TV Interview!
Interview with actors Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, David Ajala, Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman, and Blu del Barrio; and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise of “Star Trek: Discovery” on Paramount+ by Suzanne 3/10/24
This was so much fun! I’m a huge Trekkie (since the 60s!), so it was great to speak to these actors on this press roundtable. I’m sad that the show is ending, but it’s an exciting last season. You don’t want to miss it. FINAL SEASON STREAMING APRIL 4!
One note: One of the interviewers is edited out because she kept asking spoiler questions. I might put her back in after the season is over, if I have time.
Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham)
Doug Jones (Saru) and David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker)
Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), and Blu del Barrio (Adira)
Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise (co-showrunners/EPs)
MORE INFO: Official Site Trailer
The fifth and final season of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY season five stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Saru, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala as Cleveland “Book” Booker, Blu del Barrio as Adira, and Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner. Season five also features recurring guest stars’ Elias Toufexis as L’ak and Eve Harlow as Moll.
The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers. Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise serve as co-showrunners.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY seasons one through four are currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the U.K., Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons two and three are also available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
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AVAILABILITY: |
Premieres April 2024 on Paramount+ in the U.S. and international territories. |
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FORMAT: |
Action/Sci-Fi (Filmed in HD) |
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STARRING: |
Sonequa Martin-Green |
(Captain Michael Burnham) |
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Doug Jones | (Saru) |
| Anthony Rapp | (Paul Stamets) | |
| Mary Wiseman | (Sylvia Tilly) | |
| Wilson Cruz | (Dr. Hugh Culber) | |
| David Ajala | (Cleveland “Book” Booker) | |
| Blu del Barrio
Callum Keith Rennie |
(Adira)
(Rayner) |
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| RECURRING GUEST STARS: | Elias Toufexis
Eve Harlow
Tig Notaro
David Cronenberg |
(L’ak)
(Moll)
(Cmdr. Jett Reno)
(Kovich) |
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PRODUCED BY: |
CBS Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment |
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EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: CO- SHOWRUNNERS: |
Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth
Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise |
Sonequa Martin-Green
Sonequa Martin-Green is a versatile actress who continues to evolve her impressive body of work with ground-breaking, complex roles and memorable performances across television, film and the stage.
Martin-Green will next be seen in Warner Brothers’ “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” starring alongside LeBron James and Don Cheadle. The film is a sequel to the 1996 film “Space Jam,” the highest-grossing basketball movie of all time.
Most recently, she starred in “The Outside Story,” a Brooklyn-based indie comedy-drama led by Brian Tyree Henry. “Billions” actor Asia Kate Dillon, Sunita Mani (“Glow”), Olivia Edward (“Better Things”) and Michael Cyril Creighton (“Spotlight”) also co-starred in the film, the directorial debut of writer/director Casimir Nozkowski. She also appeared in Netflix’s 2019 holiday film, “Holiday Rush.”
Martin-Green is widely known for her turn on AMC’s critically acclaimed, award-winning series “The Walking Dead,” where she captivated audiences in the role of the fierce and loyal Sasha Williams across five seasons. Additionally, she has taken many guest and recurring roles in fan-favorite television series. Most recently, she played prankster Rhonda on FOX’s “New Girl,” anti-magic Tamara on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time”and aspiring paralegal Courtney Wells on CBS’ Emmy and Golden Globe-winning drama “The Good Wife.” She has also been featured in the CBS cop drama “NYC 22,” Lifetime’s “Army Wives” and the CW’s “Gossip Girl.”
Previously, Martin-Green received rave reviews for her starring role in Emily Abt’s Sundance hit “Toe To Toe,” in which she played Tosha Spinner, a highly driven inner-city high school teenager. She was also featured in Victoria Mahoney’s film “Yelling to the Sky”alongside Gabourey Sidibe and Zoe Kravitz.
On stage, she is best known for her critically acclaimed performances in Des McAnuff’s “Fetch Clay Make Man,” where she starred as Muhammad Ali’s first wife, Sonji Clay. She also starred in off-Broadway’s “Outside People” at New York City’s Vineyard Theatre.
Martin-Green currently resides in Los Angeles, Calif.
Doug Jones
While famous for working under prosthetics in iconic feature film roles, Doug Jones is also a versatile character actor who has performed as himself in guest star roles on shows like “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Teen Wolf,” “Z-Nation,” “The Neighbors,” “Criminal Minds,” “C.S.I.” and NBC’s horror anthology “Fear Itself.” A veteran of over 100 commercials, Doug was Mac Tonight, the moon-headed piano player in the long-running 1990s McDonald’s campaign. He also starred as the lead villain in “Hush,” an Emmy-winning episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” long considered a fan favorite. Doug was also a semi-regular guest judge on the hit SyFy Net reality series “Face Off.”
In 2005 he played the title role of Pan (as well as the nightmare character known as The Pale Man) in Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning Spanish language fantasy/horror feature “Pan’s Labyrinth.” But it was his sensitive and elegant performance as Abe Sapien in del Toro’s 2004 box office hit “Hellboy” that brought Doug’s unique work to a wider audience. He went on to voice that same character for the Emmy-nominated Cartoon Network animations “Hellboy: Sword of Storms” and “Hellboy: Blood and Iron.” In 2007 Doug’s title role performance in “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” was hailed by fans and critics alike. 2008 saw Doug reprise his starring role (as well as two other characters) in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” once more under the direction of del Toro. He also starred in “Gainsbourg,” a stylized biopic of the famous French poet/singer/composer Serge Gainsbourg, in which he plays Gainsbourg’s dark alter ego. The film has won three Cesar Awards. Doug has also had prominent creature roles in “Crimson Peak,” “The Watch,” “The Bye Bye Man,” “Legion,” “Hocus Pocus” and many others.
Jones was a series regular on three seasons of TNT’s Spielberg-produced sci-fi series “Falling Skies” and recurred on Guillermo del Toro’s FX series “The Strain.” Upcoming, Jones will star opposite Sally Hawkins in del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.”
David Ajala
David Ajala most recently recurred on the CW’s “Supergirl” as iconic DC character Manchester Black, and starred in Syfy’s TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s 1980 novella Nightflyers. Past film credits include “The Fast & The Furious,” “Jupiter Ascending,” and “Starred Up”; past television credits include ABC’s “Black Box” opposite Kelly Reilly and USA’s “Falling Water.”
Ajala also appeared in the indie film “Kill Command.” Additional notable credits include “One Day,” starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale and “Payback Season.”
Appearing in a wide range of television roles, Ajala was a rapper in the television series “Trexx and Flipside,” in addition to major guest roles in award-winning shows such as “Law & Order: UK,” “Death in Paradise,” “Silent Witness” and the wildly popular “Dr. Who.”
Ajala began his career performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Courtyard Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon. He’s performed in productions of “The Witness,” “Hamlet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” among others at The National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre and The Almeida Theatre.
Wilson Cruz
Triple threat, award-winning actor, activist, “actorvist” and humanitarian are just a few terms used to describe Wilson Cruz. He appeared on the Netflix series “Thirteen Reasons Why” and in Hulu’s breakthrough GLAAD Award-winning original animated kids’ series “The Bravest Knight.” He is also the executive producer of the critically lauded docuseries called “Visible: Out On Television” airing on Apple TV+.
In 1994 Cruz won the hearts of audiences across the world and forever changed the LBGT landscape playing the first openly gay teenager on network television in his award-winning performance as Rickie Vasquez on the hit ABC series “My So Called Life”. His seminal and critically acclaimed performance celebrated its 25th anniversary in August 2019. “My So Called Life” was honored with the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Drama, and Cruz received the Emery S. Hetrick Award from the Hetrick-Martin Institute for Outstanding Contributions to LGBTQ Youth for his contribution. Cruz is also known for starring as Angel in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical “Rent” in its West Coast premiere which earned him both the Ovation and Drama Logue awards before his reprisal of the role on Broadway.
Always a trailblazer, Cruz is recognized for playing one of TVʼs first transgender characters in an Emmy-nominated episode of “Ally McBeal” and gave a heart-rendering performance as part of a gay couple fighting for marriage equality on “Greyʼs Anatomy.” Other TV credits include: “Red Band Society” starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, “Party of Five” (ALMA Award for Outstanding Emerging Actor), “Rick and Steve,” “The Happiest Gay Couple in the World,” “Shameless,” “The West Wing,” “Noahʼs Arc,” “Pushing Daisies” and more. Film credits include memorable roles in “Heʼs Just Not That into You,” “Nixon, Party Monster,” “Johns,” “All Over Me” and “After Louie,” with Alan Cumming. During the pandemic, he created a series called “What’s Up with Wilson Cruz” as a way to stay connected to fans and participated in numerous benefits to raise money for charity.
As an “actorvist,” Cruz has received the Rand Schrader Distinguished Achievement Award from the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center, the Liberty Award from Lambda Legal, the Visibilidad Award from GLAAD, the Fusion Achievement Award from Outfest, the Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Entertainment and Advocacy from the California Latino Legislative Caucus, the Harvey Milk Equality Award, the Lincoln Aston Public Service Award, Aston-Brooks Award and the Advocate Award from AdColor. He served as the director of entertainment industry partnerships and national spokesperson for GLAAD, currently serves on the board of GLSEN and devotes considerable time supporting other LBGTQ organizations as well. Wilson is a first generation American of Puerto Rican descent.
Mary Wiseman
After graduating from Juilliard, Mary Wiseman quickly went on to star opposite Keira Knightley in the Broadway production of “Therese Raquin.”
She was recently seen in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” opposite Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson.
Other television credits include the Netflix series “Longmire” and “The Characters” as well as Hulu’s “Difficult People.” She also appeared opposite Zach Galifianakis in the first two seasons of the FX series “Baskets.”
Other theater credits include starring in the world premiere of “Romance Novels for Dummies” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Prior to that, she starred in the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s production of “Off the Main Road” opposite Kyra Sedgwick, in the off-Broadway, Obie Award-winning production of “An Octoroon,” in which her performance was described as “delicious” and “comically inspired” and the off-Broadway production of “The Skin of Our Teeth” at the Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn.
Blu del Barrio
Blu del Barrio is a non-binary actor who uses they/them pronouns. Del Barrio was in their final year of studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) when they auditioned for and booked the role of Adira. Blu has been acting in theater and short films since the age of 7, and they’re incredibly excited to make their television acting debut in season three of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY.
Proofread and Edited by Brenda
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