Tig Notaro is returning for season four of Star Trek: Discovery, but her popular character Jett Reno will still be limited to a recurring role. The comedian and actress—who is having a bit of a moment after her high-profile role in the Netflix zombie movie Army of the Dead—is talking about carving out time for Star Trek in her busy schedule and more.
Notaro on Reno
The character of the acerbic engineer Jett Reno was created by executive producer Alex Kurtzman specifically for Notaro, whom he has known since the pair worked together at Sam Raimi’s production company in the ’90s. Notaro first appeared in season two, and returned in season three. In a new interview with Metro Weekly she reveals her surprise that the Starfleet gig has continued into a third season:
I really thought I’d end up just going in for an episode or two. But this turned into something. Alex [Kurtzman] said, “We’re going to use you as much as we can get you.” I hear from people all the time like, “Oh, they don’t use you enough,” or “Why don’t they use you more?” And it’s like, I have a stand-up career and a million other things I’m doing. I try to do as much as I can on Star Trek, but I just don’t have the time.
Even with her time being limited playing the chief engineer of the USS Discovery—and avoiding spoilers for what is to come in season four—Notaro offered this assurance for the future:
I’ve been told by Alex that they’re not ever going to kill me.
She also talked about how the sarcastic dynamic between Reno and Stamets flows from her chemistry with actor Anthony Rapp:
That relationship is actually real between me and Anthony when we’re not filming. We are always back and forth with each other. But in a very positive, fun way.
Tig Notaro and Anthony Rapp in “Die Trying”
When asked about the importance of LGBTQ visibility in the Star Trek universe, Notaro discussed how she finds Discovery to be different from other contemporary shows:
It’s a continuation of what they’ve always been doing with Star Trek, which is just having such an inclusive universe that they’re creating and pushing boundaries and opening them. It’s not even pushing boundaries — it’s breaking boundaries and opening everything up… It’s typical to be on a show where you’re the gay person or the gay guest star and it’s a gay-themed show or a situation. But on Star Trek: Discovery, it’s almost weird if you’re not gay. It’s a nice feeling to be so much a part of everything that’s woven into the stories and the themes, and you’re not just the gay character in the gay story that week.
There’s more from Tig on Discovery and her new image as an action hero at Metro Weekly.
Wrapped space Tig for season four
We recently reported that Notaro was in Toronto for the production of Discovery season four and that she would be shooting multiple episodes, with some scenes possibly being inserted into earlier episodes. The comedian was back in Los Angeles last week to appear on Conan, where she confirmed she had wrapped her work on Discovery. When asked about being called an action star for being in Army of the Dead and Discovery, she clarified that there is a difference, saying, “I’ve done a little bit of action on Star Trek. But I am mainly sarcastic Tig in space.”
Find more Star Trek: Discovery news and analysis at TrekMovie.com.
Pretty much the only thing I love about this show.
I am currently rewatching Season 3 and like most of modern Trek, 2nd time’s the charme for me. I like how thematically rock-solid this season is when compared to the other two. The theme of connection (forming them, building trust, vs. isolationism and mistrust) is baked into virtually every plot point, character arc and interaction down to smaller details like how the Trill-tentacles are trying to literally connect to Adira in that weird dream realm.
I am pretty impressed and like this new era. Although, there still is way too much unearned crying, and really big decisions like Burnham going rogue in “Scavengers” are kind of glanced over when they’re actually major story beats.
I see your point, but for me with each step forward they go two steps back. I really appreciate that they gave back some dignity to Stamets in the end of the season. It was in his character not to let get Burnham away with her betrayl. But if with the start of next season all is fine between them again I will write off the whole season three, too.
For myself I generally like Discovery. But there are things I don’t care for. Now this has been true for every Trek series in various degrees. I generally don’t like a third of all Trek on average so I find plenty wrong in every version of these shows.
On your point about Stamets, for me it depends season one ended directly tying into season 2. Season two ends and directly ties into the start of season 3, before allowing a year time jump (for one character). And a year can dramatically change how you feel about about almost anything in your life. If season four starts right were season three ended and proceeds with little or no jumps in time, then it absolutely. should come up, in some form even if its something that bothers him under his skin. If there is any real jump in time either at the start of the first episode or in the first couple, then it can easily be something that realistically might be processed and dealt with before we see them.
You are right that it would not be unrealistic, but that is not the point. There is something in story telling called Chekhov’s gun. If you come up with something you have to deal with it otherwise you hurt the truth of your story. Hamlet can not end with him saying: “This all becomes to much for me. I’m going back to Wittenberg” , although this might be a realistic ending.
Oh, she is so going to die now at the end of the season because now it will have maximum shock. And Kurtzman loves his shock twists.
Sure but they will just bring her back alive next season anyway…or bring in her MU counterpart. I’m kind of curious of what a Terran version of Reno would be like lol.
Reno may be the one constant in the multiverse.
Guess you missed the part where they said the Mirror Universe was too far away to transport to in the 30-whatever century.
That’s pretty easy. Take the prime version and give them characteristics 180 degrees from it. She would be more matter of fact and less sarcastic for one thing that’s for sure. And like others in the MU she would be out for herself and looking at ways to improve her situation by any means possible. Even killing Stammets.
Give Reno a full episode or at least a short-Trek. Maximize the amount you can use her.
There won’t be anymore short-treks. Especially since the 2nd batch hasn’t even been sold.
My Blu-ray set says yes it was.
Even though only two of them held any kind of value, I think it unfortunate they stopped. I thought they were a good idea even though the bulk of them were huge swings and misses.
Good…. I like the actress and I like her character a lot too….
God, this cast is so great and it’s shown flashes of confidence in storytelling. Just wish they could hit the nail on the head for an entire season, or preferably, switch to a more DS9 style of episodic tv. I don’t mind the season long arcs, but I’d love for more of the episodes to have a standalone watchability. Regardless, the real issue is simply put the writing. It’s subpar, and again, it’s a shame because the cast is so great from start to finish (even Tilly, who admittedly has been wasted in S2 and S3 by the writers, but she showed flashes of being an awesome combo audience surrogate and character with the most growth potential. Anyway, just my two cents, I keep praying someone grows a beard in S4 and they finally hit their stride.
Lol. “Admittedly” doesn’t mean you as the observer acknowledging something, especially when it’s not inarguably true. The term only works if the writers or producers were admitting the truth of your statement, which I highly doubt they would.
Tig Notaro is awesome and I love her Jett Reno character. She’s definitely my favorite on Discovery and I can’t wait to see more of that character
Nice that she is there but would be nicer if she could commit more time to it. Her few appearances last season produced more laughs than 10 episodes of Lower Decks. Maybe she should be on THAT show? Doesn’t require nearly as much a commitment just doing voice work in a studio…
But perhaps it’s good that we don’t get a lot of her on Star Trek Discovery. It’s possible that she works best in small doses. Her as a regular might just be too much.
More Tig! More Tig! More Tig! I adore her and she is one of my favourite parts of discovery