It’s a bittersweet time for us Star Trek: Discovery fans. We’ve waited three years to catch up with the mutineer-turned-commander-turned-captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Saru (Doug Jones), Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Culber (Wilson Cruz), Paul (Anthony Rapp_ and the crew of USS Discovery for the fifth season of the show, but with the new series comes its ending. Yes, after five seasons (the first of which was released back in 2017 and marked a new era of Star Trek with Star Trek Into Darkness writer Alex Kurtzman, who co-created the show with Star Trek: Voyager’s Bryan Fuller), we’ve come to the final voyage for Star Trek: Discovery.
The Discovery crew have been through a lot in those five seasons. From ever-changing captains, to spore drives and, of course, jumping 900 years into a desolate future. The new season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well…dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.
We sat down with Wilson Cruz who plays the ship’s doctor Dr. Hugh Culber about being part of the show and some of his favourite moments.
Let’s fly…
What has it been like to be part of such a trailblazing series and iconic franchise?
I mean, it was life-altering, and also completely unexpected. I was very much a Star Trek fan growing up. I feel like a lot of my values came from watching Star Trek through the years, specifically Next Gen and Patrick Stewart, who emulated leadership for me in many ways. I think there’s even a seed planted in my brain, probably somewhere where that is the epitome of leadership for me.
So to be a part of that franchise, to be part of the first queer couple as regulars on a series of Star Trek with Anthony Rapp, who’s been a part of my life for almost 30 years, has been a dream. Sometimes we actually had to take a moment on set and just remind ourselves that this was real.
So all of that, and the fact that I got to play this really epic character who went on one of the most fascinating and surprising journeys that I’ve been allowed to play, but also that seemed really unexpected.
Outside of your incredible scenes with Anthony Rapp, what have been some of your favorite moments, or relationships, or interactions on Star Trek: Discovery?
I loved this entire cast in the sense that each of them challenged me in a different way. But there was something about the scenes with Sonequa [ Martin-Green who plays Captain Burnham] that resonated deeply for me.
I think it’s because these were two people who were on parallel tracks. They were both discovering and inventing themselves as we saw them, and I think they saw a little bit of each other in each other. Those scenes were dense.
I’m thinking of specifically in Season Three when we finally meet up with her after she’s been in the future for a year, and she’s changed. Culber takes the opportunity to call her out in a sense and calls her a “responsibility hoarder”, something that he himself is, but can see it in her and calls her out in the most Culber-esque kind of way. She feels challenged, but also seen in that moment too, and it’s really lovely.
So it kind of changed their dynamic in a lot of ways. We see these two people in the beginning of Season Three really come into their own and the jump to the future afforded them in that opportunity.
Star Trek is known for its crossover episodes. If you could pick any season of Star Trek for Culber to be in, what would it be and what character would you be excited to see him in a scene with?
To satisfy the 16 year old in me, I would love to show up in Next Gen and be called on by Crusher to assist her in some major medical emergency.
But also Deanna Troi. I mean, when I think about Culber, in many ways, he’s a combination of those two characters, because he’s also the counselor. There was a sense of empathy in Deanna Troi. There are so many people! I also want to sit at the bar with Whoopi, with Guinan, and shoot the shit. Any opportunity to be with Whoopi Goldberg for me would be life altering. So many choices! Working with Sir Patrick Stewart? I mean, come on, yeah! So I would want to be in Next Gen.
Every Star Trek captain has their own saying when going to warp. If Culber ever made captain, what do you think his sign-off would be?
That is a hard one because you know when they come up with that stuff, I feel like they sit in that writer’s room for days!
In Puerto Rico, we have a saying which means ‘to move forward’, and it’s kind of like a cry of taking charge of your future, of moving forward. It’s a combination of two words: para adelante, and we say pa’lante. Pa’lante means to move forward, so I would say pa’lante!
Star Trek: Discovery The Final Season is out now
