Star Trek: Discovery Co-Creator Talks Casting Choices

Calls Yeoh "perfect for where we want to go over the course of the season and maybe even beyond."

By Jim Vejvoda

CBS announced in late November that Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones, and Anthony Rapp had been cast in Star Trek: Discovery, the forthcoming streaming series from CBS All Access.

I recently had the chance to ask Star Trek: Discovery co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman about the casting, which he says they're "very excited" about. (This interview occurred before Bryan Fuller revealed he was no longer involved with the show.)

"I will not give you one detail about the show other than to tell you that I think that Michelle gets to play a part that has so many dimensions to it and is so perfect for where we want to go over the course of the season and maybe even beyond," said Kurtzman of Yeoh's role as Captain Georgiou, the Starfleet Captain aboard the Starship Shenzhou.

Hellboy actor Jones will play Lt. Saru, a Starfleet Science Officer who belongs to an alien species new to the Star Trek universe. "Doug Jones, you know, one of the greatest. What he did in Pan's Labyrinth has embedded itself in my mind forever. So when you think about the opportunity," Kurtzman said, likening the reason for Jones' casting to that of Sofia Boutella in the title role in 2017's The Mummy, which Kurtzman is directing. "What you want to do when you're creating a creature of some kind is cast an actor who has the ability to pull off the bulk of it in a practical way and that requires a real understanding of movement. And again, Sofia's ability, because she's a dancer, she had an innate understanding. It's just in her DNA to understand how to move in that way. Doug obviously carries the same thing."

Rapp will play Lt. Stamets, the Starfleet Science Officer aboard the Starship Discovery. Kurtzman said, "I've been a fan of Anthony's for a long time. He's just a brilliant actor. It's always just about how do you find actors who are, it's always who's right for the part, but it's also there's a lovely diversity that Star Trek has always been about. As we build the cast, because there are still a lot of parts to cast, we were excited that people seemed to be so excited about our first three choices."

Star Trek: Discovery premieres May 2017 on the CBS Television Network with all subsequent episodes available in the U.S. on CBS All Access. It will be distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space Channel and CraveTV.

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