‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Showrunner Talks Real Life Inspiration For Culber/Stamets

Today’s Star Trek: Discovery update has some insight into the development on the characters of Dr. Culber and Lt. Stamets and some thoughts from Culber actor Wilson Cruz. We also have video of Sonequ Martin-Green talking Klingons on Ellen and her latest red carpet looks.

Harberts drew from his life to develop the Culber/Stamets relationship

In an inteview feature with Advocate titled “How a Non-Trekkie Became One of Star Trek’s First Gay Showrunners,” Discovery executive producer Aaron Harberts talked about how he drew on his personal life to develop the relationship between Dr. Culber and Lt. Stamets. From the article:

Harberts not only helped make sure this vision included gay characters; he ensured that their storyline was drawn from an authentic experience as well. The scene where Stamets and Culber are introduced to viewers as a couple, where they are brushing their teeth side by side? “I’ve been with my spouse for over 22 years. But for me, the thing that I love most about our day is when we’re brushing our teeth together,” said Harberts — a touching tribute to his husband, Scott.

Aaron Harberts drew from his own life in developing Culber and Stamets

Wilson Cruz to announce GLAAD Awards, talks about achieving dream of being on Star Trek

CBS released a video with actor Wilson Cruz (Dr. Culber) talking about how it was a childhood dream for him to be in Star Trek.

It was also just announced that tomorrow Wilson Cruz will be announcing the nominations for the GLAAD Media Awards from the Sundance Film Festival. the nominations will be streamed on Variety’s Facebook page on Friday at 7:30 a.m. PT/10:30 a.m. ET.

Sonequa talks ‘Discovery’ firsts and explaining Klingons to her son on Ellen

Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green was a guest on Ellen a few days ago, where she talked about some of the firsts for the show. She also talked about bringing her son to the set and had to explain Klingons.

Red Carpet Sonequa

It is awards season in Hollywood and Sonequa is making the rounds. In the last few days she has been spotted on the red carpet and presenting at the Golden Globes, the Marie Claire Image Maker Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. See the slideshow below to check out her red carpet looks.

Embed from Getty Images

Shazad Latif says keeping secret was like being in the CIA

Speaking with Variety the actor said:

“It’s been like a year’s worth of secrecy now, it’s been a year of keeping up a crazy secret that a lot of people figured out toward the end. That’s always hard. I couldn’t say anything. The whole set was quiet in general because it was ‘Star Trek’ anyway. It was like being in the CIA.”

There’s more with Latif about how he developed the dual roles and gave them subtle similarities in the full interview.

Shazad Latif as Lt. Ash Tyler

 


Star Trek: Discovery is available on CBS All Access on in the US and airs in Canada on the Space Channel. It is available on Netflix outside the USA and Canada.

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

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Lovely Sonequa.

Is it me or is Joe menosky no longer in the credits? Did he leave the show?

On shows like this not every producer is credited in every episode. Nicholas Meyer for example was credited so far on 4 episodes and they weren’t the first four in a row.

In fact his 4 credited episodes were the two part premiere and these last two Mirror universe shows.

Sorry, Sonequa. Star Trek Beyond beat you in the big gay sweepstakes. But you get a gay silver. I would like to take this opportunity to trumpet the trailblazing of Fleet Admiral Harry Morrow. Well before there was a Vice Admiral Vance Haden, there was a Fleet Admiral Harry Morrow. Pip pip.

You don’t have to wonder about the agenda of producers who talk 97% of the time about a relationship that represents 3% of the audience… and which is just about the opposite of the the way minorities used be represented in Trek, i.e. “just be there as part of the crew, not called out, not drawing attention”. It is shameless, divisive virtue signalling to one part of the audience and not exactly building bridges to those not represented by this show (by virtue of their ideas, not their skin color or sexual orientation). Star Trek used to be about fresh ideas and not tired tokens. As so much of the faction the producers represent they completely miss the real issues of our times and are obsessed with superficialities, irrelevancies and shallowness. Let’s put this issue to rest – half of television has explored the gay condition decades before Trek, you are not going where no one has gone before!

How much % of the audience does a vulcan-human-relationship represent?

Prior to Discovery Trek has had 725 episodes and 13 movies. Of these, only 1 film featured an openly gay main character (Sulu in Beyond). Only 3 episodes featured what would be considered a gay character (“The Outcast”, “Rejoined”, “The Emperor’s New Cloak”), and only 1 of those was not some kind of sci-fi metaphor.

This means up to Discovery, direct openly homosexual characters amounted to just 0.14 percent of Trek, despite — by your own claim– that homosexuals amount to 3% of the population. Even if we add the 15 episodes of Discovery featuring Stamets and Culber, it’s still just 2.2%.

Similarly, of the principal casts of all 6 Trek shows before it (43 total characters), none were openly gay. Now, we have 2 out of 53.

So yes, I would consider this enough of a story that it should be talked about, particularly by the writer/producer who is gay, and by a magazine that covers LGBT issues.

And you’re right to say that they’re not going where no one has before– sadly Trek fell far behind in LGBT diversity, when they should have lead the way. Famously a TOS script and an early draft of First Contact that included gay characters were both nixed by the studio, making this long overdue and worthy of the spotlight it’s receiving.

Thanks for this, SanFran. I just get sad and angry at these kinds of commrnys and sputter out an incoherent response.

Indeed. Love the username, by the way!

Ellen says Sonequa is the first female lead in Star Trek? Emmm, What about Kathryn Mulgrew as Janeway?

Ellen probably doesn’t know. Sonequa uses first black female lead herself but doesn’t point out the error to Ellen.

Well, she should have at least done some research then. Internet is our friend.