Two new stars have joined the crew of the USS Discovery. CBS is confirming that Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp will star in Star Trek: Discovery as Lt. Saru, an alien Starfleet science officer and Lt. Stamets, an astromycologist.
First official casting announcement confirmed
CBS is officially confirming the announcement of two new crew members who will board the USS Discovery this May: Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp. They are also confirming that Michelle Yeoh has been cast as Captain Georgiou of the Starship Shenzhou. This is an update from original reports that her character would be named Captain Han Bo. A press release announcing the news was sent out at 10:31 PST this morning (I see what you did there, CBS!).
Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Falling Skies) will play Lt. Saru, a Starfleet science officer and a member of an alien species unseen before in the Star Trek universe.
Welp. Looks like I can tell you some good news today…. https://t.co/fQEW6NV6kN
— Doug Jones (@actordougjones) November 29, 2016
Doug Jones cast as Lt. Saru
Rapp (RENT, A Beautiful Mind) will portray the role of Lt. Stamets, an astromycologist (fungus expert) and science officer. Lt. Stamets is confirmed to be the first ever openly gay character in the history of Star Trek on television (he’s second if you count Sulu in Star Trek Beyond).
So proud to be a part of this journey. I’m a longtime fan and super geek of the highest order. https://t.co/WCO3ulM7Gm
— Anthony Rapp (@albinokid) November 29, 2016
With the help of my friend Bill’s collection of all things @startrek I am doing a deep dive into the lore in prep for @startrekcbs pic.twitter.com/yB99dScL5t
— Anthony Rapp (@albinokid) November 30, 2016
Anthony Rapp will play an openly gay character Lt. Stamets
What did CBS do? Change Han Bo to Georgiou because of fan reaction?
Too many people asking if she’s related to Han Bolo probably! ;)
maybe they were expecting silly “hambone” jokes… or maybe it was really because “Han” sounds “Star Wars”-y to the average viewer without a real grasp of Chinese names… and “Han Bo”… Well, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know a whole lot about Chinese names either, but I THINK those are actually two family names with no first name… like calling someone “Smith Moore” or something.
The original news was reports and not confirmation, it could’ve been that the final name for the character hadn’t been chosen and the report at the time cited the wrong name.
I remember early reports about Voyager that Genevieve Bujold would be playing Captain Jane Way. Miss Yeoh could be playing Han Bo Georgiou for all we know!
Why wouldn’t Sulu in Beyond count? Still, great news!
I wouldn’t describe Sulu in Beyond as “openly” gay.
The new ready room…from A-Z. Relax with a bowl (space hemp)
while getting happily swallowed – poles. B&P room…come one
come all to join crew members for the Ultimate in relaxation.
How much more “open” did he need to get? Break out in song and dance?
What about singing and dancing makes one gay as opposed to straight?
Uhura walks up to Spock on the friggen transporter pad in the middle of a tense mission and kisses him in front of other officers. But Sulu, who has been away from his partner for ages, gives him a “subtle” touch on the arm. Openly gay. uh huh.
That sort of subtle affection works only if the relationship is previously established. For example, the more subtle way Spock/Uhura was handled in Beyond. A look, glance, touch, body language. It all tells us something when we know there is something to be told.
Sulu in beyond had told us nothing previously. So what they did wasnt brave, ground-breaking or anything else. It was chickenshit. And the fact they basically patted themselves on the back for it beforehand made it even more laughable.
Well, he touched a man rather openly, in a way a straight male definitely wouldn’t. Incidentally, there’s more romance in that scene alone, than most other characters got across all three movies. ;)
Not true. He greeted a guy who was holding what we assume to be his child. His best friend? His nanny? His brother? It was cheap way out of actually showing what you said you were going to show.
If a man was away from his wife that long, I would expect something more than a light touch on the arm. Or else, yes, I’d assume thats his sister, friend, nanny. Sulu should have greeted his partner with a kiss and the chickenshit studio jerks should have let it happen.
‘In a way a straight male definitely wouldn’t”
Are you kidding me?
Reign1701A – Oh, he totally counts! I just mean that this is the first time we will see a character be openly gay *on television*. Even though Sulu was a TV character, he wasn’t explicitly gay until Beyond.
Got it!
Because if a press announcement hadn’t been made, we wouldn’t be sure Sulu was gay. I watched it last night with my father who didn’t know anything about it at all and he thought the other guy was Sulu’s brother meeting him there with his daughter.
He was certainly openly gay in Beyond. No one would assume that a woman coming up with his child and interacting with him in the same way is his sister. Only heteronormative blind spots would allow us to automatically assume it must be his brother.
…Or a cigar is just a cigar, and not something that SJWs would think otherwise.
The SJW-bogiemanning here was uncalled for. Compulsory buzzword-spamming has become a real disease, it would seem.
Because it is in the fauxJJverse, not the prime verse.
I am very excited for the casting so far! Interesting that an entire character is being created around a fungus expert, and Doug Jones looks like he would make a great alien; keep the news coming CBS!
Hmmmm alien species previously not known in Trek. I like stories laying new ground but the foundation being canonical. Will have to explain why this alien is on star fleet and never ever mentioned or seen in any future incarnation.
@TUP
Not being facetious, but the easiest way to look at it is: one show was made in the 1960s and the other in 2016. Mr Roddenberry often said that all the fantastic aliens happened to be off duty, on another deck or in the bathroom in all the episodes of the old series. The assumption is that there were always loads more non-Earth races around than we ever saw on the show.
I actually dislike the concept of a Star Wars-style universe teeming with millions of human-like aliens. Star Trek us humanity extrapolated into the future. Not “along time ago in a galaxy far far away”.
Star Wars aliens have always been more imaginative. It’s the Trek universe that has always had more human looking aliens and usually because of budget restrictions. That’s why it was always just a silly variation of different bumps on the head to differentiate one alien from another. I do give them props for attempting the Horta – big pile of feces with lava on top.
@ H Plinkett, It was a deep-dish pepperoni pizza!
Repurposed from a 2nd season OUTER LIMITS, no less! That’s making your slices of pie last!
@ TUP
Hmmm-kay
That lets out those pesky Klingons, Vulcans and Romulans, not to mention the Gorn, Et. Al.
TUP,
Re: teeming with millions of human-like aliens
I always assumed that the reason for that was that it was the humaniod looking ones who were the first to succeed in traversing intergalactic distances and, perhaps not consciously although in STAR WARS there appears to be plenty of indications that they were capable of such mass destruction by choice, their instinctive tendacies to feel less threatened by that familar form caused it to be that which was more likely to survive and be more prolific.
TUP,
Re: teeming with millions of human-like aliens
“intergalactic” should be “interstellar”, i.e. INTRAgalactic.
Because there are hundreds of planets in the Federation and we haven’t seen all of them?
Well, they had alien crewmembers on the Kelvin prior to the timeline reset. No-one had seen any of their races before. Big starfleet, big galaxy.
It’s been mentioned in Star Trek at some point before that you do not have to be Federation citizen to be in Starfleet.
Because all previous members of his species were on the ship working in places the main camera … er, crew never went. Its a HUGE galaxy and even with ALL of Star Trek I’m pretty sure we’ve only seen less than 1% of it, even less than 1% of the Federation or Starfleet for that matter. Don’t fret the small stuff- worry more if they stop the show dead to explain where everything we’ve never seen before came from.
@Capt S, I heartily agree.
They managed it with Dr.Phlox….besides,there are so many races in the Galaxy, not like we’ve seen every one or every one mentioned.
OMG seriously TUP?
You been screaming how much you wanted a prequel and now you’re expecting to explain an alien we never seen before? Did we ever see or heard about Dr. Phlox race before we saw him on Enterprise, no. And we live in a huge galaxy where I would ASSUME we would be seeing new races constantly on the show we never seen before because if not what’s the point???
So no they don’t have to explain anything, he will come from a race we never seen before because there are plenty of alien species in Star Trek we never seen before in every show and film we learn later is part of Star Fleet. To this day we still don’t even know all the planets as part of the Federation so how would we know who joined Starfleet? Half the aliens who was serving on Enterprise in the Kelvin Timeline films were also mostly new species like the alien killed in Beyond. No one needed an explanation of who she was she just was.
@Tiger2 – settle down. You either misunderstood or are doing a poor job of explaining. I dont need Phlox explained to me because it was a prequel. But I’d like to know why we never hear or see any of his species again (in the series that came before Enterprise but AFTER Enterprise in the timeline).
Thats the risk with a prequel. And I think they do a dis-service to the franchise to not make “new” things in prequels fit within the greater franchise.
No disrespect TUP but I’m sure the reason we never saw Phlox’s species in any of the shows pre-Enterprise, is because Berman and Braga never mastered the art of time travel.
Seriously though, I doubt the appearance of a new species in DISC will upend the franchise. Every new Trek show has premiered a new race. And let’s face it, if the producers didn’t give us something new in that respect, on this occasion, how many people on these boards do you think would be carping about the lack of originality?
Which is exactly my point. If Im involved creatively and want to feature a “new” alien, I’d first scour the Star Trek database for an interesting Alien we only saw briefly or heard about. That way, the “new” alien begins its run with a little more meat since it’s already within canon. Thats my only point.
Again TUP WHO CARES? HOw many times did you hear about the Deltans? The race of the sexy bald girl from TMP. Were they ever mentioned or seen on TNG, DS9 or Voyager? The answer to that would be no. Literally zero. They were never shown or heard about again. Were you moaning about that too?
So what’s the difference? Oh right there is none because in the Star Trek universe its a big place man. Aliens come and go. Just because they show up on one show in the past doesn’t mean they will ever show up again in the future. So no it doesn’t need to be explained why an alien in a prequel was never mentioned or shown because as I said if you just look at all the aliens that popped up on TOS never mentioned or seen again in the later shows this isn’t even a new thing. You simply forgot about all those others.
And Dr. Phlox was around 150 years before TOS even premiered. Who knows what happened to them. Maybe they never joined the Federation. Maybe they became isolationists. Maybe a Romulan from the future showed up and blew up their planet. Again, who knows but the last time they were seen were over a century before TOS, maybe just maybe Phlox was the only species who had any dealings with Starfleet and never seen again after that so why would one species of thousands ever be brought up on TOS or anywhere else? This isn’t hard stuff if you use a bit of imagination or common sense.
There is no ‘risk’. Again I just find this funny, you want a prequel but you’re now whining over something that actually makes basic common sense and been done over and over again on the various shows. This is the reason why I *don’t* want a prequel for silly issues such as this. I’m defending the premise I don’t even like because I know its going to be plenty of people like you whining over every little thing about it that doesn’t fit your narrow vision of how a prequel should be viewed.
Which once again begs the question why do it at all?
Just think of all the background species we’ve seen and never been introduced to in Trek. A lot of stories to tell and characters to explore. As long as they don’t do a “this is an alien that’s been around but you’ve never seen in any other iteration of Trek because…well just because.” And yeah I’m looking at you Denobulans!
But maybe Denobulans never had much of a relationship with Earth of the Federation. I dont see any of this as being an issue because there could be hundreds of alien races out there we know about but have no real relationship with today just like in the real world. When Dr. Phlox was introduced he was just part of an exchange program and who knows if Denobulans ever joined Starfleet or had a relationship with the Federation since obviously this all came before the .
I never saw stuff like this as an issue because in the real world we live among thousands of different ethnicity and yet I bet the average person has ever come in contact with a more than a few hundred in their life time unless they live in a diverse city or travels a lot. Just because they haven’t been mentioned or seen on the show shouldn’t assume they weren’t always there. That seems a bit ridiculous when there hundreds if not thousands of known species in this time.
@ Tiger2, I hear ya. Great examples!
Thanks!
And I just thought about this but reverse the situation. How many one off aliens we have seen on these shows? What I mean is where they introduce us to an alien race in an episode thats about averting a crisis, first contact, negotiating some treaty, etc but then after that episode we never see or talk about ever again? Think about all those episodes on TOS that created these groups and then fast forward to TNG where none of those were ever mentioned even in passing.
Federation/Starfleet deals with many alien cultures on multiple levels. Some that they had a long term/complex relationship with, good or bad, like the Vulcans, Andorians, Orions or Klingons, others relatively newish like the Bajorians, Borg or Cardassians but then the dozens of one off aliens in between all of those like the Deltan, Arcadians, Ba’Ku, Lotians, etc (yes I had to look up a lot of these lol) that you see pop up, they encounter them once and never mentioned anywhere again. So why can’t it go the opposite way where just because we never saw them personally meet them in episode number so and so means they never could have met before?
Starfleet has been around centuries from the 22nd to the 24th with hundreds of ships meeting strange new worlds over and over again. Some may form a long lasting relationship, others may just be a meet and greet and move on. But many probably end up in the middle somewhere where they don’t officially join the Federation but may be a new trading partner, exchange programs or partake in joint research in the region like many countries do today. And we know you don’t have to be part of the Federation to even join Starfleet. Nog proved that.
So yeah, this isn’t exactly hard. They explored hundreds of worlds, not all of them become life long friends or constantly referenced but still a connection down the line so its not a surprise if you see new faces all the time.
why do they need to explain any new aliens it at all? They are there because they are. Just cause we’ve never seen them before doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If we were only ever going to see aliens that were seen serving on the Enterprise during TOS we’d just have humans and Vulcans.
There are plenty of species that show up on TNG, even as members of Star Fleet that never show up on DS9. It’s a big quadrant.
TUP,
Re: previously not known in Trek
Well, the converse most definitely is true: there’s plenty of alien planets, civilizations, creatures, etc. given name in STAR TREK but never depicted.
I mean, can you tell us what a Denebian slimeworm looks like? And NOMAD and THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE laid waste to numerous civilizations that would be thriving in a prequel but would never be depicted and NOT all of them were given a name on screen. So, there’s plenty of wiggle room in canon for introducing aliens never seen before in prequels.
A mycologist? That’s… different.
University applications are likely to mushroom!
Hahaha!
Remember that giant fungus in that X-Files episode that lined a huge expanse of forest floor and kept Mulder and Scully in thrall for days? They could’ve used a mycologist ….
I’ll bet he’s a ‘fun guy’.
Good fodder for all the hallucinogenic shroom jokes that will be coming.
I guess Marc Zicree lost Doug Jones if Space Command ever is picked up.
According to IMDB, it’s already in post-production…
IMDB says alot of things…so does Zicree dragging his feet with the project. He keeps video bloging on YouTube about meetings and investors and he’s got a finished project just sitting there. Love the guy’s work but he should just get it out there.
Shallow, I know, but Lt. Stamets is cute! Yay!
Totally …I just hope they make him wear contacts. You never see him without glasses. And I know we’re also dealing with Nick Meyer who gave Kirk glasses but still
Eh.
Doug Jones was going to attend the German Comic Con. Then he was not attending any more. Now i know why ;-)
I’m thinking I may actually pay the $9 a month to see this…
I know I am… at least for the series duration.
Hmmm the press release was issued at 10.31 – a clue perhaps revealing Discovery’s link with Section 31?
The USS Discovery is NCC-1031
Touché
If the series were produced by Chris Carter it’d be NCC-1013 ;-)
Nice to see Doug Jones in this. I hope he renders a memorable character in the tradition of Spock, Data, Odo, Worf, Neelix and Quark.
I wonder how they’ll handle it. Just nice and subtle like Sulu in STB or more hammer-over-head where he mugs at the camera and says “I’M GAY”!
I would assume that the gay character will be treated the same way as all the other characters, except he’ll be attracted to men instead of women. This is 2016. Are you concerned that Michelle Yeah will walk around telling everyone she’s Chinese?
Im worried that the straight characters might kiss or make love to opposite sex characters and we might see that on screen. The last thing I want is to watch a program with a man and woman in bed…or holding hands…or kissing.
If you have problems with the way many species on our planet procreate, I can only assume on the seriousness of your mental issues.
@Raffie – not sure of your point but Im guessing its silly. The sarcasm might have gone over your head.
@ TUP, Heh! Good one. My gay friend says the same thing — “all that hetero public display of affection — it’s just revolting”
I’m expecting her to mug straight at the camera first episode and say “I’m Chinese!”
Actually Michelle Yeoh is not Chinese. She doesn’t even speak mandarin – they give her the verbal script.
Well then she can mug to the camera and say that too. ;)
Maybe just like they handle straight characters? You know, being together, kissing, being in bed together, getting into a fight, etc. IE, what every sexual human does on the planet today regardless of orientation.
@Tiger2, This is all fine, of course, unless it’s Spock and Uhura in the Kelvin Timeline. Then it’s all hands on deck, batten down the hatches, heavy weather ahead — the storm of disapproval!
Go figure. They didn’t even get to touch hands in “Beyond”!
@Marja – you’re definitely cherry picking. Some people liked the Spock/Uhura pairing. Many didnt. Are their opinions not relevant? Some people didnt mind the pairing in theory but it was awful in practice.
If the Discovery writers give this gay character a partner and write it was poorly as Spock/Uhura then it will be met with the same disapproval. And rightfully so.
TUP, Spock/Uhura was poorly written perhaps, but a pairing objected to by a vocal minority. I wouldn’t say I’m cherry-picking as much as the fanboys [“God forbid the ’emotionless’ Spock be involved with a *girl* — yuk!”]. Yes, I found the PDA in the work environment to be less than professional on their part, but enjoyed the private moments between them.
I think there would have been less vocal backlash if it was handled better. it painted both character poorly and even if people didnt point to that as the reason, I tend to think it was the main driver, even if many fans didnt realise it. They knew it bothered them and just went with the surface reasoning rather then diving into why it really bothered them and it was, as you said, a relationship that was wholly unprofessional. Made them both worse off, not better.
Beyond was the first time it was handled decently and surprise surprise, it was far more subtle.
@Marja. Tuc believes his opinion is the one of the many and a fact. So S/U was poorly written because he says so, in spite of many other fans and critics (trek lit authors even) thinking differently. He wants to teach you about respecting different opinions when it comes to haters, when he is the one who preaches about his opinions as if they were undeniable facts accepted by most. Adorable.
I want a [straw man]. A surprise every week for [meaningless buzzwords/ad hominem].
This is fun!
I don’t know, how were you ever aware that any other characters like Riker or Obrien were straight? Just do that.
OK, we have the person of Asian origin, the homosexual person of northern European origin, and the person of extraterrestrial origin. So where are the persons of African, southern European, American mixed aboriginal and Middle Eastern origin? We’ll meet them soon, I hope. Otherwise the show will suck. If one of them could have a physical, mental or emotional well, whatever we call handicap these days, that would be perfect!
Um… well, congratulations to these two. But I’ve never heard of them. Was hoping for a bit more instead of another cast of no-names this time around.
Michelle is fairly strong name. But you’re right with a limited premium tv platform we should expect some gravitas as far as casting goes.
To be fair, back when TNG first premiered the cast was (mostly) unknown: LeVar Burton was primarily known for his role on ‘Roots’, and Jonathan Frakes from ‘North & South’. Beyond that, most were relatively unknown. Including Sir Patrick Stewart (who was mostly known in the UK, not well known in the US).
@Druhin… “To be fair, back when TNG first premiered the cast was (mostly) unknown…”
My point exactly. With CBS now demanding customers pay to watch Star Trek, they should be bringing in bigger names. “The guy who is Guillermo del Toro’s go-to Monster Guy” isn’t going to cut it.
Doug Jones is a very good actor and if you’re going to have an alien character require a lot of makeup or effects he is the absolute best in the world for the job hands down.
I was talking about Jones and Rapp, since we’ve known about Yeoh for a week or so now.
I think Doug Jones may have some genre following. He seems to play a lot of creatures or characters in fantasy stuff. So at least we know that he’ll be able to cope with acting under a rubber mask.
Doug Jones a no-name? Shit! He’s Guiermo Del Toro’s go-to monster guy. Loved his performances in Hellboy and Pan’s Labrynth. He emotes well under layers of latex with his body movements alone. Excellent choice!
@I’m Dead Jim… “He’s Guiermo Del Toro’s go-to monster guy”
I don’t think you’re making the case you think you are. :-)
If you’re going to have an alien with a lot of effects, he’s the best in the world.
@AlanMorlock… Alright, I’ll concede that point. After all, I did complain about the casting of Idris Elba in Beyond and then making him unrecognizable under 10 pounds of latex. But I do hope CBS announced a famous name or two soon, to attract more (and a lot more) mainstream interest in Discovery.
They’re both arguably quintessential choices if the criteria is
A. that one is a make-up alien guy, and
B. one is representative of the LGBTQ community in a real world way and
C.both are talented actors.
First! (?)
Finally we get some fresh news! Can´t wait!
Poor Doug Jones, destined never to be seen onscreen without latex on his face. But hey, it’s a living. He’d have made a good Lt. Arex, but we’ll have to wait and see what kind of new alien they’ve come up with.
It means he can play lots of other roles without being typecast. Quite handy really!
Doug Jones was great in this sans make up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik_yGNmRJ5Y
Doug Jones…cool…looks alien even without any make-up / prosthetics. A lot like Mr Homn. He seems to have played a lot of alien sci-fi characters… Abe Sapien, Silver Surfer, Cochise on Falling Skies… fitting choice…
Not so sure about Rapp / Stamets… A fungus scientist? I like the idea of having a gay character on Trek, but this character sounds a bit like a running gag to me… I can hear the punch-line already… “Dammit, Stamets!” At least, a fungus scientist implies we might actually get some real exploration and discovery done on this show. But still, this character sounds like Sheldon’s pipe dream…
And what happened to Han Bo? Captain Georgiou? Is this supposed to be Romanian? So, she is half Chinese, half Romanian? Why not, although Han Bo sounded a lot cooler…way, way cooler…
But I like seeing these news happening… feels just like back in the mid 90s. Just the name of the POTUS doesn’t agree with me.
Sorry, my bad, according to the internet, Georgiou is supposed to be Greek… So it’s half Greek, half Chinese now :-)
She doesn’t have to be half anything – Michelle Yeoh’s Captain could have A) married a Greek person, or B) carried her surname ( patrilinearly ) from generations past where a Greek person DID marry into a ( subsequently ) predominantly asian line of descendents.
You are not wrong about Georgiou being a romanian surname lol. We actually imported somehow – i think marriage or Greek influence when Romania had contacts with Greece – between 17th 19th century – In Romanian is just like this Gheorghiu :)
Um…are we just going to act like we didn’t have a completely French captain speaking with a distinct British accent and fans just went with it?
lmao good point
Smike, Thanks — i was wondering who he reminded me of. Mr Homm it is!
POTUS, wha’? Or are you referring to our about-to-be, the one I call “He Who Shall Not be Named”?
I agree that none of these names sound cool or epic. Maybe because they’re new. But nothing seems cool like “Kirk” or even “Picard” and “Sisko”. Saru is about as close to cool and memorable as we’ve gotten so far.
Han Bo sounded cool. I imagine they didnt want a Han Bo when there is already a Han Solo in another franchise.
Sounds great so far, but not enough for me to spend the extra cash per month to watch it. I hope that they make a DVD set for it and then that my library gets that set. So then I can watch it for free!
I hear ya. At this point, I have found two other buddies willing to go in on a subscription with me. Now the next step is to find a way to watch it on my TV. Not my phone or laptop. My big TV in my living room. Probably the best way would be to see if there will be a CBSAA app for the TV when the time comes.
Doug Jones.. Cochase from Falling Skies. He should be used to sitting in the make up chair every day by now.
Well look at that: White people. For ALL the people moaning Star Trek was going to push all the white men off this show since apparently there is some white purge going around Hollywood, you can relax now. There will probably be just as many white people if not more like every Star Trek show before it. So can we breath now or do we need another 4-5 for it to be legit?
On a more lighter note I’m happy they are sticking with tradition and giving us a new alien as part of the crew. Every show has done it:
TOS- Spock (OK duh lol)
TNG- Troi and to a lesser extent Data I guess.
DS9- Odo
VOY- Neelix and Kes
ENT- Dr. Phlox
So excited to see and cool there will be the first gay character as Fuller said there would be. Now that we are FINALLY getting solid news I’m getting more excited although it sucks we now have to wait until May and not January but its probably best for the show regardless.
@Tiger – the goofballs will still complain since we have a Chinese, an alien and a gay. lol
Finally! This shit’s gettin real! Excited about Doug Jones joining.
Georgiou = Greek surname
WTF, Discovery production team??
Can you not comprehend that a paternal ancestor of hers might have been Greek?
Or her husband is Greek. Not that I think women should change their names upon marriage (I actually dislike the practice).
Dude seriously? You really find it hard to believe someone can have a different surname different from their nationality? There are Asian people today with European and American surnames, you can stretch your brain to imagine how that could be another 300 years from now?
I meant ethnicity.
It’s 2016 and I know LOTS of people who’s surname suggests an ethnicity other than what they might be visually categorised as. Surely that would only continue to be the case more and more in a future with peace on Earth such as the future depicted in Star Trek. I think mixing up ethnicities of a character in this way is spot on and a nice touch.
So… Lt. Stamets will be relevant in that one episode where the entire crew gets infected with a mysterious alien fungus, except for Lt. Saru, whose mysterious alien physiology makes him immune to said fungus.
Hmmm… calling it now: Jones is gonna be an alien.
PS (Man, an editing feature would be great here): If simply because he’s mainly known for roles involving heavy make-up, like Abe Sapien, the Faun or the Silver Surfer. Wikipedia also tells me, that he’s both, a contortionist and a trained mime. Perfect for an alien character.
Yawn.
Two men making out. Oh, I can’t wait.
How ironic, Rapp is a Childhood friend of actor/comedian Andy Dick.
I LOVE Anthony Rapp! And on top of that, Doug really gets into his roles as you’ll see if you watched him in Hellboy and/or Pan’s Labyrinth! I’m really liking these strong actors so far. As long as the writing is solid it’s all building for a good showing for Trek.
Yes, I *do* count Sulu in STB!
“on television” :)
Sulu was far from openly gay in Beyond. If you didnt know the story going in, youd likely never realize he was supposed to be gay.
Doug is great in the Hellboy movies.
Are you Mike from Red Letter Media?
Ship’s fungi officer? Will this be the jumping off point for a lot of storylines? “Captain, the Shitake are attacking!” “Red alert! Lt. Stamets to the bridge!”
Shiitake rather.
Shiitake just got real.
Perfect! :)
Lieutenant! Sick bay! To the Captain’s quarters, immediately! They’ve picked up an alien onychomycosis.
http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/star-trek-discovery/news/a815362/star-trek-deleted-scenes-outtakes-alternate-scenes-blu-ray-roddenberry-vault/
I’d love to see some actors/actresses with comedy backgrounds, both to stretch their chops into drama territory but to bring a sense of humor to the proceedings. Yvette Nicole Brown is incredible, as would be Jim Rash. I also love Walton Goggins in everything, so I’d love to see him totally inhabit some off-the-wall role. Klingon captain mayhaps?
I remember seeing a tweet not to long ago in which Bryan Fuller offered a bridge role to Kumail Nanjiani from Silicon Valley. Fuller may have been joking but I’d be very ok with that.
“They are also confirming that Michelle Yeoh has been cast as Captain Georgiou”
Named in honour of “Ancient Aliens” hero Giorgio, he of the galactically-magnificent hair?
;)
Seriously, it’s good that Star Trek is mixing up names and ethnicities like this. Realistic depiction of the future. “Continuum” did this sort of thing really well.
Ha ha, someone needs to tell Doug Jones to get Netflix tow atch all the old episodes! Or CBS All Access if he’s expecting to watch his own show, ha ha…
I’m a little dissapointed to hear there is a regular who has been cast as the captain of another starship. I was hoping the Discovery would be out about the edges of the final frontier…all by her lonesome…giving more weight to the dramatic and dangerous situations that may arise. But if there is another starship, one that warrants the hiring of such a talent to captain her, then it must play a pretty big role in the series. So much for conveying deep space exploration and a sense of isolation from the rest of starfleet.
Maybe…we dont know the story. She could start out as Captain of her own ship and end up assigned to the Discovery.
Wondering what the hell “openly gay” is going to mean…
@Yanks – are you concerned that it will mean something different then “openly straight”?
You are not allowed to answer with a question.
Yanks, aww, why not?
It’s boring.
Well, it means they’ll actually acknowledge it, instead of just implying it like they did Malcolm Reed in Enterprise.
Haha
Really not too interested in who’s banging who on the ship. That’s the stuff of daily soap operas and not my idea of a fun space opera. All it will do is eat up half of a precious 45 minutes, with a dreaded “B” story, that robs precious air-time from the A story…unless the whole series turns the relationship “struggles” into the A story and is the main focus…in which case I’ll just have to skip it. Not saying it’s bad, but in my opinion, the best Trek balances the elements of human drama with exciting and imaginative action adventure…elements of the fantastic pushing our crew to the edge and back. When one element tilts the scales in it’s favor, it no longer resembles the storytelling I fell in love with…like any relationship, it’s time to walk away. We’ll see.
I agree.
Agreed 100%.
First, I guess Doug Jones won’t be joining Marc Zicree’s Space Command if it sells. He was slated as a major character.
Also, all this fuss about an openly gay character. I agree there should be representation of all types (IDIC), but I hope they just don’t make a huge fuss about it. We don’t go around with a sign on our backs if we’re straight, and I hope they don’t pull that for a gay character.
It friggin’ doesn’t matter and just let it be subtle, like anyone’s preference. JJ did a great job with the subtlety in Beyond. Please make it the same. If you don’t, then you are creating stereotyping in the other direction.
JJ didnt do a great job with subtly. JJ chickened out. Was Spock/Uhura subtle when they were smooching in the elevator? or on the transporter pad? Dont give JJ any credit for patting himself on the back for something which he chickened out on.
Really wish they had Rapp play a bisexual role. Gay is well integrated in in movies and series by now. But can’t think of any bisexual role in american televsion. I can only think of Capt’n Jack Harkness in Torchwood, while it was still british. As soon as they brought it overseas to the US he seemed to be “only” gay, too (and they completely ruined the show by the way).
Bring more bisexuals to TV, Yes you can! Make Bisexuals great again! :D
To add something: This would also make a great story plot. Imagine he’d get a boyfriend during the first season, but falls in love with a woman in the second. Was something like that ever portraited in mass media? A possibility for Trek to really go new ways and set new pathways for future television.
I think the issue with bisexuals on TV is that it can water down the message you’re trying to send. Like you wanted to feature a gay character but chickened out so went with bi sexual so you can have them act straight.
There are many who believe no one is gay or straight but just different levels of bisexual. Trek discovering a species of humanoids that intermingle population-wide in that regard would make sense.
Its funny that people get tripped up on the gay character. I wish, to be funny, they had included that the other characters would be “straight” as if its worth mentioning.
TUP,
Re: to be funny
I wish they’d introduce an alien that reproduces asexually and is struggling to be open-minded but nevertheless is thoroughly revolted by sexual reproduction and its trappings, i.e. PDAs, etc.
@Dis – brilliant idea!
Off-topic, but I just heard you on NPR, Kayla! Sounds like a really fun project.
Only thing I know Anthony Rapp from was Adventures in Babysitting
astro mycologist?????