Star Trek: Discovery Cast Reveals Who Cried The Most Over Season 5 Being The Last [SXSW]

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 kicked off its farewell tour by premiering the first 2 episodes on April 4, with “Under the Twin Moons” seeing Saru in particular embark on his final away mission for the USS Discovery. As the first Star Trek property of the streaming era, Discovery has boldly paved the way for the myriad of shows fans enjoy today, from animated fare such as Lower Decks to alternate histories such as Strange New Worlds.

Sonequa Martin-Green has served as leading lady and captain of Star Trek: Discovery for 5 seasons, taking Michael Burnham from a prisoner for mutiny to a beloved leader of her crew. While new characters abound, the final season focuses on several fan favorites, including Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Blu Del Barrio, David Ajala, and Mary Wiseman.

Screen Rant interviewed the crew members of USS Discovery while at SXSW, where they reminisced about their character arcs, Star Trek‘s legacy, and the tears they shed saying farewell to their family on and off set.

Thanks For The Star Trek: Discovery Memories

Screen Rant: Congrats on season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery. Wilson teased that, “This is going to end on a high note.”

Wilson Cruz: Yes, I’ve said it. If this was the season that we were going to have to end on, I’m glad that we ended on a high note. I do think it’s one of our strongest seasons, if not our strongest.

Doug Jones: It seems like every season we filmed so far has had a conclusion to it that’s like, “Hmm, is that the end of the series?” And we come back for more. This time felt the same-ish, but then getting to come back and do a little epilogue shoot once we found out it was the last season really does give you a sense of, “Okay, that’s a satisfying, series conclusion.”

This has been one of the most warmly received Star Trek properties of all time, and for good reason. You guys are going to be so sorely missed, let me tell you. Now that we’re kind of looking back on things and celebrating the legacy of the series. Tell us your favorite thing about playing these characters.

Sonequa Martin-Green: My goodness. Something that I’ve said a lot in this most recent press run for the final season is that character evolution is a tenet of our story. It’s a cornerstone of Star Trek: Discovery, and I think it’s one of the special things; one of the sacred things that we offer to the franchise. You get to see these people become who they’re meant to be; who they’re destined to be. You get to see them become the heroes that the world needs – really, that the universe needs.

That character evolution was mirrored in my own life. I praise God for the growth that He took me through using Star Trek: Discovery, and using my relationships with these gorgeous people and the relationships in the story as well. From making television history twice, to being a producer, to being an executive producer. It’s been a huge transformation. The growth, the height and the depth and the width and the breadth is astounding.

Mary Wiseman: My favorite thing about playing Tilly is the friendship between Tilly and Burnham. It’s very beautiful to me, and I love it. Our real-life friendship is very dear to me, and we bring that to all of our scenes with each other. We have a lot of love and tenderness for each other. We’re just two little girls in adult women’s bodies. We love and celebrate and protect those little girls.

Blu del Barrio: I think that I, very much opposite to you guys, was not a little girl trapped in a young woman’s body. I’m very happy that I got to portray that and bring so much of my own life into Adira and into that character. I love acting, and I’ve always done it because it’s given me a place to escape. This was one of the first times where I was asked and encouraged to bring more of myself into a character and a person and a human being. And that was terrifying but also the most rewarding thing in the world. Seeing what that’s done and hearing from people has made all of it worth it. I sort of transitioned in front of the world, and that was terrifying. But it was so, so worth it – and this is my family. Very, very, very hard F family.

David Ajala: My favorite thing? It was the costume. I remember seeing y’all Starfleet guys and what you had to wear and thinking, “Oh hell no, I can’t do it”. And then I saw the costume I got, which was very free-flowing. I had pockets. It was quite fashionable. Gersha Phillips. House of Gersha. Yeah, that was glorious.

And then also, getting to film in Iceland [with Sonequa Martin-Green]. That was special. I really, really, really enjoyed that. That was such a gift. Such a gift, right? So that’s one of my favorite moments, for sure.

Wilson Cruz: It’s hard for me to really encapsulate what this character has meant for me, but first and foremost, he’s reminded me that we are all owners of our own lives. At any given moment, we can decide, “You know what? This isn’t working for me. This relationship isn’t working for me, or this career.” We can reinvent ourselves at any given moment, and if our life isn’t living up to our expectations, we can do something about it and create the life that we believe we deserve.

He has allowed me as an actor to imagine the best version of myself, who I would be if I really allowed myself to live up to my potential. He’s inspired that in me and allowed me to imagine who that person would be. How can I best support the people I love and who love me and return that love? That’s really what he’s given me. It’s been a gift.

Also, I’ve realized how good I look in white, so I will take that with me.

Doug Jones: I am very happy with the growth of Saru and having gone on a journey with him, from being a fearful Kelpien who lived in fear and anxiety, to losing all that and having confidence and courage and also growing a warm empathy for other beings.

He’s more of a hugger now than he ever was in season 1. Now he’s a face cupper, and one who can share relationships – to the point where he now has a romantic love of his own. Seeing that whole metamorphosis of Saru has been a journey for me that’s been great.

Hearing people come back to me, the fans that have watched the show, and say, “This anxiety thing, the path that you’ve been on and getting over it, has really helped me.” Personally, I’ve dealt with anxiety all my life, and I’m fearful of what I can’t see around the corner. If Saru can get through it, so can I. He’s been a life lesson for me.

Sonequa Martin-Green: Each one of these actors is one of the most brilliant actors I’ve ever worked with. And having the connections that I’ve had with each of you – we’ve all had so many beautiful moments together on this show.

Being able to create the stories that we’ve created together, being able to witness these people and the rest of our cast and our crew, and just being able to see people doing what they’re doing? Being able to have all those special moments that each of us have will also be my absolute favorite thing because the art, man, is on another level with these people and this show. It’s on another level. And what a blessing.

What’s Next For Discovery’s Book And Burnham?

Speaking of connections, Burnham and Book are the Ross and Rachel of Star Trek, basically. Will they or will they not? They went their separate ways at the end of season 4, but tease where we’re going to find them in season 5.

David Ajala: Well, it is no secret that at the end of season 4, though the love is abundant, the relationship is fractured. And that’s a hard thing to embrace. There was a line in season 5, episode 1, where after the adventure we have a moment of quiet. Then Burnham says, “I feel odd because I don’t know how to be around you anymore.” And that was such a heartbreaking, simple line, which just reflected their relationship and where it was.

But then throughout the season, I believe that these guys are always constantly offering each other olive branches to just build a healthy reconciliation. Love perseveres, man. Love is powerful. It really is. And I’m very grateful that we get to share our story. I ain’t trying to get in trouble here.

No Star Trek Tears Left To Cry

Just picking up on the beautiful dynamic among you guys, I would imagine it was very bittersweet to end this series. What can you say about those last days on set?

Mary Wiseman: Unbelievable. Okay, here we go. I think the weirdest thing about it [was that] we had one bridge day, which was cool. And it just felt like all the millions of bridge days that we’ve had; all the joking and being ridiculous, and those are my favorite moments. Those days could be really daunting, but it was a party when everybody was on that set facing something down. The moments in between setups could just be so deliriously fun and full of love. And then you have the deepest conversations of your life.

All of that happened, then “When’s lunch” and all of this, and then at the end it’s just over. It was strange. Endings are so weird to comprehend. It doesn’t really make sense. It takes time to be like, “Oh yeah, it’s over.”

But Wilson reminded me that you clap people out at the end of a season. Sonequa, I think you led the clapping out. I remember just sitting there being so cool. You can tell I’m a pretty cool customer. But she said my name, and I just exploded with tears and spit. I was just like… It was really weird. And even now it feels like a process of being like, “Oh yeah, it’s over”. But it’s lovely.

Doug Jones: My last day on set, we had a scene. I won’t say what it was that was happening, but [Sonequa] comes up to me, and we had an interaction that was not going to be any dialogue at all. And she whispered every time, “I love you”, and I whispered back, “I love you” every time. We did take after take after take, and before long, I’m getting warbly. And she came up to me and said, “I could do this all day. I love you.”

That just summed up, honestly, my time on the show with all of you.

The love among this cast is so beautiful to witness. I was going to ask who cried the hardest, but I feel like…

Sonequa Martin-Green: We all cried. You, [Doug].

Doug Jones: No, it was you, Sonequa.

Sonequa Martin-Green: They right. They right.

Mary Wiseman: We all cried.

Wilson Cruz: I will say, I think on the call that we had when we were first told about the fact that the show’s ending, I think I took the prize.

Doug Jones: On that day. Yes, you did, you did, you did.

Wilson Cruz: To the point where people felt like they needed to call me after the call, “You going to be all right?” I’m fine. I’m fine. I just have a lot of feelings. I’m an actor. I have all of them.

Star Trek: Discovery Has Left Its Indelible Mark On The Franchise

This series was groundbreaking in so many different ways. This is for whoever wants to take it, but when it comes to the legacy of this show, what are you guys proudest of?

Wilson Cruz: Before I hand it over to Sonequa, I feel like when you look at every character on the show, every single one of us was given a second chance. We either failed at something, or died, or whatever it was that we were afforded a second chance to become our best version of ourselves. And I hope that people take that with them, that nothing is set in stone.

You are the author of your own book, of your own story. You can take charge of it at any given moment and make your life exactly what you need it to be. But you have to choose that. You have to choose life. You have to choose to love it. You have to choose the people in your life who you know will support you, and love you through it that you can love in return. Those are all choices. We have to make those choices over and over again.

Sonequa Martin-Green: Preach. You better preach. I think one of our legacies is that we went boldly, don’t y’all think? It’s like we went boldly into a new Trek. We brought Trek back to TV, we launched a streaming platform. People call this the new Latinum age. We became the mothership of a whole new Trek expansion. So many characters were able to come back. So many alumni from previous iterations have been able to come back, and now new people have been able to come into the world of this beautiful franchise.

And then also we went into hyper serialization. We told our story as a novel in chapters. Trek had never done it to that extent before. We went above and beyond with our diversity. We broke barriers. We broke through the glass ceiling. We made television history. And then we built this beautiful show family. We were joking about it earlier, but it’s true, we did it together. You know what I mean?

I feel that we went boldly into this story. We went boldly into the world. We went boldly together. And I praise God for it. And I pray that that is part of the legacy that we leave behind. I know legacy doesn’t get decided until well after the fact, so we can’t really speak on what our legacy is going to be. We know what we hope it to be, but we can speak on it maybe 10 years from now. But we at least hope that’s part of it.

Check out our other Star Trek: Discovery interviews here:

• Sonequa Martin-Green
• Doug Jones & David Ajala
• Alex Kurtzman & Michelle Paradise
• Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman & Blu del Barrio

Source: Screen Rant Plus