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut's Sidney La Forge is an ensign in Starfleet, though she's not quite the chip off the old block when it comes to her role. While Commodore Geordi La Forge was known for his work in engineering, Sidney serves as the helmsman on the U.S.S. Titan (via TrekCentral). Apparently,she wanted to fly the ship rather than work on repairs, and truthfully, I'd feel the same way given how often I've seen engineering teams dealing with warp core troubles.
It seems fated that Star Trek: Picard can't end without Jean-Luc's death.
The La Forge family joins join a gaggle of other characters, like Worf, Beverly Crusher, and Deanna Troi, in Star Trek: Picard Season 3. This is said to be the final adventure of the series, though with upcoming Star Trek shows popping up all the time, perhaps we'll see some of these characters appear in other shows in the years to come.
Those with a Paramount+ subscription can catch the premiere of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 on Thursday, February 16th. Catch up on the previous seasons now or check out some of the other shows available to binge right now on the platform.
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