Jason Isaacs “Explains” Absence from ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Trailer; LeVar Burton Weighs In

Star Trek: Discovery cast members at dinner

Jason Isaacs had a cheeky tweet for folks wondering why he wasn’t in the recent Discovery first look trailer. The trailer, released Wednesday, appears to only include early footage, focusing on the crew of the U.S.S. Shenzhou. CBS has yet to reveal the U.S.S. Discovery.

Production continues in Toronto

Supervising producer Ted Sullivan returned to Toronto on Thursday and was back on set to oversee the another episode by Friday. As we previously reported, the Discovery production rotates in writer-producers to oversee specific episodes. Ted was last in Toronto in late March and early April. After joking about the return of his little traveling companion ‘Jason Gorn,’ Sullivan praised the work of Discovery‘s lead Sonequa Martin-Green.

On Saturday night, Anthony Rapp — who plays U.S.S. Discovery science officer Lt. Stamets — tweeted this photo of him with some of his castmates at dinner. Included in the photo were Jason Isaacs (Capt. Lorca of the U.S.S. Discovery), Shazad Latif (Lt. Tyler) and Klingon Warrior Mary Chieffo, indicating the Klingon storyline apparent in the recently released trailer continues past the pilot.

In our last update we reported that actor Rainn Wilson (who is playing iconic space rogue Harry Mudd) had read (and loved) the script for his episode. On this past Monday he tweeted that he was on his way up to Canada, presumably to shoot his scenes.

On Thursday Wilson sent out another tweet from the Toronto airport so it may be that he has already wrapped that episode.

Burton gives his thoughts on Discovery trailer

The first Trek acting vet to to talk about the new Discovery trailer is LeVar Burton (TNG’s Geordi LaForge). In an interview with the Detroit Free Press at the Motor City Comic Con in Detroit, Burton said:

Looks beautiful… And I love the fact that, again, true to the values of Star Trek, that, at least from what I’ve seen on the clip, that the command structure is women of color

You can watch the interview with Burton in this video (Note: Detroit Free Press caption incorrectly identifies Burton from “Star Trek: Enterprise” not “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”).

And just this morning Ted Sullivan expressed his thanks to Burton.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.

 

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No Michelle yeoh? Oh no – I wonder if Captain Georgiou bites it in the pilot ( as I strongly suspect )? That would be a damn shame to have an actor of her calibre and kill her off in the pilot. :(

Well there’s also no Sonequa either so…. :-)

Very true!

According to IMDB she is scheduled to be in all 15 episodes of the first season.

Okay, that’s great news.

As much as I love Michelle Yeoh in Asian martial arts and action movies, I found her acting in the Star Trek Discovery trailer to be very wooden and unnatural. I think she was totally miscast as a Starship captain. So if they kill off her character in the pilot episode, I will breathe a sigh of relief.

I know the podcasters in this latest episode said the same thing, but I have to say I did not get that at ALL. Michelle Yeoh is an incredibly skilled actor, anyone who has explored her acting biogrpahy and career history knows this.

Respectfully, I would disagree with you and the podcasters vis-a-vis the couple of lines seen in the trailer.

I’d agree that it’s way too early to judge from the trailer alone, especially given Yeoh’s track record. That said, what we did see definitely felt awkward.

I find it refreshing every time I see an actor who doesn’t have a southern California accent.

She is a very good actress. And she did not come across wooden to me. Some forget that they are takes after takes and usually the editors choose the best performance. Cant wait to see this.

She’s evil! Didn’t you see her in Strike Back??

This comment had been removed by the site administrator

@Blob — Seriously? Guess we know who you voted for. If you don’t understand the difference between the two statements, then there truly is no hope for you. Why are you even on a Star Trek site, except to troll?

Lol @ black privilege. LMBO @ your faux outrage. ROTFLMBO @ you erroneous reach of making comparisons. Please, just stop this pathetic attempt of reddening racism.

Black privilege? Is this a joke? Mods need to delete this kind of stuff. If you really believe that, you don’t understand how the world works.

It’s OK for him to say it because diversity is something SORELY lacking in entertainment. Black, Asian and female leads ARE EXTREMELY RARE so he’s applauding it.

Movies and TV shows with white male leads are commonplace.

They should be checking IQ’s on this site then you wouldn’t be here to say things like that.

@Blob.Thats not a fair comparison. One is an oppressed minority speaking, the hypothetical
white man is not.

Members of an oppressed minority don’t get elected for president two terms in a row. Mostly because oppressed minorities don’t get to vote, let alone run for office…

Precisely.

Two presidential elections and racism magically no longer exists?
Your ignorance is embarrassing to behold.

Really?! You really think no one can be oppressed by definition, so long as they’re allowed to vote?

“Oppressed minority”? What country are you living in? Certainly isn’t the same one I’m in where a minority won two terms in the White House while other minorities enjoy prime time on international cable news networks and at the same time we watch films in which minorities have lead and supporting roles while making more money than either you or me combined.

Sure, there has been some progress. But the average white household earns 16 times more than the average black household in the USA. You are also nine times more likely to be arrested by police if you are black. There’s a whole bunch more of these depressing stats. One day, I hope we live in a utopia like the one depicted in Star Trek, where skin colour, race, sexuality and age are not discriminated against.

Race and gender don’t matter when it comes to being prez. What matters is your willingness to serve Wall Streeter/MIIC interests. Obama was their man. Wall Streeters come in many colors and two genders.

Brother, you got that right!

That was also true when black celebrities like Joe Louis and Duke Ellington were far richer than most whites, yet were still unable to stay in the same hotels (this actually happened to Ellington as recently as the ’70s), eat in the same restaurants, drink from the same fountains, etc. Sorry, but you really aren’t thinking this through.

Well, that takes the cake for the most ridiculous thing I’ve read online the last few days. And that’s saying something. My only hope is that this was satire gone wrong.

His point stays: If a white guy said “I love the fact that the command structure is white men”, he would be dragged through mud for weeks.

I thought we were supposed to be COLORBLIND. You know: “skin color doesn’t matter”, “race is just a sociological construct”, all that drivel spewed by graduated burger-flippers worldwide. Or does that apply only to white people, as well? Does the “all people are equal” credo apply only when black people demand something from us?

(Seriously, I’m so glad my country never kept any colonies and never participated in the slave trade, thus being immune to all this nonsense…)

Bigotry is ugly.

@paul — yes and I’m sure your country never kept women from owning land or prevented them from enjoying the same freedoms as men. Keep those observations coming … so entertaining you are …

Paul,

Slavery goes back further than the enslavement of Africans. If you check your country’s history you’ll probably find an age that benefitted economically from the institution of slavery.

All opinions are to be valued, but as an outsider there’s apparently a lot you don’t get about the US. Study-up, then get back to me.

“His point stays: If a white guy said “I love the fact that the command structure is white men”, he would be dragged through mud for weeks.”

As a wise man once said, if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a motherf#cking wagon. Two. Different. Situations. When white people have the black experience, it’ll be a completely different situation.

Burton should have said: ”…true to -SOME OF- the values of Star Trek”. The diversity aspect is great and I’m happy they kept with it. Can’t say I’m equally happy about the dumbing down of the franchise to appeal to a broader, newer, intellectually lazy audience. Being just another dumb show in a crowd of dumb shows is not being true to the values of Star Trek, and a great disservice to younger generations.

There were only a few lines of script in this first look trailer. And when they weren’t downright ridiculous, they only hinted at a pretty straightforward, conflict driven, story arc.

Still, we’ll just have to wait and see to be sure. But I’m not confident. This franchise has been little more than a big disappointment for the past 20 years.

I’m just not a big enough starved out fan to simply rejoice at whatever they’re throwing at me with a Star Trek stamp on it. Can I still consider myself a Trekkie nevertheless? I never thought I’d say that, but I’m not sure anymore. In any case, I’m sure CBS will gladly replace me with a newer, less demanding fan, one that will be more easily impressed with style over substance.

@RollieG — There is absolutely no evidence of what you’re suggesting. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.

No evidence? I guess you haven’t seen, heard or Read anything about Discovery then lol

Seriously, we have three minutes of footage to base an opinion on. Nothing about it looks especially dumbed-down.

There’s a lot of shows and movies I’m looking forward to that I know little about beyond perhaps a small trailer or a few details online. I don’t base my opinion on something until I’ve actually seen it so you can “lol” all you want but we still know little about this show. You’re right about one thing, ironically, this site does need an IQ test before posting Mr. “Lol”

This comment is another overreach, filed with nonsensical rants. As a Trek fan who is looking forward to this franchise, just like the previous franchise’s, I’ll give this one a chance.

“This franchise has been little more than a big disappointment for the past 20 years”

Maybe to you. Outside of Nemesis, i’ve generally enjoyed most of what Trek has had to offer since 1997.

Has it amazing? Well, I really loved the last few seasons of DS9, and I very much enjoyed the JJ films, but the end of Voyager and most of Enterprise could certainly be categorized as less than stellar. Still, hard to hate them.

Fact is, Trek has never been consistently GREAT. We’ve been fortunate to have moments of greatness, and I think it was oversaturation that hurt it by the late 90s/early 00s.

I think it is the other way around for Voyager. It started weakly and got better, which is more or less the same as TNG and DS9. ENT was ‘less than stellar’ all the way through.

I actually thought Enterprise was really getting going in it’s last season which disappointed me as to the timing of its cancellation. I thought if it had one more season it had an opportunity to be a great show.

STID was enjoyable in its own right but something of a misstep for the franchise. Beyond suffered from poor marketing and being overshadowed by the triumphant return of another much-loved sci-fi/fantasy franchise.

Preach Baby.

Feel free to not watch the show when it comes out.

”Can’t say I’m equally happy about the dumbing down of the franchise to appeal to a broader, newer, intellectually lazy audience.” Damn straight it has to be less intellectual and more Action for the new Audiences today and this is Great, why do you think Star Wars had the Larger Audience and Star Trek remains a small niche audience.

I disagree, why exactly can’t it be both? Undiscovered Country is a great example of an intellectual story sprinkled with action. Not transformers action (thank god) but enough to keep everyone happy IMO. Even most Trek fans will admit WOK is their favorite movie but it’s the one that is almost completely action with no real substance. A revenge story. It’s the reason I don’t always buy the “I’m a Star Trek fans and I like my Trek smart” argument. General audiences like smart sci-fi like the Martian. You can do that with Trek characters and still have action in it. Maybe part of the problem is not that general audiences are dumb or only like action, they just don’t like Trek as either action or substantive. Lets face it, as you mentioned, Trek fans are a niche audience.

“Burton should have said: ”…true to -SOME OF- the values of Star Trek”. The diversity aspect is great and I’m happy they kept with it. Can’t say I’m equally happy about the dumbing down of the franchise to appeal to a broader, newer, intellectually lazy audience.”

How is it dumbing down? Who says there won’t be great ideas and substance to this show that will appeal to the “boardroom meeting and speeches” fans? A trailer is like a large fishing net. It’s cast to catch as many fish as possible to draw them in. Who’s to say the show won’t deal with bigger or more complex issues and why do you think general audiences are “dumb” or “intellectually lazy”? That’s the kind of attitude I absolutely hate about some Trek fans. Take your superior attitude and shove it. Again, the story and plot beats are not going to be revealed in a first teaser trailer. They almost never are so stop assuming anything until the show comes out. So tired of the whining.

Very well said. Glad I’m not the only one.

When TOS came out, the network said that young men would identify with Kirk, old men would identify with the doctor, and women would identify with Rand, but since no one could possibly identify with a half Vulcan, Spock should be cut from the show.

Of course Spock went on to become the most popular character on the show, and it turned out that LOTS of people identified with a half Vulcan. Scientists identified with his being the science officer, mixed-race people identified with his being a half-breed, people with Asperger’s identified with his difficulties in understanding human social cues, and anyone who felt like an outsider or a misfit identified with his being the only alien on the bridge.

I’m glad women of color have actresses who represent them in Star Trek: Discovery, and I want to remind everyone who isn’t a woman of color that none of us are half Vulcans, either, and yet so very many of us saw aspects of ourselves in Spock. I hope everyone will give Sonequa Martin-Green and Michelle Yeoh a chance to display the humanity that all of us identify with, regardless of race or gender.

Thank you! That means a lot, coming from the author of the article.

I love your comment, Corylea. Well said.

I think that’s the best comment that I’ve ever read on this site.

Aw, thanks so much! That’s very sweet of you.

Kudos, Corylea!

Excellent points. I heartily agree.

Isaacs looks like Sir Patrick a bit, IMO.

Epidermal melanin content and internal reproductive organs… that’s all Levar Burton had to say?

An understanding of the socio-economic context helps.

Looks like a great cast. If I like the show, I may switch around my cable dollars.