Watch: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Stars Talk Tig Notaro Pranking Jonathan Frakes On Season 3 Set And More

While we wait for the third season of Star Trek: Discovery (which is currently in post-production), some of the stars of the show are sharing stories from the production of the season in a very personal way.

Rapp reveals how Notaro pranked Frakes on S3 set, via Cameo

A number of Star Trek: Discovery actors have recently joined Cameo, the service which lets fans book personalized video messages from celebrities. These range from birthday and good luck messages to prom invitations, marriage proposals, baby gender reveals and beyond. One fan, Tim Roy of New Hampshire, has been uploading the personalized messages for his daughter from Star Trek celebrities onto YouTube.

The Roy family videos include some messages from Discovery stars, who have been talking to Molly about what it was like to shoot season three. Last night Tim uploaded their latest Star Trek celebrity video with Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), where he tells a funny story involving Tig Notaro (Jett Reno) and director Jonathan Frakes:

There was a period on set where [Tig] was being directed by Jonathan Frakes for the first time, they had just never crossed paths before. He had been on the flight with her and he recognized her and introduced himself, and she did a whole bit all day long while he was directing her of not knowing who he was and this guy from the airport and airplane was stalking her. So every time he came up to her on set, she was like, “Oh my god, it’s that stalker.” But she does it in such a dry way, it really made me laugh.

You can watch it below.

https://youtu.be/1sz6RtaqroE

We already knew that Jonathan Frakes directed three episodes of Discovery’s upcoming season, but this does confirm that Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno was one of the characters that made it into the future and will appear in season three. Notaro joined Discovery in the second season in a recurring role as the acerbic engineer. As she was flying in with Frakes to appear in the same episode he was directing, it’s likely she will continue to appear as a guest star and not a regular for season three. The way Notaro joked around with Frakes by pretending she didn’t know who he was sounds like an extension of the premise of her Funny or Die web series Under a Rock with Tig Notaro, where she sits down with celebrities she has never heard of before and tries to guess who they are.

Tig Notaro as Jett Reno in “An Obol For Charon”

Jones and Wiseman on the challenges and delights of Iceland

Last week the Roys uploaded a couple of videos featuring Mary Wiseman (Tilly) and Doug Jones (Saru) where they talked about how the cast passes their time on set, which includes singing (of course), telling riddles, and more. The pair also spoke about what it was like shooting on location. Wiseman was first up:

We shot a bit of season three in Iceland. That was such an amazing experience. I had never traveled there before. It is an incredibly beautiful country, with a rich history. And Doug Jones and I got really obsessed with soup.

For his video, in addition to talking about the soup, Jones talked about what it was like in Iceland:

We did film in Iceland…It was a glorious, gorgeous country. I had never been there before. The landscape and the natural wonders are just [wow]. So if you are going to film another planet somewhere in the universe, Iceland takes on that backdrop so easily.

Jones also talked about the particular challenge due to the custom “hoof” boots he wears as part of his Saru costume while he did scenes on the edge of an Icelandic glacier:

It is hard enough when I wear those hoof boots in a flat hallway or the bridge where it is a polished, flat floor. It is hard enough to balance on that. But take those same boots outside on uneven terrain, rocks, pebbles, sticks, cracks, ridges, and you are trying to walk and talk. Mary and I had a few scenes together and these Icelandic locations you will see, and as we are walking and talking and you turn your head this way…but I can’t look down where my feet are headed. I had to just hope and pray they had knocked away all the big stuff, because it was a constant question of [falling] as we were talking. I never fell flat on my butt.

You can see both videos below, one of which includes Doug Jones demonstrating his Vegas lounge act:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-Rwvgd1DCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqUMTnBR_I

While location shooting is not unusual for Star Trek, doing it beyond the immediate area where the show is being filmed is. The two-part pilot of Discovery did involve some filming in Jordan, but the show stayed in Ontario, Canada for season two. We have already seen some glimpses of the Iceland location, indicating that it will be featured early in season three and clearly in the season premiere.

Preview image from season three featuring David Ajala as Book and Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham

More Star Trek stars on Cameo

The Roys also have videos for Molly from Discovery‘s Emily Coutts and Mary Chieffo, as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Jonathan Frakes and Voyager‘s Robert Duncan McNeill. You can see them all on their YouTube channel.

Here is Tim with Molly at the Star Trek Set Tour.

While the Roy family has been sharing their videos on YouTube, what you do with your personalized Cameo video messages is up to you. Other Star Trek celebrities offering personalized video messages on Cameo including LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, John de Lancie, Robert Picardo, Denise Crosby, Connor Trinneer, Nicole de Boer, and many more, including guest stars. Pricing ranges from as little as $30 (Chieffo) up to $300 (Burton). For more, visit Cameo.com (and type “Star Trek” into the search box).

Here is Jonathan Frakes’ video message to Molly.


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

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Oh, wow, Doug Jones is adorable! Even when I admire a character, I don’t usually want the actor to babble inanities at me, but I could make an exception for Mr. Jones; he’s just so cute and sweet and personable.

Of course, it may all be an act, since we know he’s a great actor, but if it’s an act, it’s a really, really good one. :-)

Of course he is a nice guy…

I think you missed the “I’m joking” smiley face at the end…

Doug Jones is a TREASURE! 💛

And bless this cool dad for arranging these cool personal Star Trek messages for his daughter! 🖖

He really is! What an adorable person.

Hopefully we get some Discovery season 3 news pretty soon.

We need Discovery now more than ever in these perilous times.

…and Star Trek I forget to add(someone’s disabled my edit function, not the first time to)

I think the new comments layout has also moved the edit button. At least for me, if I hover over the bottom right part of a comment I wrote an icon shows up that allows me to edit my comment.

I know were it is but immediately after I post its says its locked in seconds.(it actually worked this time!)

Iceland,huh? Pretty deep pockets on this show still, evidently.

Kurtzman has said several times Discovery is their flagship show.

As it should be!

I’m glad Tig Notaro is coming back. She’s a quality addition to the series.

Frakes wins Star Trek Stars Worst COVID Home Haircut Award! :-)