Star trek: discovery
On set with pre-KirK series star treK: DiscOvery…
Boldly going on set of the latest prequel series destined for Netflix.
Ever found the perfect chair? Small Screen has. Not too big. Not too small. Comfortably padded. On the bridge of a Federation starship. While warming it up for Jason Isaacs – aka Gabriel Lorca, captain of Star Trek: Discovery’s titular vessel – we consider pressing one of three silver buttons on the armrest… then picture photon torpedoes firing, and decide to concentrate instead on perfecting a seating stance. Slightly side on, one knee thrusting forward, determined expression?
Later, we ask the actor himself for some tips. “As much as I can, I stand and engage with the enemy through the screen,” Isaacs says. “In 400 years’ time, material won’t wrinkle, but material that looks like it’s from 400 years’ time does! That’s one of the reasons I stand up all the time – because it was causing such stress! But also, the special forces guys I’ve met like to be at the tip of the spear.”
Some things never change in the world of Star Trek; Patrick Stewart had similar tunic troubles 30 years ago. But in key respects, Netflix’s prequel show is a break from the past. The militaristic Lorca is not the only captain – there’s also Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa
Georgiou, of the USS Shenzhou. And neither of them is the central character: that’s Sonequa Martin-Green’s xenoanthropologist Michael Burnham (the male name is a trademark touch of Bryan Fuller, who devised her).
First conFlict
Starting off as first officer on the Shenzhou, Burnham later comes under the command of Lorca – described as “a risk-taker” and “loose cannon”. Attempts to tease out the exact connection between the two ships get short shrift – producer Ted Sullivan cutting off questioning with, “It’s part of the mystery of the series.” But the cast can discuss their contrasting captains.