CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery announced the addition of Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander to the cast of the series. Alexander will portray Star Trek’s first transgender character while del Barrio will play the first non-binary main character in the franchise’s history.
Both del Barrio and Alexander will make their first appearances in the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Discovery, which is scheduled to debut in October 2020. Alexander, an out trans actor, will play a transgender Trill character named Gray after previously portraying roles in Netflix’s The OA and the Naughty Dog video game The Last of Us Part II. However, del Barrio’s role as the non-binary character named Adira in Star Trek: Discovery marks their onscreen acting debut.
During an interview with GLADD, del Barrio shed some light on what Star Trek fans can expect from Aidra when the character debuts in Discovery. “Adira is a wonderfully complex character. Mainly because of this duality they have within them: they’re astonishingly intelligent and yet they’re still a kid. They experience their emotions at a heightened level, like most teenagers. That’s what makes them so fun to play,” del Barrio explained. “I like to describe them as cerebrally brilliant and emotionally a puppy. Adira is an introvert, but they keep a few people close to the chest, which I definitely resonate with. I don’t want to say too much and get in trouble, but all in all, Adira is a uniquely strange and beautiful character.”
While Alexander was not on hand to discuss his role as Gray, del Barrio spoke highly of their co-star. “I absolutely love him, and it was so fun working alongside him. Having him join the show with me was a godsend. It’s pretty overwhelming joining a show with such a well-known cast going into its third season. So I was so thankful to have his support whenever I was freaking out. He’s a talented, hardworking actor, and an all-around magnificent human being, so it was a joy having him as a partner,” said del Barrio. The newest cast member of the Star Trek franchise also explained why Aidra won’t tell the Discovery crew members they are non-binary, saying, “when we meet Adira, they’re suffering from memory loss. They remember nothing from their past and very little about themself. They know they’re non-binary, of course, but coming onto Discovery they’re cautious about sharing that information with anyone. They’re a private person, so they aren’t going to divulge a lot about themselves to a ship full of strangers.”
An episode Star Trek: The Next Generation titled “The Outcast” featured a character named Soren who belonged to an androgynous race that does not identify as a specific gender, which may be considered the franchise’s first instance of including non-binary characters. However, del Barrio’s casting marks the first time a non-binary actor will portray a non-binary main character role in a Star Trek project since the franchise launched in the ’60s. The episode in question also received criticism from LGBT viewers who believed the writers were approving of the brainwashing therapy Soren is subjected to. Deep Space Nine explored transgender themes with the Trill character of Jadzia Dax, most notably in “Rejoined,” in which a woman who was married to a male host of the Dax symbiont encounters it now implanted in the female host of Jadzia. Alexander will be the first trans actor to portray a Trill, however.
When Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry created the original series in 1966, the show was designed to present a utopian vision of the future and the franchise has since been credited for at least trying to include a diverse group of characters over the course of its five-decade-plus history. So, while the inclusion of transgender and non-binary characters may be long overdue, the casting certainly continues the long-standing tradition of the Star Trek franchise.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3 premieres on CBS All Access on October 15, 2020.
Source: GLAAD
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