Star Trek: Discovery‘s Sonequa Martin-Green was recently praised by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Nana Visitor, who indicated that she expects great things from Martin-Green in the near future. Visitor played Major Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine for all seven seasons of the show, while Martin-Green leads Discovery as Captain Michael Burnham. Both women have left an indelible mark on the Star Trek franchise, with Michael being the first Black female Captain to lead a series and Kira revolutionizing the standards of how a female character was portrayed in Star Trek, especially in the franchise’s popular 1990s era.
During TrekTalks 3, a series of live-streamed Star Trek panels that raised money for the Hollywood Food Coalition, Nana Visitor was interviewed by Tamia Harper. Visitor discussed her upcoming book Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trek, a project exploring the scope of what the franchise has done for women. Visitor talked to a wide range of people during her research for the book, including Sonequa Martin-Green. The Deep Space Nine actor nothing but good things to say about her impressions of Martin-Green when asked. Read Visitor’s quote and watch her full panel at timestamp 6:57:19 below:
“I do believe these young women now, like Sonequa Martin-Green, I completely expect to see her running an empire one of these days. Creatively, I think she could have a lot going on, because she truly walks her talk. I was talking to all the women before I talked to her on her show, and I was like ‘What? They all love her so much. Does she pay them? This is weird. Did they drink the Kool-Aid and now they all think that she’s, y’know?’ And then I spoke to her, and she is thoughtful, she looks at herself, she’s ready to wonder if it’s her or what’s going on, honest, deep… I am blown away by that young woman, and I expect great things of her. And she’s one of the people now that I am rooting for in the industry.”
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How Michael Burnham Carries On The Legacy Of Kira Nerys
Aside from Visitor’s words of praise, Michael Burnham and Kira Nerys have some important things in common. Earlier in her TrekTalks panel, Visitor discussed the importance of Kira as a character, stating that she felt as though Kira was allowed to explore and express her emotions in a way that other characters she had played before weren’t. Visitor pointed out that, even though Kira was Bajoran, she demonstrated “the full spectrum of human emotions” during her time on Deep Space Nine, and was not forced into a smaller, more socially acceptable box like so many female characters of the era.
Visitor’s statements about Kira are all completely true, and also apply to Michael on Star Trek: Discovery. Although female characters are less boxed in on modern television, there are still unspoken rules about when they should display emotions or how they are allowed to act. Like Kira, Michael is an emotionally driven character, who makes mistakes and isn’t always portrayed in a way that makes the audience like her. Showing Michael as a complicated human rather than the idealized version of a woman has not only made her a more interesting character but has helped carry on Kira Nerys’ legacy.
