Yesterday Sonequa Martin-Green was at the Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta and while the focus of her panel was about her time playing Sasha on The Walking Dead, she did also talk a bit about playing Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery:
As Burnham, this entire first season [of Star Trek: Discovery] is a road to penitence, really. The bottom has fallen out for me and I have been in despair and sentenced to life in prison…So, it is interesting now I have played two very strong women who are really on a path to true strength.
You can watch that moment in this video clip provided by Walker Stalker.
“I’m lucky, I’ve played two very strong women” @SonequaMG compares TWD to Star Trek #WSCAtlanta pic.twitter.com/T2eLmLHWwB
— Walker Stalker Con (@WalkrStalkrCon) October 28, 2017
TrekMovie was at Walker Stalker and did some live-tweeting of the event, including this note from Sonequa.
#WSCAtlanta #StarTrekDiscovery @SonequaMG says toughest part of Burnham is playing conflict btw logic and emotion.
— TrekMovie.com (@TrekMovie) October 28, 2017
I also had a chance to meet Sonequa at a photo op (proudly wearing my TrekMovie.com).
Squee! Just met @SonequaMG and it’s true—she really does light up a room! #WSCAtlanta #StarTrekDiscovery #twd pic.twitter.com/lVcL4fdVyV
— Starfleetmom (@starfleetmom) October 28, 2017
There were no formal interviews being done at Walker Stalker, but I had a chance to chat with Martin-Green briefly during the photo op and she said it was good to see TrekMovie again. I asked if she had read David Mack’s Discovery novel Desperate Hours, and the actress said she had it on her nightstand but didn’t have a chance to read it yet. When asked if she thinks it will inform her interpretation of the character, Martin-Green told TrekMovie:
“You know it will! Because you know I will memorize it all when I read it.”
Martin-Green says Desperate Hours is on her nightstand
Burnham video on “Lethe”
For more about Burnham, watch CBS’ latest video with showrunners and Martin-Green talking about the impact of last week’s pivotal episode (“Lethe”) on her relationship with Sarek.
Episode 7 will be available on CBS All Access on Sunday, October 29 by 8:30 pm ET. It will air in Canada on the Space Channel at 8:00 pm ET and be available on Netflix outside the USA and Canada on Monday, October 30 at 8 am BST.
Keep up with all the Star TrekDiscovery news at TrekMovie.
Nice of her to mention Michael at a non Trek convention.
The main parallel is that both Michael and Sasha are actually male names that can be used for women as well. Coincidence?
Yes, obviously a coincidence.
It seems to be a trend in television and novels. Strong woman? Male name. Or a name like “Samantha” that is shortened into a male-sounding name [“Sam”].
One character is well-written, fascinating, and multi-layered. The other is Sasha.
Sonequa Martin-Green seems like she’d be a total joy to work with.
Sonequa is amazing. Rapidly becoming my favorite Trek character. Such talent.