On Tuesday, the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery arrives on Blu-ray and DVD complete with audio commentarp, deleted scenes, exclusive special features, a gag reel, and more. (Full details and pre-order links available here.) Before Disco comes home one last time, Wilson Cruz talked to TrekMovie about the biggest challenges of his five-year run as Dr. Hugh Culber, the most fun, the breakthrough moments, opportunities he’d still hoped to have, and his thoughts on what Hugh could bring to Starfleet Academy.
Looking back on all five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, what arc of Culber’s was the most challenging for you to play?
I’m going to be honest with you: This past season was pretty challenging, but if I was going to pick the most challenging season, the one that I had to get right in order for the rest of it to work was season 2, where we see Culber come back to life, and not necessarily come back and just jump right into the old life. He had to deal with the real ramifications of what happened, sharing the ship with the person who killed him, but also taking stock of his life and trying to understand which parts of it worked for him in the past and which parts he was no longer willing to accept, or at least was willing to question. He questioned his marriage, he questioned whether he wanted to be a doctor anymore. He dealt with Ash Tyler even in a physical way, so making all of that resonate, and real, and set him up for the person he was going to become in season 3, this person who was unshackled from his past and allowed him to step into who he wants to be? That’s that was really satisfying.
So in contrast, what was the most fun?
I think the most fun season was this past season, season 5. Because he’s still asking big questions. He’s still dealing with some anxiety, with the unknown, with uncertainty, but he’s dealing with it face on, head on. And I was afforded all of these opportunities as an actor to stretch, to have fun, to go big, right? Playing Jinaal was a real challenge, and it was fun, but creating him for two weeks before those cameras rolled was one of the biggest acting challenges of my life, because they literally were like “You can make him whoever you want,” which was like, don’t say THAT to me, right? Like,… parameters. So I was trying on a bunch of different people, and it was, you know, hit or miss. I landed on this version of it that I didn’t even show the other actors until the cameras rolled and they got to see him, because the very first scene we shot was the zhian’tara, where he gets taken over by Jinaal. So when Jinaal comes out, that was the first time that they saw him, so all of those reactions you’re seeing in that moment are very real.
You did a beautiful job. I mean, we’ve talked about this, but it was incredible. You really embodied this new person.
Also, the scenes with Book was really, were really fun to play, right? That creating that relationship, building that relationship, so and getting to do a scene in Spanish with my grandmother, and honoring our grandmothers. You know, doing a scene in Spanish–I had never in my life, in my career, been allowed to do a scene in my native language. So that was really exciting and satisfying to do. Look, I have chills. [holds up his arm]
And if there’d been another season, what would you like to have seen Culber do? He’s already been through so much, but what else would you like to explore with him?
The thing is, is that I felt, even before we knew it was the end of the series, I felt like season 5 was the end of this chapter for him. You know, because at the end, when we see him in that last scene, he has embraced this uncertainty. He has embraced the wonder and awesomeness of things that he can’t explain in his life, but that have been amazing… have been literally awesome, like in the real definition of the word. And we see him just kind of smile and accept it and be okay with being in awe of it, as opposed to just needing answers for everything like the scientist that he is. I was excited to see who he was going to become now that he had really stepped into his own, into the fact that he wasn’t just a doctor, that he was also the counselor, that he had created all of these relationships with characters outside of Paul. So I really wanted to see him go harder into his counselor role, like I wanted to see him on away missions, and how his being a counselor really helped him bring that kind of understanding to away missions. Because he’s the most empathetic character on the show, he has insight that others don’t, and I wanted to see him bring that more to away missions, and I think we would have probably seen him on more away missions. And I wanted to see him more physical. I wanted to see him… You know, we got to see him fight a couple of times, and it was, I would say, pretty impressive. And I wanted to see more of that side of him too, that he’s no pushover.
So if you get the call to guest star on Starfleet Academy, what would you like to see Culber doing there? Have you thought about that?
Yeah! I think he’s kind of the perfect person to guide the cadets who want to be counselors, to help them lean into their strengths in terms of their own empathy, their willingness, their ability to listen, when it’s appropriate to challenge when it’s not. [laughs] I would love to see him play that kind of role that allows young people who are taking on new challenges to listen to their instincts, which is a hard thing to do when you’re young, because you don’t actually think you know anything. You have this bravura that says that you do, but inside you have the insecurity of like, “Can I do this? Do I know how to do this? Will I succeed?” I’d love to see him do that.
That doesn’t go away for some people anyway.
Yeah. But also, like, leaning into it, right? Like, as a counselor, you know the fact that you understand that that never goes away, how you allow that to guide you, and have that be a strength and not a weakness.
Well, I hope you get to do it, because that would be lovely to see
We’ll see! [crosses fingers]
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 comes home August 27
You can pre-order Discovery Season 5 at Amazon on Blu-ray for $34.99 or DVD for $29.99. The limited edition Steelbook Blu-ray can be pre-ordered for $39.99.
The complete series box set can be pre-ordered for $59.95 on Blu-ray and $49.95 on DVD.
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Note: The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Even though DISCOVERY was not overly good, Wilson Cruz was always excellent. He was one of the show’s best assets.
Culber was one of the only characters that they got right from the start.
The only characters I loved from their introduction until the end (not counting the TOS/SNW crew) were Culber, Reno, Lorca, Mudd, L’Rell, Kovich, and Voq-Tyler. I really liked Saru and Stamets before the time jump, but after the jump the writers lost their story and they faded into the background. And while Book and Vance were great in season three, after that they became superfluous.
I couldn’t really connect to any of the other characters. Burnham was beyond annoying, Gray was horribly acted, and Georgiou was boring. Tilly was fun in principle, and there were episodes in which I enjoyed her, but the writers couldn’t seem to decide how to write for her–her character was all over the place. As for Adira, the bridge crew, and Nhan, none of them ever really had a chance to shine. Disco had so much potential, but for me (and others’ mileage will of course vary) it almost never lived up to it. The 23rd-century seasons are the only ones I’ll likely rewatch.
He’s a good actor, given almost nothing to work with. Not sure what was “challenging” for him about season 5, apart from having to put on a voice for one episode.
Yeah, that was kind of weird. He really didn’t have any challenging work in season 5.
The sooner you stop writing about Discovery the sooner we can forget it existed. It’s The Acolyte of Star Trek universe.
I’m no fan of Discovery, but… lol the internet summed up in one post ^
Dr. Culber, Captain Burnham, Suru, and Book… These are my favorite characters from Star Trek: Discovery and in that order. So, I’m really going to miss Dr. Culber and would love for him to pop up in some other Star Trek show or movie. For me he is a dream of Star Trek character. And Wilson is a dreamy human and actor. (Nerdy side note: I’m glad by the end it was clear he is CMO (and Counselor). It was starting to get a little disrespectful for our first queer doctor in Star Trek.)