Ahead of its return in October, Star Trek: Discovery is making history with CBS All Access officially announcing the addition of the sci-fi franchise’s first-ever non-binary and transgender characters in the form of newcomer Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander (The OA), who are set to join in the upcoming third season.
Welcome Blu del Barrio and @ianaIexander to the #StarTrekFamily! They will be playing Adira, Star Trek’s first non-binary character, and Gray, Star Trek’s first transgender character in #StarTrekDiscovery Season 3. Learn more about Blu in this @glaad Q&A: https://t.co/gd54tVl8p0 pic.twitter.com/WroJ32n7Cp
— Star Trek on CBS All Access (@startrekcbs) September 2, 2020
Del Barrio will be portraying the role of a non-binary character named Adira, who is being described as highly-intelligent with a confidence and self-assurance well beyond their years. According to Deadline, they will find a new home on the USS Discovery while also expected to form an unexpected bond with Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber. Meanwhile, Alexander is set to portray the role of an empathetic, and warm transgender character named Gray, who is eager to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a Trill Host.
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Star Trek Discovery is about the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. In the end of the season one finale, it showed that Discovery has finally encountered the USS Enterprise.
The cast includes Sonequa Martin-Green as First Officer Michael Burnham, Michelle Yeoh as Captain Philippa Georgiou, Jason Isaacs as Captain Lorca, Doug Jones as science officer Saru, Anthony Rapp as fellow science officer Stamets, Terry Serpico as Starfleet admiral Anderson, Maulik Pancholy as chief medical officer Nambue, Sam Vartholomeos as junior Starfleet officer Connor, Mary Wiseman as Cadet Tilly, James Frain as Sarek, astrophysicist and father of Spock, Chris Obi as Klingon leader T’Kuvma, Mary Chieffo as L’Rell, a Klingon commander, Shazad Latif as Lieutenant Tyler, Rekha Sharma as Commander Landry, Kenneth Mitchell as Kol, Clare McConnell as Dennas, Damon Runyan as Ujilli, and Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd.
Season two’s additional cast included Ethan Peck as the iconic half-human and half-Vulcan officer Spock, Rebecca Romijn as the original Number One and Anson Mount as Captain Christoper Pike.
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The series is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Bryan Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers. The series will be distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space channel and OTT service CraveTV.
The first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery are now available to stream on CBS All Access, with the third season set to premiere on October 15.
