COMPASSION PLAY

Michelle yeoh is philippa Georgiou, captain of the USS Shenzhou

What’s your character like?

She’s a veteran. She’s seen the horrors of war, but she has great hope for humanity. I think that was one of the reasons why Sarek put Burnham in her charge – because Michael’s human, she’s trying harder to be a Vulcan than any Vulcan. And there’s this amazing captain who anybody would follow the path of, who believes that at the end of the day, it’s humanity and compassion that will win. that it is okay to feel – and in fact, it’s very important to feel.

What’s her relationship with Burnham like?

She is her mentor. It’s really been a seven-year journey between those two, how they’ve learned to respect and love one another. It’s like best friends, or mother/ daughter – a really, really solid relationship. So much so that she believes that her first officer is ready to have her own ship. I adore Sonequa. you know how sometimes when you meet someone you can feel that chemistry right away? Straight off the block, we were just spinning around each other. It’s a love-fest! People are going to love Sonequa. She is truly not just amazing as an actress, but as a human being.

You have lots of experience with action – do you get much here?

Oh yes! I thought I’d just sit in my chair and go, “evasive manoeuvre!” But no, we had to battle it out with the Klingons. that’s not fun because they are really huge. you have to devise ways of taking them down. Now, it’s okay fighting a human being, but you can’t do that with a Klingon – I think one chop and your arm would go rolling away! So it was more of a dodgy kind of fight – getting the kicks in and beating him up in very crafty ways. It was fun!