Star Trek: Discovery Gets Its First Cast Members

Star Trek: Discovery, which saw its creator Bryan Fuller step down as showrunner last month, has its first bit of casting news, and it seems to be following in his vision.

Doug Jones, probably best known for his work with Guillermo Del Toro in Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth playing gross monsters, will be playing Lt. Saru, a Science Officer and new alien species, presumably continuing his tradition of being buried under prosthetics and makeup.

Anthony Rapp, best known for his stage work, like his role in Rent, will be playing Lt. Stamets, who is also a Science Officer aboard the Starship Shenzhou, specializing in astromycology, the study of fungus in space. Rapp, who identifies as queer, will be playing the first Star Trek character conceived and announced as gay, as Fuller promised.

And finally, as rumors have been saying for a while, Michelle Yeoh will play Captain Georgiou. She’ll be the franchise’s first Asian captain and its first woman of color captain, though, for the first time in Star Trek history, the captain won’t be the series’ main character. As previously reported, Fuller and showrunners Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts are having difficulty finding an actress to play the lead.

With Star Trek: Discovery’s airdate in May 2017 fast approaching, expect to see more cast announcements—including that lead role—roll in soon.