Star Trek: Discovery continues to build up its crew; this time adding 5 additional cast members to the shows already tremendous roster.
CBS continued its unique news campaign, this time with a casting announcement and brief description of 5 new characters in Star Trek: Discovery. The new cast includes Kenneth Mitchell, Clare McConnell, Shazad Latif, Damon Runyan and Rekha Sharma.
WARNING! POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD FOR STAR TREK: DISCOVERY!
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Kenneth Mitchell and Clare McConnel will play Commander Kol and Dennas, respectively. Additionally, Damon Runyan is cast as a key Klingon leader named Ujilli. These three new additions to the already large Klingon cast seems to indicate that the Empire is indeed Discovery’s big-bad.
Originally announced to the play the role of Commander Kol, Shazad Latif is now set to play Lt. Tyler. We didn’t receive much information regarding this character, only that he wasn’t listed as a member of the USS Discovery. Perhaps he will have a supporting role on the USS Shenzhou?
Rekha Sharma will be playing Commander Landry, the new USS Discovery security chief. This isn’t the first time we have seen a female security chief; hopefully, she won’t get killed by a tar monster. #TashaLives!
So what does this casting announcement mean?
Regular Sci-fi and fiction T.V. fans will recognize most, if not all of the names listed above. So what does that mean? Well, CBS is looking to stack its show with fan favorites and veterans from corresponding genres; no doubt looking to bring in people that might not normally watch a Trek show.
Studios will often time cast a more ‘recognizable’ actor/actress to help boost ratings and bring in a dedicated fanbase; but not to this extent. At final count, CBS is looking to pull in viewers from:
-Harry Potter (Jason Issacs)
-The Walking Dead (Sonequa Martin-Green)
-Chinese Market (Michelle Yeoh)
-Battlestar Galactica (Rekha Sharma)
-Penny Dreadful (Shazad Latif)
-Jericho (Kenneth Mitchell)
-Hellboy (Doug Jones)
-LGBT Community (Anthony Rapp)
-Gotham (James Frain)
-TV Comedy (Rainn Wilson)
That’s a lot of recognizable faces. So does this mean that CBS is banking on fan-love for these actors/actress’ or the show itself? Only time will tell.
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