Tawny Newsome was already a huge fan of Star Trek before she was cast as Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated comedy which came to a close after five seasons last month. Newsome believes it was her love of the franchise that helped her get the job on Lower Decks. In an interview with Television Academy, Newsome talked about how series creator, Mike McMahan, asked her to "riff about Star Trek" during her audition. Newsome ended up talking about Deanna Troi's [Marina Sirtis] ball gowns on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
But as much as she knew about Star Trek and all of its iterations, when it came to the Easter eggs in Lower Decks, she didn't know all about them. But her lack of knowledge only pushed her to know more, and she was constantly looking up information. Sometimes, that involved calling McMahan or doing some research on her own, and Newsome says "it really deepened my fandom, because looking up the reference wasn't enough."
Now Newsome is bringing her knowledge and the new information she acquired to the writing room for Starfleet Academy. In addition, she and Justin Simien are working on developing a Star Trek workplace comedy which came from her love of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
As a fan, there was one moment that really raised the bar for Newsome, and that was her live-action appearance as Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "These Old Scientists." It was a powerful moment for Newsome to be on a live series, and Jack Quaid, who portrayed her partner-in-crime, Brad Boimler, recognized it. Newsome said "And Jack could sense I was feeling a way about it all, and he just squeezed my hand. He was like, "Hey, just take a second. I know this is a really big deal for you, especially since you've been a lifelong fan. I hope you're taking this in.' And I was like — just absolute waterworks. That was a good day."