Sonequa Martin-Green cast as 'Star Trek' protagonist as franchise diversity continues
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Actress Sonequa Martin-Green will portray the protagonist in CBS鈥檚 upcoming 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series 鈥淪tar Trek: Discovery,鈥� continuing the franchise鈥檚 past diversity.聽
Ms. Martin-Green, who stars on the massively successful AMC show 鈥淭he Walking Dead,鈥� will reportedly portray a lieutenant commander on the U.S.S. Discovery. Unlike past 鈥淭rek鈥� shows, the upcoming CBS program will not center on the captain.
Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh of 鈥淐rouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon鈥� will portray a starship captain. Actors including Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp have also been cast as crew members, and actors including Chris Obi have signed on to play Klingons.
Bryan Fuller, who created or worked on programs including the ABC show "Pushing Daisies"聽and NBC's "Hannibal,"聽co-created "Discovery" and was set to be the showrunner, but has since left that role. However, Mr. Fuller had spoken in the past about his wishes for the protagonist, who will now be played by African-American actress Martin-Green. "'Star Trek' started with a wonderful expression of diversity in its cast,"聽 earlier this year. " 鈥ur lead of the show is going to be subject of that same level of who's the best actor and also what can we say about diversity on the show. We haven't cast her yet, so we don't know what level of diversity she will be, but that's forefront in our minds."
Including racial diversity and having women in central roles has been part of 鈥淭rek鈥� from the very beginning, with actress Nichelle Nichols portraying Lieutenant Uhura on the original 1960s TV show and later films, and actor George Takei playing Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.
Later 鈥淭rek鈥� shows had an African-American captain (Avery Brooks) and a female one (Kate Mulgrew).聽
Many critics are now praising those behind 鈥淒iscovery鈥� for its casting decisions so far. "'Star Trek' has always been about acceptance and inclusivity,"聽 wrote of the latest casting news. "It just makes sense that this latest iteration of the franchise would reflect those themes."
Meanwhile, wrote of recent casting announcements, "'Star Trek: Discovery' will showcase the kind of diversity we would hope for in the future."
