Leonard Nimoy’s Spock fromStar Trek: The Original SerieshelpedStar Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green understand their own character. One ofDiscovery’s strongest links back toStar Trek: The Original Serieswas thatStar Trek: Discovery’s lead character, Michael Burnham, was the adoptive sister of Spock (Ethan Peck). AfterMichael Burnham’s parentswere killed by Klingons when she was 10 years old, Spock’s parents, Sarek (James Frain) and Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner), took in the orphaned Michael and raised her on Vulcan.
At her FanExpo DallasStar Trekpanel, Sonequa Martin-Green talked toScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier about history withStar Trek: The Original Series, andhow studying Nimoy’s performance as Spock helped her prepare for playing Michael Burnham as Spock’s human sisterinStar Trek: Discovery. Read Sonequa’s quote below:
Sonequa Martin-Green:My entry point was Star Trek: Discovery. I mean, I knew what Star Trek was growing up. I knew Uhura, and I knew of the franchise. People would ask, “Were you a Trekkie?” No, but my parents would watch it, and so I would see it, and I’d be like, “Oh, that looks fun.” And then I’d go run off, and do whatever, climb a tree or something. So, it’s kind of through osmosis that I knew about it. But the full-on entrance was Discovery.
But in the beginning [of Discovery], I started watching, like, “Oh, what is this world? Let me dive in.” Then it was Star Trek: TOS and Enterprise because they had such a Vulcan presence.I needed to learn, “What is it to be Vulcan?“Because that was where we started with the character, when she was still trying to be Vulcan.
ScreenRant: Now that you’re watching it as a fan, who is your captain that pulled you in?
Sonequa Martin-Green:When I dived in, I had like [five days] before I was on set for Discovery… So, I was gobbling it up; doing it so fast, like, “What is this world?!“And I felt so moved by Spock, I really did.He pulled me in more than Kirk. But I’m sure that’s because I’m like, “This is my brother, and I gotta build this.” But my goodness, what a captivating performance. What a legendary, captivating performance. He pulled me in more than any captain.
What Studying Leonard Nimoy’s Spock Meant For Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham In Star Trek: Discovery
Sonequa Martin-Green Discovered “What It Means To Be Vulcan” Through Spock
WatchingLeonard Nimoy’s SpockinStar Trek: The Original Seriesgave Sonequa Martin-Green all the essential background information of “what it means to be Vulcan” so Martin-Green could play Burnham as a human who was raised among Vulcans. Specifically, Vulcans' attitudes towards humans can be extrapolated from watching Nimoy’s Spock. InTOS,the half-human Spock emphasizes being a Vulcan and treats his own humanity like a flaw that has to be suppressed. Spock downplays his own human genetics until Amanda (Jane Wyatt) arrives on the USS Enterprise with Sarek (Mark Lenard) in the classicStar Trekepisode “Journey to Babel”.
Leonard Nimoy’s legacy as Spock is baked into how Michael Burnham is, as Sonequa Martin-Green says, “still trying to be Vulcan” at the beginning ofStar Trek: Discovery. Vulcans believe they’re superior to humans, so inStar Trek: Discovery’s first 2 seasons, Martin-Green naturally portrays Burnham as someone desperately trying to fit in despite an internalized inferiority complex.All of Spock’s struggles as a half-human raised on Vulcan were doubled for the fully-human Burnham, from being bullied at the Vulcan Science Academy for inherently human traits, to adopting more Vulcan mannerisms to try earning Sarek’s approval.
Our Take On How Spock Helped Sonequa Martin-Green Understand Michael Burnham
Michael’s Sibling Relationship With Spock Was The Start Of Burnham’s Star Trek: Discovery Arc
Leonard Nimoy’s Spock inStar Trek: The Original Serieswas a natural starting point for Sonequa Martin-Green to understand her ownStar Trek: Discoverycharacter, but studying Spock can also help us understand Michael Burnham better, too.Burnham’s entireStar Trek: Discoverycharacter arc starts with Michael’s connection to Spock, and ther sibling bond as children on Vulcan. Both Spock and Michael, with their human DNA, did not—couldnot—fit the typical Vulcan mold, so they had to mask who they truly were in order to fit in.
Michael Burnham’s journey from “trying to be Vulcan” to fully embracing her humanity can be traced through Burnham’s physical appearance—and specifically, her hairstyles—over the course ofStar Trek: Discovery’s five seasons.
Being raised to suppress her own identity created a springboard for Michael Burnham’sStar Trek: Discoverycharacter arc. Without the inherent Vulcan qualities Spock has, Burnham’s only recourse was to mimic Vulcans by ignoring her own intuition. That changes after the USS Discovery entersStar Trek’s 32nd century, putting 900 years between Burnham and Sarek’s expectations. Then, Michael accepts her human compassion, merging it with Vulcan logic—not unlike what Spock also does. Burnham’sStar Trek: Discoveryarc becomes a beautiful story of self-discovery, giving Sonequa Martin-Green her ownStar Treklegacy for future generations to live up to.
