When it comes to his career, Ethan Peck is light years away from his turn as the French-accented Michel in 1999's Passport to Paris.
And yet...there's no escaping the universe in which a certain generation of fans keep him close to their hearts, forever remembering him as the teen heartthrob who shared Mary-Kate Olsen's first onscreen kiss.
"I was 13 when I filmed that movie and it's amazing, the impact it's had," Peck exclusively told E! News ahead of the June 15 premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' second season. "A lot of people that I run into bring it up and I'm so surprised."
It may not be logical by Spock standards, but that's l'amour for you.
In the meantime, the now-37-year-old actor who first played the iconic Vulcan on Star Trek: Discovery before he and co-stars Anson Mount and Rebecca Romijn got their own Paramount+ spin-off, has learned a thing or two about devoted fandoms.
Knowing there would be countless people dissecting his every eyebrow-raise long before Strange New Worlds got off the ground, Peck accepted his mission with utmost gravity. He's been heartfelt about wanting to do right by Spock and the actors who previously played him, Leonard Nimoy (the O.G.) and Zachary Quinto (in the 2009-2016 films), while still making this version of the character his own. (And it's a version in more ways than one, as you know the Star Trek galaxy is all about dueling timelines.)
But in addition to being a plum opportunity, playing Spock has been a gift in unexpected ways for Peck.
"He has such integrity, and he's such a stupendous person," the actor explained, "that I have had to take on the responsibility of becoming greater as a person myself. I think I'll always be reaching for the quality of person that Spock is. He's so noble, and he's such a humanist—those are the things that I really love about him and have done my best to internalize myself."
Moreover, he continued, Spock is "this hyper-intelligent being, and yet he approaches problems with childlike innocence and curiosity—and fearlessness, too. I'm really inspired by that."
Peck can rest assured that he arrived on set with the qualities of a top-notch first officer already. Paul Wesley—who, NBD, popped up as Capt. James T. Kirk in the finale of Strange New Worlds' first season and reports back in season two—recalled taking a page out of his co-star's book when they shot their first scene together.
"I was a lot more intimidated-slash-overly analytical about our first meeting on-screen," Wesley told E! News, "and Ethan was the chill one."
As this timeline unfolds, Kirk and Spock will be interacting with "increasing curiosity," Peck described, "and a growing respect." Wesley, who's got his own legendary boots to fill, could only agree. "Yeah," he added, "I would go with that as well."
Carol Kane, a newcomer to the cast this season as chief engineer Pelia, told E! that Peck, the first person she met and shot with, was "so welcoming and so generous."
"That was the just the greatest beginning," said the two-time Emmy winner, whose character is hundreds of years old and boasting the wisdom of the ages but also admittedly a little bored and seeking adventure, "and it set the tone for me."
So the rave reviews are coming from inside the Enterprise as well.
And since Star Trek's various incarnations love to zip its characters around the final frontier, giving them glimpses of the future that inevitably leave them pondering their next move in the present, which is already their past... well, we had to know what present-day Peck might want to tell his Passport to Paris-era self.
He hadn't thought much about it over the past 24 years, but that Olsen twins movie fandom remains real. "I suppose I would tell him," Peck said, "'You're not going to believe what's going to happen. It's gonna be nuts.'"
And he's not the only star to emerge from that world—scroll on to see all the actors who went straight to video with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen:
The second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.