Doug Jones who plays the Kelpien First Officer Saru in Star Trek Discovery has been talking about his character ahead of the season two premier.
Kelpien’s can sense ‘the coming of death’ and have threat ganglia that protrude when they sense danger. Jones had the following response when asked whether Saru will overcome his fears and whether we’ll see less of them over time. Talking with STARTREK.COM he said:
“I think you've already seen them less and less, so I would love to see him... and, within my own personal life, I'd love to see my fears be gone forever. I really would.
“Can they be? That's a question yet to be answered, and I think season two might have an answer that I can't give you today, but do keep watching, because that will be addressed. The threat ganglia come into play.
“It's a great warning system, and he does have a sense of decorum. That's why every time they pop out at an inopportune time, he's like, quietly trying to, ‘Oh dear, did anyone see?’”
It has already been revealed that there is a more family tone to season two, and Jones echoes this sentiment.
“‘I got your back’ is something that we all don't have to say because we know that's happening every day. And, the seven signals, they were following them around with kind of like bread crumbs throughout the universe, where some kind of conflict or imminent danger will be happening at those. So, we have conflict to resolve, still, even though we're not at war with the Klingons anymore.”
In the Short Treks episode “The Brightest Star” we visited Saru’s home planet and learned more about his origins. For season two will be revisiting Kaminar, and Jones talks about having to wear some new prosthetics for his scenes.
“Well, because I've been doing head and hands with the Starfleet uniform, but when the top comes off, “Oh, crap. Now what?” Right?
“That came with another prosthetic piece that covered my entire torso. So, I had to slip into that, and they had to sculpt something.
“The thing is, when you're a skinny guy, and they want to sculpt an alien thing on you, that adds bulk. So, I do look a bit more buff with my shirt off, I found out. I go from skinny, lithe Kelpien to, “Yeah! I'm gonna have my shirt off now! Let's take a picture!”
Star Trek: Discovery hits our streams in the US on 17 January, with the UK and the rest of the world streaming a day later