IR Interview: Doug Jones For "Star Trek - Discovery" [Paramount+-S5]
Actor Doug Jones talks to The Inside Reel about process, legacy, approach and emotional resonance in regards to the series finale of "Star Trek: Discovery" on Paramount+.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 My crew, the family I found in Starfleet,
00:16 we made a pretty good team.
00:18 Could you talk about sort of that ying
00:28 yang of Saru in terms of his idea, love, hate, diplomacy.
00:37 All these things are so indicative of him right now.
00:40 Right, right, right.
00:41 Thank you for noticing that.
00:43 Saru's been through quite a journey
00:45 with professionally and emotionally and personally
00:47 over these five seasons.
00:49 And his growth has been so delicious for me
00:52 to play because I've also grown myself throughout.
00:54 I've learned a lot from Saru personally.
00:59 The fear thing I would love to address first
01:01 because that was part of the first character development
01:04 piece that I got from the writers
01:06 was he is a fear-based species.
01:10 He's a prey species.
01:11 There's a predator on his planet.
01:12 And it's just been that relationship all of his life.
01:15 That's all he knows.
01:16 So now that he's the only Kelpien
01:17 to ever get into Starfleet and graduate the Academy
01:21 with 94 languages spoken.
01:23 And he's a high-ranking officer now.
01:26 He still has that undercurrent of fear.
01:29 That was my go-to to start with.
01:32 So having to rise above the fear and meet the task
01:38 and the duties of the day, that was kind of a yin and yang
01:41 that he had to deal with every day.
01:44 And when his threat ganglia would pop out
01:46 and he couldn't control when that happened, bless his heart,
01:49 it was kind of embarrassing.
01:50 And it has been a hell of a journey.
01:54 But everything ends someday.
02:02 The Discovery is my home, my family.
02:06 Then in season two, when I go through Vahari,
02:10 which is kind of what we now know
02:12 was an adolescence thing, where he goes through a metamorphosis
02:16 and becomes a full-grown adult Kelpien,
02:18 he didn't know that.
02:19 He thought that was going to be his death,
02:21 because that's when he was taught by this predator
02:23 species on our planet.
02:24 So all of a sudden, his threat ganglia
02:27 come out inflamed and sickly.
02:29 And then they fall out and are replaced with quills.
02:32 Like, he's a predator.
02:34 He didn't know that.
02:37 And his fear was gone.
02:39 And he's living life now with courage and confidence
02:42 that he never had before.
02:44 I personally learned a lot from that.
02:47 So he had a minute there in season two
02:50 where he was exploring his-- like a kid,
02:52 like, I've got power.
02:53 Hey!
02:53 But he's very much a gentleman.
02:58 He never lost his gentlemanly effect.
03:01 So I think that he's always been a diplomat from the get-go.
03:07 So when he loves, he loves hard.
03:10 And I don't think he's hated, but he
03:14 does have a healthy sense of righteous indignation.
03:17 When something goes wrong, when something is unfair,
03:21 he will absolutely fight until that is made right.
03:23 Yeah.
03:24 So I love-- and I think that that comes from a place
03:27 of love, absolutely.
03:28 We've always been able to find answers together.
03:31 Being a part of a crew, being where you need to be,
03:33 when you need to be, that's Starfleet.
03:38 Last dance.
03:39 I shall follow your lead.
03:43 We've always talked about the physicality,
03:45 but it's interesting.
03:46 Like, even in-- there's one scene in "What's Coming Up"
03:49 where your eyes get so ultra-focused.
03:52 And I know it's so hard to get all this stuff through,
03:54 the makeup and all that.
03:56 But it always is unbelievable when you do that.
03:59 But there's that razor-sharp moment--
04:01 Oh, thank you.
04:02 --that just goes like that.
04:03 Could you talk about finding that?
04:05 Because that is so built up over seasons.
04:07 You have to take time into this man, but also funnel it.
04:11 And you've always been great at doing that.
04:13 Can you talk about how it was different for Saru,
04:17 especially going into the series finale?
04:19 Right.
04:20 Well, as an actor, I've played so many roles
04:23 that are rubber-clad, where I'm glued into something
04:25 and have to come up with a very physical language
04:28 for that character.
04:29 Saru is included in that.
04:30 He has his own posture, his own movement,
04:34 his own physical dialogue, let's say.
04:37 So I think with the confidence that he has grown in now
04:42 and has been living in, he's able to sit still and let
04:46 the eyes do the talking and be confident that what he is
04:48 saying is being heard.
04:51 So the scene you're talking about, I believe,
04:53 is when I'm in the shuttle.
04:55 Yeah, I don't want to give too much away, but yes, it is.
04:57 Having my standoff with one of our bad guys.
05:00 So I love that moment because I had to channel action, Saru,
05:06 into sitting still with the eyes.
05:09 So action, Saru, can run through a forest and has superhuman--
05:12 he's faster than humans, he can see farther than humans,
05:15 he can hear better than humans.
05:17 But this is a moment where he needed his confidence
05:19 to be more than human.
05:22 So when he says, look into my eyes,
05:27 I had to channel all of that into sitting still and beaming
05:30 it forward.
05:31 And it was absolutely an acting exercise for me.
05:34 And so sweet to hear you say that it worked.
05:37 Thank you so much for that.
05:38 I do wish I had better news, Captain.
05:41 Here I was, hoping you would call and say hi.
05:43 I trust you will find a way to succeed.
05:45 And I assure you, we will do all we
05:47 can to prevent Tahal and her fleet from joining the conflict.
05:50 I know you will, Saru.
05:52 Thank you.
05:53 We're almost done with repairs and we'll be on our way soon.
05:55 Good luck, Michael.
05:57 Please, stay safe.
05:59 Yeah, I'm right, I will.
06:00 I got a wedding to go to when this is all over.
06:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:05 But it's also that balance.
06:06 I mean, there's so many great things.
06:08 There's an empathy.
06:10 There's this one scene where you hold Sonequa as Michael.
06:16 And it's just-- and you do the same thing with your fiance.
06:20 And it's just-- there's something so empathetic
06:23 that can be said.
06:24 You hear it in his voice.
06:25 But can you talk about growing that kind of time,
06:28 especially between Saru and Burnham?
06:32 And because it's all--
06:33 you feel it all in that one moment, all the time
06:36 you guys have spent together, as actors as well.
06:38 Oh, yeah, yeah.
06:40 On screen, off screen, we all grew together
06:42 and became way more affectionate with each other
06:44 as the years passed.
06:45 I've always been a hugger-toucher type person
06:47 myself anyway.
06:48 But Saru wasn't always.
06:50 In season one, you'll remember him not even understanding
06:52 quite a handshake.
06:55 And then Get Two, but he has been taught by his human
06:58 friends that physical touch is a great way to communicate.
07:03 And he's taken that in for sure.
07:05 And so I-- and he towers over these--
07:07 I'm a 6'8" on the show with my hoof boots
07:10 add five inches to me.
07:11 So everybody fits into my armpit.
07:14 So these hugs are very, very paternal, it feels like.
07:19 Whenever I take someone in, it's like I'm
07:21 holding the most precious child in the world to me.
07:25 And even though Michael Burnham is our leader,
07:28 and Sonequa Martin-Green was our leader too as an actor,
07:30 she was the number one on the call sheet.
07:32 And we all revered her as our leader.
07:35 And she was such a gracious and humble leader.
07:39 But in these moments, as brother-sister kind
07:41 of a relationship on film, we really did coddle and love
07:45 each other so much.
07:46 And I was so glad to see that Saru and Burnham could
07:49 grow into the relationship that Sonequa and Doug had off camera.
07:54 We're on a search for one of the greatest powers ever known.
07:57 You can be very dangerous in the wrong hands.
08:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:03 [SCREAMING]
08:04 This clue is the most important thing.
08:06 We have to keep it safe.
08:08 And my last question, I'll let you go.
08:10 Thank you, Doug.
08:12 And I guarantee you a lot of people are asking about this,
08:14 but it means something different to different people.
08:17 Legacy, the legacy of something like Discovery.
08:21 You could think about it in 10 years and 20 years,
08:23 people looking back at this series, what it did,
08:26 how it resurrected Star Trek in many ways for the small screen.
08:31 Can you talk about the importance of that,
08:33 but also the preciousness of that in many ways?
08:36 Yeah, I do believe that our place in the Star Trek
08:41 lore and legacy over these 58 years and going on
08:45 will be the show that brought Star Trek back to television
08:49 after a bit of a hiatus.
08:50 Yes.
08:52 And it will also be the show that brought cinematic--
08:56 its hugeness to the TV screen.
09:01 Every episode is a movie.
09:02 It's a movie-like quality with our effects, our action
09:05 sequences.
09:07 It's a very expensive show to make,
09:11 but I think that it will be the Trek show that is remembered
09:15 for that, for sure, just our sheer production value.
09:19 And also that we had an overall narrative.
09:22 We brought Trek back into the new world of streaming
09:26 and binge watching.
09:27 That was something of the old series where people
09:29 would tune in once a week.
09:31 Well, we have a show now that can be binged one episode
09:34 after another with an overall arc storyline
09:36 for the entire season.
09:38 So I believe that's a part of our legacy, too,
09:40 is taking all that is Star Trek and bringing it
09:44 into the newer world.
09:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:47 Let's fly.
09:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:51 [EXPLOSIONS]
09:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:59 [SCREAMING]
10:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:05 [EXPLOSIONS]
10:08 (upbeat music)
10:11 [WHOOSH]