EXCLUSIVE: Sonequa Martin-Green On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Captain’s Chair And Nichelle Nichols Blessing

At the Hollywood blue carpet premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, TrekMovie had a chance to speak with lead actress Sonequa Martin-Green. She spoke about the sibling rivalry between her character and Doug Jones’ Saru, gave her views on eventually getting to the captain’s chair, and revealed what it was like to meet Nichelle Nichols. The full video interview and highlights are below.

On Saru competition and if captain’s chair is in her future

Earlier we posted our interview with Doug Jones (Saru) where he talked about the sibling rivalry with Martin-Green’s Michal Burnham and how they were competing over who can get to the captain’s chair first. Martin-Green spoke to TrekMovie more about that relationship, saying:

It is definitely a brother/sister kind of dynamic between Saru and me and so, yeah there is that healthy competition for sure.

However, when it comes to having her character move into that captain’s chair, the actress didn’t seem to be in any hurry. She seemed happy with the way the show was set up by Bryan Fuller to have the main character not be the captain, noting:

Honestly, I prefer to play the story however it best needs to plays out. I think that the story is very dynamic and very courageous and so I am in full support of it, whatever the sort of timeline may be.

Doug Jones, Sonequa Martin-Green and Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Discovery

Getting the blessing of Nichelle Nichols

Sonequa told TrekMovie she had the chance to meet original Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols for the first time at the premiere, and she described the encounter: 

Her and I have been talking a lot on social media. She came tonight and she was amazing and she was georgous. And she says to me “Congratulations.” And then she said “Enjoy this moment, it is yours now.” It was a blessing that I wasn’t expecting from her. I love her and I am so grateful to her.

Nichelle Nichols, Sonequa Martin-Green, and William Shatner at Star Trek: Discovery premiere (CBS)

More to come from Hollywood premiere

 

Akiva Goldsman On Influence Of JJ Abrams Films On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Doug Jones On Saru And Burnham Fighting Over The Captain’s Chair In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Mary Chieffo Talks L’Rell And Klingon Episodes Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Ted Sullivan On Canon Challenge Of Fitting ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Between ‘Enterprise’ and TOS

TrekMovie has more interviews with Discovery cast and crew. These will be posted over the next few days so stay tuned.

 

Star Trek: Discovery premieres on September 24th on CBS with all subsequent episodes on CBS All Access in the US.  In Canada Star Trek: Discovery will premiere  on Bell Media’s CTV and the Space Channel on the same night. Netflix will launch Star Trek: Discovery on Monday, September 25 to countries outside of the U.S. and Canada.

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

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You would hope, all fans were so open and positive about Discovery as Nichelle Nichols.
Classy.

Nichelle was nice to Zoe Saldana, too. She’s a classy lady, and I’m amazed at how beautiful she still is, even at 84.

To me, Mirror Mirror isn’t about the Bearded Soeck ™. It’s about how badass Uhura could be and how her character was under-used. Nichelle Nichols was a much better actress than what she allowed to show.

She’d thrive nowadays.

Totally agree, though at least she was better-utilized in the films than she ever was in TOS.

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