In a recent interview with UK LGBT
glossy Attitude, out actor Wilson Cruz said that his gay
character on CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery will play a
pivotal role in the show's storyline.
On the series, Cruz plays medical
officer Dr. Hugh Culber, who is involved in a romantic relationship
with starfleet officer Lt. Paul Stamets (played by out actor Anthony
Rapp), an expert on fungus. The actors made Star Trek history
in November when their characters shared the television franchise's
first male gay kiss.
Fans were shocked when [spoiler alert]
Culber was brutally murdered by Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif).
Cruz said that as an activist he
worried about how fans would react to the plot twist.
“I was concerned having been an
activist so long, but I also have real trust in our producers and
writers that they know what they're doing, and I know how much they
value this relationship,” he said. “But I can't sit here and say
I wasn't dreading the initial reaction once the episode hit. But we
had an opportunity here to see this couple go through what
heterosexual couples have been going through on TV for decades!”
Cruz added that both of the show's gay
characters “will be heroes.”
“I can say that we will see Dr Culber
soon and that he plays a pivotal role in where the story goes from
here. In the end, these two characters, this gay couple, will he
heroes in many ways, just like everyone on this crew. I can’t
remember a time where we’ve had a relationship that’s not only
loving and exciting to watch as a couple, but also heroic in their
own right and part of the real fabric of the story we’re trying to
tell,” Cruz
said.