Penny Johnson Jerald stars as Dr. Claire Finn on The Orville: New Horizons.
The Orville: New Horizons was created by Seth MacFarlane, a man known for his good sense of humor and his great writing skills, both of which he combined when writing the first season of The Orville, which focused a lot on humor. Though the series has moved on to more serious topics now, behind-the-scenes remains a place where, according to an interview Trekmovie had with Penny Johnson Jerald, other people can contribute to what’s going on and even talk about ideas. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to have been the case with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Jerald said that there were no conversations on Deep Space Nine. They showed up and did the work, and that was that. Fortunately for her and the rest of the actors, the set of The Orville isn’t as rigid as what it was on Deep Space Nine.
"And so it wasn’t as rigid as it was on Deep Space Nine. On Deep Space Nine there was no conversation. The only conversation I would have with Deep Space Nine was with me and Avery [Brooks] talking about our scenes and our beats. We were these thespian actors talking on a level like that. But it was nothing about how much fun we were having behind the cameras and things like that. We had great chemistry, but we did the work. So the big difference is the environment in which we were working."
Penny Johnson Jerald says The Orville is most like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
This season, The Orville: New Horizons veered off onto a path that focuses more on serious storytelling and less on humor. It deals with topics that we face in every day life. But though things on the set of Deep Space Nine were a little different than her current job, Jerald says that, “out of all the Star Treks, it is the only one that dealt with issues similar to The Orville. The human existence and how people are feeling. And also this is truly an ensemble piece.”
While it doesn’t sound like Jerald was unhappy with her time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it does sound like she’s extremely happy to be where she is now.