Star Trek: Discovery casts first nonbinary, transgender characters in franchise history
Star Trek is now going where no non-cis man has gone before.
Discovery, CBS All Access’ space series, has cast two new characters for its upcoming third season that will make Star Trek history as the first nonbinary and transgender characters in Gene Roddenberry’s iconic series.
Blu del Barrio, making their television acting debut, will play Adira, a “highly intelligent with a confidence and self-assurance well beyond their years” who forms an “unexpected bond” with Lt. Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), CBS announced Wednesday.
Ian Alexander (The OA) has been cast as Gray, who is “empathetic, warm and eager to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a Trill host, but he will have to adapt when his life takes an unexpected turn.”
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“Star Trek has always made a mission of giving visibility to underrepresented communities because it believes in showing people that a future without division on the basis of race, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation is entirely within our reach,” Michelle Paradise, co-showrunner and executive producer, said in a statement.
“We take pride in working closely with Blu del Barrio, Ian Alexander and Nick Adams at GLAAD to create the extraordinary characters of Adira and Gray, and bring their stories to life with empathy, understanding, empowerment and joy.”
del Barrio and Alexander join a cast including Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, David Ajala and Michelle Yeoh.
The third season of Star Trek: Discovery is set to premiere on October 15 in the US.
The show streams on Netflix in New Zealand.
- New York Daily News
Source: www.stuff.co.nz