CBS 'Star Trek' female lead: How show has pushed inclusiveness in past
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
鈥淪tar Trek鈥� fans were given more details on what to expect from the upcoming CBS take on the show, which will air on the TV network鈥檚 streaming service, CBS All Access.
Showrunner Bryan Fuller, who has also worked on series such as NBC鈥檚 鈥淗annibal鈥� and the upcoming Starz series 鈥淎merican Gods,鈥� said during the Television Critics Association press tour that the new show will have a female protagonist and that the main character will be a lieutenant commander.
Mr. Fuller said that this female protagonist will probably have a 鈥渓evel of diversity.鈥� If the protagonist is a woman of color, that will mark the first time a 鈥淭rek鈥� show has had a woman of color as a main character. Previously, African-American actor Avery Brooks portrayed Captain Benjamin Sisko on the 1990s 鈥淭rek鈥� TV series 鈥淒eep Space Nine.鈥澛�
鈥溾�橲tar Trek鈥� started with a wonderful expression of diversity in its cast,鈥� Fuller said, . (The original 鈥淭rek鈥� series stars Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura.) 鈥溾�ur lead of the show is going to be subject of that same level of who鈥檚 the best actor and also what can we say about diversity on the show. We haven鈥檛 cast her yet, so we don鈥檛 know what level of diversity she will be, but that鈥檚 forefront in our minds.鈥澛�
Fuller also said there will be a gay character on the program. 鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� he said.聽
Of including alien characters, he said, 鈥淲e wanted to paint a picture of Star Fleet that鈥檚 indicative of encountering people who are much more different than we are,鈥� .
鈥淭rek鈥� has often been noted for its inclusiveness, with Ms. Nichols starring in the original series and actor Walter Koenig portraying Russian Pavel Chekov on the original show as the Cold War continued in real life.
In the world of the show, races that started out as enemies like the Borg would often later be seen as part of crews. For example, the Klingon species starts as antagonists for 鈥淭rek鈥� characters, but the 1990s TV series 鈥淪tar Trek: The Next Generation鈥� includes Klingon character Worf serving as Lieutenant Commander. In addition, the Borg character Seven of Nine becomes a member of the crew in the 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series 鈥淪tar Trek: Voyager.鈥�
