Starfleet Academy’s Gina Yashere Had No Thought She Was Auditioning For A Star Trek Present [Exclusive]

The brand new collection “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” encompasses a recurring character named Lura Thok, performed by British comic Gina Yashere, who has induced a variety of enjoyable speculative debate amongst Trekkies. Lura Thok is half Klingon and half Jem’Hadar, you see. Everybody is aware of Klingons, however Jem’Hadar are extra acquainted to followers of “Star Trek: Deep House 9,” who will inform you that the Jem’Hadar have been a species of genetically engineered troopers who fought for the depraved empire referred to as the Dominion. The Jem’Hadar have been bred to be sterile, all of them have been male, they usually have been all born pre-addicted to a potent narcotic referred to as Ketracel-white. 

Lura Thok, due to her gender and her mixed-species lineage, is proof that the Jem’Hadar finally discovered a method to re-write their genetic code sufficient to breed and in addition be born feminine. The main points of the Jem’Hadar’s backstory have not but been defined on “Starfleet Academy,” however then, it takes place over 800 years after the top of the Dominion Battle on “Deep House 9,” so it is cheap to imagine that the Jem’Hadar made a number of scientific breakthroughs over the centuries. 

Lura Thok heads the Academy’s struggle college (!), and is chargeable for fight coaching and holding cadets in line. She is rough-hewn, possess a mood, and speaks demonstrably. She’s a enjoyable character. However not solely did Yashere not know that she was auditioning for Lura Thok when she went in for “Starfleet Academy,” she did not even notice she was auditioning for a “Trek” present in any respect. /Movie’s personal Jacob Corridor lately spoke with Yashere, and she or he revealed that her audition pages had all references to “Star Trek” intentionally eliminated. She performed the half proper from a personality perspective, and was startled to finally be taught it was a Klingon/Jem’Hadar she was to be taking part in.

Like many “Trek” actors earlier than her, Gina Yashere was not a Trekkie previous to auditioning. Maybe not being a Trekkie helped her discover a purer model of the character; she did not imitate some other actors’ performances. Yashere simply noticed a army kind, and leaned into it: 

“I knew nothing about Jem’Hadar or Klingon. The primary audition that I did for the present, I did not even understand it was ‘Star Trek’ as a result of they took out each reference within the script, and it had a codename. So I simply noticed a drill sergeant screaming at a bunch of youngsters, and I performed it that method. After which in a while I discovered that it was ‘Star Trek,’ however by then they’d form of fallen in love with how I performed it, which bought me the half initially anyway.” 

It wasn’t till after she landed the half that Yashere began to do her “Star Trek” homework. Fortunately, she had a member of the family that was a Trekkie, so she grilled him in regards to the particulars. And for those who’re a Trekkie, you understand that there are a lot of particulars. Fortunately, the extra Yashere discovered, the extra she realized her militant efficiency was applicable, including:

“My youthful brother is a large Trekkie. So he gave me the total historical past of Klingons and Jem’Hadar, and I used to be like, ‘Properly, I do not suppose I used to be too far off. They’re very sturdy, warrior species.’ So I stored that component of her and introduced it, however softened it up as a result of she’s now instructing youngsters and she will be able to’t truly kill them. So I softened her up just a little bit, however I feel it really works fairly properly.” 

It does, certainly. “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” is at the moment streaming on Paramount+.