Before we move on to “Su’Kal” this Thursday, there are still some bits to catch up on from the “Terra Firma” arc of Star Trek: Discovery. We have both Mary Wiseman and Sonequa Martin-Green talking about body issues, Kate Mulgrew jumping in too, and some more behind-the-scenes photos.
Wiseman talks body shaming, Mulgrew says to ignore them
The “Terra Firma” arc introduced the real Mirror Universe version of Tilly (aka Captain Killy). Mary Wiseman told Forbes, “It was tricky, but it was a really, really fun and satisfying challenge.”
She also revealed some of her inspirations for this version of Tilly:
There is a little Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender in there. There’s a little Harley Quinn. I think that in a world that’s so repressed and violent, violence becomes these people’s only outlet for pleasure and release. That’s kind of what I was playing with. It was so fun. I mean, it was just so fun!
The actress also discussed how Killy inspires some fans:
Killy is somebody who’s very important to a lot of fans, especially my curvy women out there who like to see another full-figured, fat, curvy, chunky woman get to feel powerful and use that size to command authority,” said Wiseman. “So I was also just very excited for the fans. First of all, because there’s more options for cosplay now, because she changed her hair. And second of all, just to dig into it, you don’t always get to see a woman like me in that sort of position. You know, like a psychotic murderer?
However, in the same interview she also talked about how some fans have not been so supportive in season three:
I noticed there’s definitely been an uptick in body-shaming towards me and Tilly this season, which was harrowing because I’m a person, I have a history and bullying is totally a part of that. So it has been hard, and it’s really hard to avoid, because it pops up on all the [social media] accounts, or people comment on my posts with cruel, unscientific comments.
Wiseman was appreciative of fans who had her back online:
I just want to say that all the people who step in, to back me up like that, your presence is like little angels, like blocking out these little trolls. It means something to me. I see those things and they hurt me because I’m a person. I’m a human being, you know? And to have somebody step in and defend you is really meaningful. I think people need that kind of thing to heal.
“I’m proud to be here and I am proud to wear my skin-tight costume and proud of my body. And I belong.”
After reading the Forbes article, Wiseman got some backup from someone who knows what it’s like to be a woman in the captain’s chair: Kate Mulgrew, who thinks Mary is “killing it” on Discovery and should pay the haters “no mind.”
I saw the @Forbes article on Mary Wiseman @may_wise clearly killing it onscreen & off in #StarTrekDiscovery. Happy to have your wit, enthusiasm, & talent as part of the franchise. I know a thing or two about “haters”-pay no mind. You’re perfect as you are. https://t.co/zV56ClHoUZ
— Kate Mulgrew (@TheKateMulgrew) December 18, 2020
Martin-Green on her post-baby body
Speaking to Glamour UK, Sonequa Martin-Green revealed that she has dealt with body image issues too:
“Back in the mid-to-late eighties, early nineties, everything I saw, with hip hop, was all curvy, curvy, big butt,” she recalls. “As a Black girl, I felt I was supposed to look this way. I always felt that I wanted hips and a butt. I wanted to be bigger and I spent much of my childhood, adolescence and even into my young adulthood doing all kinds of things to get bigger.” She laughs at the memory. “When I was around 12 I used to eat peanut butter and drink Ensure, a meal replacement drink, before I went to sleep. I would ask our family doctor, ‘Is there anything you can give me that’ll make me gain weight?'”
Martin-Green says she has come to accept changes in her body, especially after the birth of her second child shortly before production on season three:
With my first pregnancy I bounced back without trying (which is a crime, by the way, that we expect women to do that after birth rather than focus on healing). This time, even if I wanted that, my body said: ‘no we’re going to take some time here, we need to heal.’ And so, I find myself in this bigger, fuller body and it made me appreciate where I was before. It took this for me to finally accept who I am.
Behind the scenes on “Terra Firma”
Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise shared some behind-the-scenes photos from “Terra Firma, Part 2.”
And CBS posted some images of Emperor Georgiou’s quarters on the ISS Discovery.
Finally, actress Rekha Sharma shared this fun behind-the-scenes photo with Doug Jones and David Benjamin Tomlinson, where she lamented Landry being killed off yet again.
Two Kelpians and a Disco Kenny 💥(Zero Kelpians were harmed during this shoot. Those b@stards, however, totally killed Landry 😜)
Cuddles with @actordougjones and @davbentom These men are nothing short of hereoic in prosthetics all day e'reday. #StarTrekDiscovery #MirrorLandry 🖖🏽 pic.twitter.com/Ed0nbToiQH— Rekha the leaves 🍁 (@TheRekhaSharma) December 19, 2020
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery premiere on Thursdays on CBS All Access in the U.S. and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, where it’s also available to stream on Crave. Episodes will be available on Fridays internationally on Netflix.
Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com.
You mean that I can find myself a BBW in the 32nd Century? I LOVE the future…!
Wiseman would be smart to ignore the haters because their posts are rooted in negativity and hate. I for one have always had to watch my weight and I still wage the battle to this day. Fortunately, more than 30 years ago I was encouraged to focus on the health aspects of eating well and training hard – and not the aesthetics. I would encourage her to do the same. IMHO, if she “usually” eats well, trains and commits to staying healthy, then life can be a lot of fun leading an active adventurous life while still enjoying food and fine dining – and it is irrelevant what people say about her “looks”.
Btw, I really liked the scene of Tilly and Burnham running back in S1 and eating “protein, carbs and fat” post workout. If that scene reflects something she regularly incorporates into her real-life, then I think she will be just fine and she can tell the haters to go pound salt.
EXACTLY.
It is one thing to be healthy and quite another to be reed-thin and healthy. The reed-thin part sometimes involves unhealthy behaviors.
Good for Mary! Plenty of curvy ladies are quite healthy and active. I like seeing her in the series and like knowing that girls who are considered chunky by their teen or tween peers will know they can become something special and respectable, even if they don’t have the “ideal” Hollywood body type.
I agree with you on principle as far at this being fine on a fictional Star Trek show. Good for her, and I love the character!
That being said, knowing what weight restrictions there are for men and women serving avoid combat ships in today’s Navy, my bet would be she would need to lose some weight to preserve her shipboard assignment in today’s real-world Navy.
Well, it’s certainly a good thing that Tilly is a fictional character, and neither she nor the woman who plays her (Wiseman) is in “today’s real-world Navy.”
What was your point to this comment, anyway, except to minimize and dismiss support for plus-size women? It’s sci-fi, brah. That one ship generates more energy than present-day Earth’s entire human energy expenditure, generates its own artificial gravity, and violates causality routinely. I think the ship can handle a little chonk.
Mary’s my TV crush for the last 3 years. Can’t believe people are so rude as to insult anyone because they don’t look the way they expect.
She’s beyond perfect with her line delivery. She makes it all look so easy.
Well, the entire point is she absolutely looks the way I expect her to. Because she symbolizes the Trekkies, geeks, nerds. And yeah, some of us are coach potatoes, most of us certainly not gold cut supermodels. That’s the thing about DSC. Every character aboard that ship represents a minority. And Tilly is the Trekkie. She is super meta…
Iove those curves 💘
I’ve seen people here and on other message boards body-shame Ms.Wiseman, and it’s disgusting. That does so much emotional damage to a person–but it also says a lot about those doing the body-shaming. In fact, it says far more about the body-shamers than it does about those being body-shamed. They’re losers, pure and simple.
No it says a lot about the incredibly dangerous message she is sending. It is not OK to be overweight. It is incredibly bad and is a publicly dangerous message to be sending. This modern trend of celebrating obesity is what is wrong with American society, and is another reason why the rest of the world laughs at America.
I’m with DeanH’s view above.
Having a discussion about healthy weights, healthy eating and physical activity and how that’s important is a good Star Trek message. It was a good perspective in S1, and lines up with Star Trek values.
Overweight and obesity are not a matter of looks or body shape, and those who feel free to body-shame are off-side and frequently unkind. Let’s stick with the science and not target individuals.
However, I do struggle with popular media normalizing unhealthy weights – whether over or underweight because they are health risks.
Overweight and obesity are a leading health risk identified by the World Health Organization. It’s far from just the United States or even just affluent countries. It’s a problem in even some least developed countries now.
Obesity and overweight are associated with health chronic issues by definition. Sincerely, obesity is defined in terms of the proportion of body fat associated higher risk of illness. Overweight is a risk of becoming obese.
At the other end, underweight is also unhealthy and associated with other risks, but gets less negative attention in entertainment.
There’s a difference between celebrating obesity and accepting individual human beings, treating them as human beings, and not targeting them specifically for emotional harassment.
The “message she is sending”… how? By existing? By being visible on your TV screen? By indicating that she’s not ashamed of her body?
It’s not “celebrating obesity” to say that her body is her business and nobody else’s. Although it is true that on *average*, overweight people are less healthy than other people, it is also entirely possible to be overweight and healthy. A statistical average does not justify shaming or ridiculing anyone.
Whether you choose to believe it or not, you’re actually part of the problem.
Neither she nor anyone else with common sense is “celebrating obesity”. To even suggest that is stupidity writ large. If anything is being celebrated, or, at the very least, encouraged, it’s “simple human decency” and “not judging people by physical attributes alone”.
You mentioned that the rest of world “laughs at America” because of obesity. The laughing, alone, is far more damaging and shameful and disgusting and disrespectful than obesity itself. It’s intolerance in its most basic form, and anyone who engages in, advocates for, or turns a blind eye and deaf ear to it are examples of the worst humanity has to offer, and most certainly have no business calling themselves a “Star Trek fan”.
Her message was not that it’s okay to be overweight (and she’s really not that overweight, nor should it really matter…), but simply that’s it okay to be her – flaws and all. If you can’t understand that message, then you are very much part of the problem.
Yes, it’s disgusting and immature.
So many reasons to be critical of Disco… plot holes, awful sense of morals, missed opportunities, etc.
But how the women look?! That is not anything to diss. Every woman is very beautiful.
Exactly.
👏👏
Lol. “Sense of morals.” How blandly Puritan.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Has Tilly body-shaming outside of the Twitter imbeciles been a thing? I’ve read plenty of well-deserved criticism of the writing but to my knowledge, there has been no widespread criticism of STD acting or physical appearances.
I saw someone just last month asking on a Facebook fanpage if Starfleet had some kind of physical fitness standard and if so, she’s violating it, ect.—the same old idiotic abusive misogyny disguised as genuine concern.
I hate the body shaming of actresses – There’s recently was yet another “fanboy arse-hat” bloger who on their twitter account made an unkind comment about Mary/Tilly regarding her weight.
I’ll never forget when I, a woman of 160# at 5’8″, healthy, deemed fit by military and bodyfat percentage indexes, approached the Credit Union one day, when the guy at the ATM finished his transaction, turned, saw me, and yelled “Hey, fatass!”
He was non-military, the same height as me, and easily weighed 300#.
My point is, a lot of the shamers are probably ashamed of themselves for being overweight and project it onto others.
Most actresses on TV, if they’re 5’8″ probably weigh 120# or less. Michelle Yeoh, considerably smaller in physical stature, probably weighs around 90# [because she is allll muscle]. My personal opinion is, if you see ribs in their low decolletage, they are probably not so healthy. Many smoke to keep the weight off.
Then there are many women like Sonequa, who feel they’re too skinny.
It’s all relative, but I don’t see a lot of actors being body-shamed.
Just take a little trip down the hellhole that is a tabloid’s message boards and you’ll see the kind of body shaming of male and female actors and celebrities that exists out there. Try the Daily Mail for 5 minutes. It’s so brutal. That sort of thing contributes to some pretty hardcore dysmorphia – sure, they are famous and have luxuries and money so many of us don’t, but hearing stories like how Carrie Fisher was told she should lose weight to be able to reprise Leia, or how Kumail Nanjani is scarily fixated on his physical appearance now is sad.
I’m proud to see that she’s proud of herself. Body shaming is wrong and immature. Tilly looks great and her weight is a not a issue.
Gee, so some Trek fans can be @$$holes. What a surprise.
I think Mary is doing a fantastic job as is Sonequa, Their characters are fantastic as are all the others. Mary shouldn’t listen to the haters and Sonequa, I never noticed she looked any different than she did before, body wise. Keep up the great work ladies!
MS Wiseman owns the sadistic Bitch Capt Killy like she does Tilly. WTF this is why I’ve been following Star Trek since the original in 1967 when I saw Nichelle Nichols. For me I love how it deals with social logic as well as technology. Sick and tired of T and A being the main focus. Everyone in the world do not look and act the same if it was for me, it would be a very boring uninterested world. Miss Wiseman F those fake Trekkies/Treksters keep acting your ass off.
What’s “social logic?”
No clue…
Maybe “sociological” issues?
I’ve learned a lot of bad spelling comes from dictating into your smartphone. I always have to correct it, so it’s not terribly efficient.
Perhaps they had a second or third language that they use regularly.
With predictive spelling and multiple languages available, incorrect word choice is a constant threat even when one does type in the correct word.
I notice that for whatever reason certain words will trigger the language to switch to French on my phone, and then I have to go back and correct everything.
Trolls that bodyshame others are a lower life form. Jealous and insecure,they can only feel better by putting others down. Jerks.
Thank you, Trek Movie Staff, for sharing my interview with your readers and providing a link to Forbes.com!
Great interview, Dawn. Conversational, easy to listen to and understand every point.
Curvy Killy is now my Hall Pass.
I do not endorse body-shaming in any way, as I was bullied as a kid years ago. Everyone has their gifts. But I have to say, when they named her “Killy,” it made the already off-kilter character even more ridiculous. Not Mary Wiseman’s fault; the writers’ fault. They should have tried to make Tilly more credible first. Respectfully, to anyone somehow offended by that.
Imo, this show tries so overly hard to be socially progressive, it’s the very thing that makes it a turn-off. To me, at least.
I have nothing against Mary Wiseman. Her character Tilly is not my favorite on the show but body shaming is a shameful act by itself.
Star Trek is supposed to be socially progressive but this show went too far.
Yeah I’m in the same boat too Danpaine.
Fans need to stop being rude and act like gentlemen for once.
There are admittedly quite a few other Starfleet officers — Scotty and Riker, for example — who prove that being chunky is still a thing in the future.
You hit the sweet spot!
I’d add Kirk to that at several times over the years.
And doesn’t that just make the point about the difference between fitness and apparent chunkiness or curveyness.
No one can argue that Shatner is anything less than fit at whatever age. He was competing in show jumping events with his horses until at least his 70s.
The problem is, very deep into his 80’s, and there’s still chatter about him playing the action hero. Fitness may be in the eye of the beholder, as he’s commented himself that contempories his age have to hit the head just a bit more often.
Where I live people compete on the merits and are proud of their professional or intellectual achievements – not their bad habits, bad health or even born with attributes such as divergent sexual orientation that they had no influence over whatsoever.
I suppose that’s why some places are rising and others are very visibly in decline. You either think about what you can contribute to society or how society “owes” you – handouts, “respect” for above-mentioned bad habits, fictitious pronouns even. But respect is always earned and never enforceable.
Key difference in thinking, and it makes all the difference in the big picture!
Where is this? Xanadu? Samarkand? Nibiru?
You know what, fvck you, Vulcan Soul. All you ever do on this board is show up and attack womxn for being womxn, LBGTQ+ for being LBGTQ+, people of color for being people of color. This post (“handouts” “bad habits” yada yada yada) is your latest misogny, homophobia and white supremacy , and I am sick and tired of it. I wonder what the advertisers behind this site think of posts like this. If they wont act a woman should take a pear of pruning shears and cut off that little pecker of yours (it’s what Killy would do). It’s 2020 and were taking any more of your sh!t.
You always come up with weird posts VS this one is weirder than usual I’m afraid to say.
Goodbye
I lovvvve Lilly/Tilly and her curves. She is a real girl.
Disco has a lot of problems storywise… But not her looks!
Come on she looks great. Not everyone is skinny and not everyone likes skinny. It doesn’t look like unhealthy curvy but just different type of genes. To be honest I think she is more attractive than the mostly skinny cast of most series.
What problems?
Bad writing, illogical story arcs, unbalanced tempo, underdeveloped characters or sudden jumps in character development
I absolutely love Tilly/Killy. ..I have a total girl crush. Her body shape is fabulous…she is gorgeous.
Of all the issues I have with Star Trek Discovery, Mary Wiseman/Tilly is definitely not among them. She is one of the best things about Discovery.
And if people are critical of her because her appearance does not meet their expectations, they don’t really have a clue of what Star Trek is all about.
DSC had many issues at the beginning. The visual reboot premise was overstretched. The Klingon redesign was much more than a visual reboot and especially the tech aspects don’t fit canon (holographic communication, Klingon cloaking, android bridge crew, easy terraforming, state-of-the-art nanotech, Enterprise battle squad). They have solved some of these issues the easy way by talking themselves out of it (Klingon hair, holograms, Ariam being no android at all), now that we are in the future none of it really matters anymore. The burden is now on SNW…That show can either make or break it with regards to these issues…
The other big issue I’ve always had is the graphic nature of violence, this “We are TV-MA streaming, so we can do anything” attitude… I simply hate that. Thematic darkness is fine but graphic visuals aren’t.
But the characters are pitch perfect. DSC has a wonderful cast and a neat diverse set of characters.
The entire point of Tilly’s character is that she’s a Starfleet officer that doesn’t have to be a supermodel like so many Trek characters before: Troi, Seven, T’Pol, Jadzia… perfect golden cut supermodels. Tilly’s great contribution is that she’s NOT that sort of superwoman most peopöle can never be. She’s a little overweighed, so what? She’s a geeky, nerdy character, so wonderfully over the top, like so many of us in the fandom. Tilly is Trekdom. Tilly is a wonderful incarnation of our inner geekdom, a person you would find at conventions or in fanfiction… I love this character so much because she isn’t perfect. None of us are… and it’s okay.
I’m not surprised people making mean comments, some people will find whatever they can that they know will upset everyone and say it. We love that someone who isn’t super fit was cast, especially that its a woman. We’ve seen a lot of big men in Star Trek but no big girls. She’s fantastic and looks fantastic doing it!
I think Mary is amazingly pretty and has absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of her figure.
I think she is beautiful
Shaming is one thing.
Being encouraged to eat only what ones body needs is another thing entirely.
Body shaming is just another category of bullying, with the same general goal of the shamer making him/herself feel superior by putting down others around them, rather than elevate him/herself with goodwill and compassion. Somehow these insecure people feel others not like them are a threat to how they see themselves and how the world should, in their opinion, be. Bullied badly as a child and teen so I know what I speak of; I’m just glad I grew up pre-Internet, and I sympathize with any nowadays who have to deal with Internet bullying on top of ‘real world’ bullying.
As for the debate about ‘sending the message being overweight is good’: the heart of the issue is that everybody’s body is their own, not health and physical fitness. It is their choice to be as they choose to be, and their responsibility to deal with the pros and cons of whatever fitness choices they choose. Control over one’s own body is the most basic freedom we should have. It is not other’s right to tell someone how their body should be – that sort of thing was done with slaves. The actors are not slaves to the fans or public opinion. There is a wealth of other outlets for health and fitness information, that frankly are more dispassionate and factual than getting health and fitness info from celebrities. Mary Wiseman is sending the message that your body is your own, your responsibility, and nobody else’s business, not any sort of health and fitness message. Though frankly, I find people like her generally seem more aware of their overall health and fitness than people who try to fit others’ images. It seems like people like her say: this is me. I define me. I like me. And I want to take care of me so I can continue to be me. And others opinions don’t factor in.
Saying that its the job of actors to tell people whats healthy and whats not is the problem, not a solution. We want people to get their facts from reliable health sources, not celebrities, so saying actors should be sending some sort of fitness message is just backwards. And saying they should be sending this message is just another way to try to bully someone into doing what you want, not what that person wants for their self. If you read what Mary and Sonequa are saying, they aren’t promoting any particular body style or fitness choice, just that they are as they are and only they have the right to choose how that should be. And that’s a healthy outlook.
I love Tilly’s curves
She is absolutely beautiful just as she is.
Agreed
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really care about women or mens weight on TV shows, I don’t care for negative comments on them by haters, but neither do I care for the actors/actresses making such a whiney big deal about it. Just grow up and ignore the random internet comments — you are elevating the drama of this internet troll thing by talking about it.
If I was a public figure I would do zero social media, ignore the internet, cash my massive paychecks, sign autographs for real in-person fans I meet, and be so thankful I’m not working in a grunt job making minimum wage.
You can’t be a Star Trek fan and also be a racist or a body shamer. The very basis of Star Trek is in direct conflict with people like that. Just blows my mind
My only issue with Captain Killy is that she died that wonderful red hair blonde.
Mary Wiseman is a beautiful lady as is Sonequa Martin-Green. The immaturity of body shaming anyone is hateful and unacceptable. I would expect more from the Star Trek crowd, which is usually quite enlightened.
My lady, you are so fine that I want to have your baby.