Our final Star Trek: Discovery roundtable interview features Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, and Anthony Rapp. Their characters, Dr. Hugh Culber, Adira, and Paul Stamets make up our found family on the Discovery. It was such a pleasure to speak with these three, but before we get into the interview, let’s learn a little more about each of them.
Dr. Hugh Culber to Sick Bay!
There’s definitely more than one cinnamon roll in the crew of Star Trek: Discovery, but Dr. Culber is definitely a contender for the top spot. Played endearingly by Wilson Cruz, Dr. Culber’s gentleness makes him one of the sweetest characters on Discovery.
Aside from Star Trek: Discovery, you might know Wilson from several other roles in his nearly lifelong career. Wilson has roles on My So-Called Life, Party of Five, and 13 Reasons Why. While I was familiar with Wilson, Star Trek: Discovery is the first of his work that I’ve really watched. The gentleness he exudes in his role as Dr. Culber seems to come from his own personality, as he was a total sweetheart in this interview.
Adira, the Human Trill
Adira has their work cut out for them this season. Knowing that they’re not imagining Gray’s presence is a relief, but how will that play out in real life? We know Hugh has seen Gray, but what about everyone else? Will the rest of Trill accept Adira, the first permanent human host, as the Trill High Council did? Blu del Barrio brings to life one of Star Trek’s most groundbreaking characters. This is especially compelling as Adira is Blu’s very first screen acting role.
Adira’s search for family and understanding is especially dear to me and I’m very excited to see their story play out this season.
Paul Stamets–Navigator of the Mushroom Super Highway
Stamets, in my opinion, showed some of the greatest character growth this past season of Star Trek: Discovery. Watching him come into his own as a father to Adira, softening his often brusque presence with other members of the crew, and becoming a better partner to Hugh was very emotionally satisfying to watch.
Anthony Rapp’s performance is to be commended, especially considering Paul’s ego grated on me a bit in earlier seasons. And when I say “grated,” I don’t mean that negatively! Anthony somehow made Paul, who’s brilliant, but a bit arrogant, still somehow likable! I’m quite excited to watch him grow further in season 4.
Aside from playing Paul Stamets on Star Trek: Discovery, Anthony has quite the “Rapp sheet” of a resume.
Anthony has been acting since he was a child, with his first role being in Adventures in Babysitting. He also had roles in Twister, A Beautiful Mind, and is probably best known for his leading role as Mark Cohen in Rent.
Now that you’ve learned a little more about our interviewees, let’s get to the actual interview!
Thank you very much to the folks at Paramount and ViacomCBS for inviting Fangirlish to participate in these interviews! A big thank you to Wilson, Blu, and Anthony for their time and thoughtful responses. I can’t wait to watch all of you in season 4.
Star Trek: Discovery is coming soon! Make sure you stay tuned here at Fangirlish where I’ll be reviewing each episode of Disco, along with each new season of all the Star Trek series.
Season 4 of Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on November 18, 2021, on Paramount+.