Why La'an Noonien-Singh From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Looks So Familiar

La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) has a last name that tends to get her in some hot water in the Federation. This is because she is a relative of Khan Noonien-Singh (Ricardo Montalban), a genetically altered human being who, at one point, controlled over a quarter of the surface of Earth during the Eugenics War. He is eventually stopped, but the last name of Noonien-Singh carries some pretty serious stigma. That doesn't stop Captain Christoper Pike (Anson Mount) from trusting her in her capacity as Chief of Security for the USS Enterprise in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." 

La'an has a rather serious demeanor and cold personality that tends to keep most people away, though that's not an issue holding back her friendship with Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), another crew member on the Enterprise that tends to carry an aura of mystery. However, this is far from Chong's first role as an actor, and she actually has had a varied and diverse career up to this point. Where exactly have we seen her before?

Perhaps one of the first times people may remember seeing Christina Chong is in the 2011 film, "Johnny English Reborn." This particular movie is a spoof on "James Bond"-style spy thrillers and stars Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Roger Barclay, and Eric Carte (via IMDb). Atkinson played the titular character of Johnny English, a bumbling spy who manages to stumble his way through dangerous and unpredictable situations.

In "Johnny English Reborn," Chong portrayed a minor character named Barbara. Although not connected to anything in the high-stakes world of spy games, Barbara is a stewardess on an international flight that sees her serve Johnny a glass of champagne, and the legendary spy attempts to flirt with her. Although she only made a brief appearance in "Johnny English Reborn," the role helped Chong get some notoriety, and she went on to star in bigger and more important roles.

The next big adventure for Chong was in the short-lived British medical drama, "Monroe." Running from 2011 to 2012, "Monroe" is about a brilliant neurosurgeon, and it starred James Nesbitt, Tom Riley, Sarah Parish, Luke Allen-Gale, and Susan Lynch (via IMDb). Chong played the character of Sarah Witney, who appeared in all 12 episodes of the show. Inspired by television series like "House," writer Peter Bowker told The Guardian in 2010, "It may be foolish to compare the two but with neurologists, as with House, there is this very intense 10 days when you work with them on a case and then you say goodbye – it is really quite fascinating and will hopefully make great drama."

Chong's character of Witney is subordinate to Dr. Bremner (Parish) and is a cardio-thoracic registrar on the show, which is a specialized doctor in the British National Health Service that focuses on the heart, lungs, and other organs of the chest. According to Broadcast, the show was eventually canceled due to low ratings, but that certainly didn't slow Chong's career down.

Casting aside her stewardess and doctor's uniforms, Christina Chong lent her talents to the television miniseries "24: Live Another Day" in 2014. This series is a direct and limited sequel to the popular series "24," and it starred Kiefer Sutherland, Yvonne Strahovski, Tate Donovan, Mary Lynn Rajskub, William Devane, and Kim Raver (via IMDb). "24: Live Another Day" picks up with Jack Bauer (Sutherland) in exile, and immediately casts the character into a vast global conspiracy involving drones, China, Russia, and the U.S. president.

Chong played Mariana, a CIA operative tasked with mostly administrative work. Appearing in five episodes, Mariana is important because she works at the London office of the CIA and helps maintain the flow of information between agents and the section chief. She even interacts with Bauer as he interrogates a suspect. In the last episode Mariana appears in, Bauer sets off an explosion to act as a diversion, but Mariana remains unharmed. 

Utilizing her previous acting experience as government agents, Christina Chong's next notable role was in the limited series "Halo: Nightfall." Based on the hit video game series and created with the help of Ridley Scott's production company, the five-episode "Halo: Nightfall" series starred Steven Waddington, Mike Colter, Christian Contreras, Alex Bhat, and Luke Neal (via IMDb). "Halo: Nightfall" is about a far-flung human colony that is exposed to an incredibly virulent biological agent. Its storyline helps connect the stories of the video games "Halo 4" and "Halo 5."

Chong played Talitha Macer, who is part of the Sedran Colonial Guard, and appeared in every episode of "Halo: Nightfall." Speaking with the Evening Standard about her role on the show and how it was the most intense thing she had done up to that point, Chong stated, "We were shooting in Iceland and Belfast. It was minus 40 in Iceland but we had to pretend it was 50 degrees as we ran over ragged rocks in the rain." 

Having played a stewardess, doctor, government agent, and soldier, Chong definitely has what it takes to be the USS Enterprise's Chief of Security.