Sonequa Martin-Green reveals her Vulcan connection in Star Trek: Discovery

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

It feels as though we've been waiting for Star Trek: Discovery for years, but after many delays, the upcoming CBS series has finally nailed down a release date. Much of the series is still cloaked in mystery and the first trailer only added to our questions, such as the nature of Michael Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) relationship with Sarak (James Frain), the father of Spock. Some had speculated that Sonequa Martin-Green's character may have some Vulcan heritage, but in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Green set the record straight.

Although Michael Burnham does have ties to the Vulcan's, she is actually fully human. Her close relationship with Sarek stems from being the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center as a child and then the Vulcan Science Academy as a young woman. In addition to Sarek, Sonequa Martin-Green also teased that we'll be seeing Amanda Grayson, Spock's human mother, as well.

I have the Vulcan conflict in my life from Sarek and Amanda so there’s always going to be that inner conflict with me. But I think it’s relatable because we all have some kind of inner conflict going on — who we are versus who we present ourselves to be. There’s a lot to be discovered.

When Star Trek: Disovery kicks off, Michael Burnham will have served on the U.S.S. Shenzhou for the past seven years. "I’m the first officer on the U.S.S. Shenzhou that is captained by Captain Philippa Georgiou, who is played by the amazing Michelle Yeoh," Green says. "I have an inner war and it’s a journey of self discovery and finding out what it means to be alive, to be human, to be a Starfleet officer, what it means to be a hero." Searching for an actor who could successfully pull off the divided nature of Michael Burnham wound up taking quite some time, but co-showrunner Aaron Haberts is grateful that they were able to land Sonequa Martin-Green in the end.

We read a lot of people and they either went way too robotic or and chilly or way too emotional. What’s beautiful about Sonequa’s performance is she’s capable of playing two, three, four things at once. She’s got such a great command of her craft, she’s able to be aloof but warm; logical but able to surrender her emotional side to the audience.

Nailing down the cast wasn't the only thing which kept pushing back the release of Star Trek: Discovery, showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg told EW that building an enormous sci-fi world from scratch proved to be a bit of a challenge.

There’s is so much artistry and custom craftsmanship that go into every prop, every costume, every set. These things have to be designed and manufactured. We flew a costume designer to Switzerland to pick up the fabric for the Starfleet uniforms. Several items on our uniforms are 3D printed. Some of our sets can take over six weeks to make. CBS has given us the time and the money to make something the fans will find worthwhile.

Star Trek: Discovery will debut on CBS on September 24, 2017 before moving to CBS All Access.