Jaylah Jaylah was a survivor of an attack by Krall . For years , she lived in the crashed hulk of the starship on the planet Altamid . In 2263 , Jaylah helped the crew of the , after it was destroyed , to fight and defeat Krall , leaving Altamid in the process . ( ) Biography . Escaping from Krall . Years prior to her encounter with the USS " Enterprise " crew , Jaylah and her family , like many before them , were attacked by Krall and imprisoned on Altamid . Jaylah and her family quickly realized that people were routinely taken from Krall ' s holding cells and killed , so they decided to attempt escape . During the attempt , Jaylah and her father were confronted by Krall ' s subordinate Manas . Jaylah ' s father stayed behind to hold off Manas , buying Jaylah time to flee at the cost of his own life . Jaylah discovered the derelict hulk of the USS " Franklin " and made her home in it . She hid it using holographic technology and set up multiple defensive trap s in the surrounding area . Inside the vessel , she discovered a music player , from which she particularly liked music featuring " beats and shouting " . She also learned how to speak English from the ship ' s records . In time , Jaylah became a formidable warrior , skilled in martial arts and in wielding a quarterstaff that doubled as a rifle . ( ) Alliance with the " Enterprise " crew . Jaylah became a scavenger to obtain parts with which to repair the " Franklin " and leave Altamid . In 2263 , she came across , who had recently escaped the " Enterprise " inside an advanced long - range torpedo , and saved him from three rival scavengers . Realizing Scotty was an engineer , Jaylah agreed to help him find his crew if he helped her finish her repairs . One of Jaylah ' s traps was subsequently tripped by Captain and Ensign . After Scotty assured Jaylah the newcomers were his friends , she set them free . Using a transporter aboard the " Franklin " , Jaylah and her new allies then managed to bring and to them . The group formulated a plan to rescue the rest of the crew and stop Krall from launching an attack on Starbase Yorktown . Jaylah initially refused to participate , revealing her traumatic history with Krall , but Scott convinced her they had a chance if they worked together . Jaylah showed the " Enterprise " crew a makeshift map of Krall ' s base and explained her own escape method , allowing them to devise a rescue plan . As part of the plan , Jaylah and Kirk , riding a motorcycle , beamed in near the tunnel Jaylah had used to escape and she dismounted once near the inside of the base . While Kirk used the motorcycle , enhanced with Jaylah ' s traps and holographic technology to create a distraction , Jaylah used a pulse beacon to enable McCoy and Spock to beam directly to the base . She directed the two to the crew ' s holding pen , then laid down covering fire for Kirk , before being attacked by Manas . The two fought , but neither was able to overpower the other , and an aggravated Jaylah screamed at Manas during the fight . The battle ended with Jaylah on a roof with Manas , and her pulse beacon on the ground below . At a signal from Kirk , Jaylah threw herself and Manas off of the roof , moments before Kirk caught her , resulting in them beaming back to the " Franklin " together . After witness ing Krall launching his Swarm ship s , Jaylah aided the " Enterprise " crew in repairing the " Franklin " for takeoff . She joined the crew in returning to Yorktown , where they found Krall attacking . Jaylah referred to the Swarm ships as " bee s " , which inspired Spock to realize that the craft must have a cyberpathic connection , and he beamed over with McCoy to find it . After having studied the connection , the crew came up with the idea to use Jaylah ' s music player to broadcast a disruptive signal into the Swarm ships in order to destroy them . Jaylah aided Scott in setting up the signal and chose the song " " for them to use . After the Swarm ships were destroyed , Kirk sent Jaylah and Scott to Yorktown Headquarters to shut off the atmospheric processor and stop Krall from using the Abronath to murder everyone on the starbase . ( ) An invitation to join Starfleet . Jaylah joined the " Enterprise " crew in celebrating Kirk ' s thirtieth birthday with a party on Yorktown , where she consumed a large number of alcohol ic beverages to no apparent effect . She was delighted to hear from Scott that , on his recommendation , she had been accepted into Starfleet Academy . However , she was annoyed to hear she would have to wear if she chose to attend the institution . Kirk also advised Jaylah that while there were many rules at the Academy , she shouldn ' t follow them all . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " I am Jaylah . And you are Montgomery Scott . " " " " Aye . Scotty . " " " " Come now , Montgomery Scotty . " " " " Engineering ? " " " " Aye . That ' s right . I fix things . " " " I know " what is engineering ! " " " " You take my house and you make it fly . " " " " I like the beats and shouting ! " " " " You sure know how to throw out the welcome mat . " " " " I do not know what is a welcome mat . " " " " My house is BREAKING ! " " " " The vent ! Get out of there , James T . ! " " " " Uh , did you drink all those yourself ? I ' m impressed . " " " " Someone said it will take my edge off . My edge is still not off . " " Appendices . Background information . Identity . Jaylah was portrayed by Sofia Boutella . The character of Jaylah was created in an effort to increase the female quotient in the main cast of . When Simon Pegg and Doug Jung were writing the film , they took inspiration for depicting Jaylah from Ree Dolly , ' s character in the film . Pegg later explained , " " Doug and I and [ Director ] Justin [ Lin ] , in the writing room , wanted to create this very independent female , very resourceful character on the Altamid surface . " " However , thinking up a name for the new " Star Trek " character was a struggle . The writing team began calling her " Jennifer Lawrence in " Winter ' s Bone " " but that understandably became too unwieldy , due to the length of the name . " " It started to get tiring , always saying , ' Jennifer Lawrence in " Winter ' s Bone " , " " said Pegg . " " It ' s a long name ! So then we started calling her ' J - Law ' . " " That shortened form was suggested as a joke but caught on , before the name ultimately changed to " Jaylah " . Despite the inspiration , Doug Jung , with a laugh , described the connection between Jennifer Lawrence and Jaylah as " so esoteric . " Of the latter , he added , " " Phonetically , it sounded good – ' Jaylah . ' It sounded a little foreign . " " Regarding how Jaylah ' s persona was invented , Doug Jung stated , " " We wanted her character to be someone who was outside of the understanding of the Federation and what it means , and really , to really be a blank slate in the sense that she has no real understanding even of her own people , in a way [ . . . ] We thought it would be nice to have a character who can feel the full effect of what it means to be a part of this Federation and this group of people . To adopt their sort of unifying way in which they look at who they are . " " Justin Lin agreed , " " I knew if we did it right , it would be great to have a new character who could potentially join the family . " " ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) Design . Jaylah ' s make - up was designed by make - up designer and make - up effects supervisor Joel Harlow in collaboration with a team led by Neville Page . The group aimed to make the character ' s make - up " instantly iconic , " which Harlow felt was most important , as well as " instantly recognizable . " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 81 ) There were , though , multiple goals that drove the process of designing Jaylah ' s make - up and costumes . Costume Designer Sanja Hays offered , " " She ' s an alien woman who needed to look interesting , and strange , but also heroic . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 41 ) Sofia Boutella asked Hays to add heels to Jaylah ' s boots , so her height difference to the rest of the cast would not be a problem . As it turned out , the design direction for Jaylah ' s make - up was suggested by neither Joel Harlow nor Neville Page . " " That pale skin , black strip look came from Joe Pepe , who is one of Neville ' s designers , " " Harlow divulged . " " It was something Justin [ Lin ] gravitated towards during one of the meetings . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 81 ) A character design by Neville Page and a clay sculpture by Richard Alonzo served as the basis for Jaylah ' s prosthetic make - up , which was created by Joel Harlow . ( " Cinefex " , No . 148 , pp . 85 & 88 ) Adapting the selected chromatic facial design into a make - up scheme , however , involved many hurdles , such as making the black lines look the same every time they were applied , on each day of the film ' s considerably long production period . ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 81 ) " " The black lines were done sculpturally [ on a pretty thin forehead appliance ] , " " Joel Harlow remembered . " " It would have been a nightmare to maintain those lines every day , even using a template , so I had the idea of making them slightly raised – that way , we knew exactly where they were . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 148 , p . 88 ) Jaylah ' s make - up was labor - intensive not only due to the effort required to apply the paint , but also because a particular shade of white first had to be selected for the skin color , which called for some trial and error . Ironically , the color that was eventually picked wasn ' t even truly white . Using a pure white color would have made Jaylah look " clown - like . " Instead , a multitude of pale colors was used . This combination gave an overall impression of white because the adjacent black lines were colorized with an absolute shade of black . Applying the various pale shades in different orders would produce slightly different appearances . Harlow said about the pale mix , " " In order to make it look like skin , we [ had ] to break it up as you would a traditional prosthetic . There was a lot of experimentation for what that color combination would be and in what order those colors would be applied . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 81 ) Jaylah ' s make - up incorporated a pair of contact lenses and some extremely subtle prosthetics , too . Representing ridges near Jaylah ' s eyes , the prosthetics stretched from the actress ' nose to her forehead . However , the entire bottom part of the face was the actress ' own skin , not covered at all by prosthetics . ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 70 ) The white - and - black motif was designed to extend into Jaylah ' s hair . Thus , there needed to be a seamless transition between the actress ' smooth skin , the prosthetic piece , and a custom wig tied by Wigmaker Khanh Trance . " " It was important that her skin tone blended into her hair color , " " said Joel Harlow . " " Sonya Hayes , the costume designer , had the idea of raising the ridges between the black lines , which made it all work . I [ subtly ] airbrushed the black into the recessed areas , continuing the lines and fading it out . " " ( " Cinefex " , No . 148 , p . 89 ) The make - up of Jaylah boosted the production staff ' s confidence in the character . " " As soon as we saw the makeup effects they were going to use , we knew it was going to be great , " " Doug Jung reminisced . Multiple concept sketches of Jaylah can be seen at Trekcore . Casting . When she first auditioned for the role of Jaylah , Sofia Boutella had no idea what character she would be playing , nor in what film . " " It wasn ' t until the callback that they told me it was " Star Trek " , and what character I was playing , " " she recalled . " " Then they took me to the make - up trailer and said , ' This is what you ' re going to look like . ' And I was like , ' Holy shit . " " ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) Boutella , who had never done any prosthetics work before , elaborated , " " At first , when I had the make - up put on me , I thought , ' what remarkable work . ' I ' ve never seen anything like it . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 70 ) The prospect of casting Boutella as Jaylah immediately seemed right to Justin Lin . " " I knew as soon as I saw her , " " he recollected . ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) Boutella approved of the role , not only because she thought being in " Star Trek " would be " a great opportunity " for her but also thanks to Jaylah ' s newness . " " I was attracted to this character , because she ' s an alien , and she ' s a completely original character in the " Star Trek " universe , so I don ' t have to compare myself with anyone who came before me . I am Jaylah , " " the actress attested . ( " SFX " , issue 276 , p . 49 ) Performance . The casting choice of Sofia Boutella influenced the depiction of Jaylah to an extraordinary extent . " " Usually when you ' re writing you try to find someone to fit [ what you ' ve written ] , but I started crafting the character to Sofia ' s strengths , " " stated Justin Lin . " " I wanted someone who when you meet them has this strength , but you realize it might be a mask . " " ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) Though she had never seen a " Star Trek " film before she was cast as Jaylah , Sofia Boutella watched all the movies once she was given the part and , during production on " Star Trek Beyond " , she relied on the advice of Justin Lin , a longtime " Star Trek " fan . " " This is why it ' s so much fun to be creating an original character like Jaylah , " " she enthused . ( " SFX " , issue 276 , p . 49 ) Sofia Boutella found the most difficult aspect of playing Jaylah was the character ' s make - up . " " This is not a CG - created character ; I spent four hours in make - up every morning , " " she noted . ( " SFX " , issue 276 , p . 49 ) Boutella additionally related , " " There were days where I ' d wake up at 12 : 30am to get make - up before a morning shoot . It ' s a long but fun process . " " The actress found the make - up and the lengthy durations it took to be applied helped her get into character . " " When I put on the prosthetic , and saw myself in the mirror , " " she recalled , " " it instantly put me into the character , this alien warrior , along with holding her main weapon , which looks like a stick and which she is very skilled with . " " ( " SFX " , issue 276 , p . 49 ) Boutella also got used to the make - up . " " The more I had the prosthetic on , it was harder to imagine Jaylah " without " it on . There ' s weight to it , even if it wasn ' t that much , and the ponytail has a certain weight [ and feel ] [ . . . ] It would be difficult to play Jaylah without all that going on . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 70 ) Jaylah ' s fighting style is dance - like because Sofia Boutella trained as a dancer . ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) " " So , she was very up for , you know , the physicality of it , " " Simon Pegg added . Indeed , Boutella found her experience as a physical artist was of full benefit to her portrayal of Jaylah . " " It was very helpful to use my dancing ability , and what I ' ve learned as a dancer , to execute everything that was required of me , " " she explained . " " I definitely used some of my old tricks , my body language , or treating things as a choreography , or looking at things with a rhythm so I could learn them . " " Boutella certainly found her dance background helped her with her fight training for " Star Trek Beyond " . She also used it to try to make Jaylah ' s presence seem particularly alien , for example being conscious of how she moved , sat and walked while playing the character . To participate specifically in the film ' s fight scenes as Jaylah , Boutella trained in and . " " It was a lot of fun to learn [ parkour ] , to be honest , " " she admitted , " " though at first I said ' I ' m never going to be able to do this , ' because it ' s quite hard . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , pp . 70 & 72 ) Simon Pegg deliberately wrote Jaylah ' s dialogue in a broken English that was inspired by Sofia Boutella ' s French accent . ( " " , issue 326 , p . 76 ) Jaylah ' s way of speaking also referenced , Doug Jung recalling , " " Simon found a voice for her that was a bit of a wink and a nod to , ' Why is it , whenever they find aliens in the original series , they all speak English ? What does that really say ? " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 27 ) Boutella herself said , " " I definitely tried " not " to speak with my French accent . It would be weird for an alien , wouldn ' t it ? Finding [ her ] language and speech pattern , it was very interesting to discover . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 72 ) It was Sofia Boutella who thought up the moment where Jaylah assumes the command chair onboard the " Franklin " , which wasn ' t scripted but was proposed by the actress when she improvised it on set , during rehearsal . " " She came in and sat down , and she said , This is " my " house , " " Justin Lin remembered . ( " SFX " , issue 276 , p . 49 ) Even Jaylah ' s friendship with Scotty had a real - life parallel . Sofia Boutella observed , " " Jaylah and Scotty develop a sort of brother and sister dynamic that Simon and I have off - set . " " As Boutella had expected , the process of inventing Jaylah turned out to be delightful for her . ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 72 ) Reception . In Simon Pegg ' s opinion , Sofia Boutella was successful as Jaylah ; he called the actress " a golden addition to this group , " referring to the film ' s principal cast . Pegg also remarked , " " Sofia charmed the socks off of all of us . She inhabits the character in such a way that made it a real joy to be her foil in the film . She ' s super - resourceful and tough . I love that she has this strange , syntactical way of speaking , which makes her feel very alien , and yet she ' s unbelievably sympathetic . " " Doug Jung described Jaylah as " one of the best characters to write " and went on to say , " " She ended up being this fun , wild card character , and great for us , because we got to add a new alien race to the canon . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 27 ) Jung also remarked that not only was Jaylah " kind of great , " but also that Boutella " was amazing . " Producer J . J . Abrams was likewise impressed with how the role of Jaylah turned out , enthusing , " " I think Jaylah is my favorite new character . She is this unbelievably spirited , sweet , funny , and tough as hell character that becomes a very important ally to the crew , and Sofia did an incredible job of bringing her to life . " " Joel Harlow was proud of Jaylah ' s appearance , remarking , " " I think the white and black lines of her make - up , combined with the ribbing on her hair gives her a completely unforgettable look . " " Glad that Justin Lin had chosen the black - and - white appearance for the character , Harlow therefore deemed the objective of having Jaylah ' s make - up design " instantly recognizable and instantly iconic " as having been achieved . ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 81 ) Sanja Hays concurred about the character ' s design , " " I think that ' s probably one of the most successful we ' ve done , Joel Harlow and myself . " " ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 41 ) actress Zoë Saldana was very impressed by Sofia Boutella ' s performance as Jaylah . ( " Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 " , p . 47 ) Apocrypha . The of " " established that Jaylah did accept the offer to join Starfleet Academy . She was shown on Earth at the Academy , listening to a lecture that Montgomery Scott was giving . The centered on Jaylah ' s backstory . She was born in space , from a family of space traders , losing her mother during childhood . An older sister , , died at the hands of Krall the same night Jaylah and her father ran away from the base . The story also established that the black markings on her face had a meaning - " fierce " , from which they derived her name .