British actress Alice Eve is the first new actor to board J.J. Abrams‘ soon-to-start shooting Star Trek sequel. The 29-year-old stunner reportedly beat out Teresa Palmer (I Am Number 4) and Hayley Atwell (Captain America) for the part, which is not based on an existing Star Trek character.

As with the original 2008 reboot, Abrams will direct from a script by Damon Lindelof (“LOST”), Alex Kurtzman (“Alias”), Roberto Orci (“Fringe”). Paramount has set a May 13, 2013 release date for the picture, which goes into production early next year.

Eve joins a cast that includes OG players Chris Pine (Captain James T. Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov), Simon Pegg (Scotty) and Zoe Saldana (Nyota Uhura). Benicio del Toro is currently in negotiations to play a known Star Trek villain.

Eve’s career has certainly lived long and prospered since losing out on the role of Emma Frost to January Jones in Mathew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class and starring in the 2010 comedy-turd She’s Out of My League.

In addition to Star Trek 2, Eve will soon be seen in Relativity Media’s Edgar Allan Poe-inspired thriller The Raven, Barry Sonnenfeld’s long-delayed sequel Men in Black III, and the Chris Sparling (Buried) penned frightener ATM.