The actor behind Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s most outlandish character is speaking on just how much trouble her makeup gives her. Even among Star Trek characters, Lura Thok stands out. The often brutal instructor is a Jem’Hadar-Klingon hybrid, meaning one extremely complex makeup job. Speaking to Syfy Wire, Gina Yashere shared how she wasn’t quite prepared for how elaborate the makeup would be. The actress said:
“Well, my costume is a lot more work [laughs] than anybody else’s, cuz I have the full prosthetic. It's a very long process. It's three hours to put it on, an hour to take it off. And it’s ah, it's glued to my skin. It's several different pieces. Also, it was silicon and it didn’t breathe. So after 16 hours wearing it, they take the top headpiece off at the end of the day and a waterfall of sweat would cascade, because it just didn't breathe. It just held every bit of moisture in there. There was no where for it to evaporate.”
It makes sense that this is a complex make-up job, as Klingons and Jem’Hadar are two of the most elaborate makeups in all of Star Trek lore, so combining them can be a nightmare. One only needs to watch an episode to understand how Yashere went through an ordeal to play this character.