Here's Your First Look At Kol, A Klingon Commander On Star Trek: Discovery
The show's cast and executive producer revealed new details about the Klingon warrior and more from the upcoming CBS All Access series.
Posted on Aug 2, 2017 | 06:45pm
Cast from Star Trek: Discovery, which premieres on Sunday, Sept. 24 on CBS All Access, has unveiled the first image of Klingon Commander Kol at Creation Entertainment's Star Trek Official Convention in Las Vegas.
WATCH: Star Trek: Discovery Cast Straight From The Set
Sitting with panel host and film critic Scott Mantz, Mary Chieffo (L'Rell), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Connor), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), and Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber) expanded on their Star Trek: Discovery characters, which led to Mitchell telling the audience about showing his son a picture of him in full Klingon garb.
"Now all my son wants to do is play Klingon," he laughed.
Kol's appearance is so intricate, Mitchell continued, that he spends about three-and-a-half hours getting into makeup and another half hour getting into costume.
So what does he do to pass the time?
"First, Doug Jones (Saru) comes in and gives me a hug," Mitchell joked before turning serious. "I'm always going over the Klingon language. I'm constantly running my lines over and over again [while getting ready]. Because it's incredibly difficult. It takes a lot of muscle memory pronouncing the syllables over and over again."
WATCH: Cast And Cosplay Abound At The Star Trek Official Convention​
But at least Mitchell can rest easy knowing that his Klingon-language pronunciation is practically perfect. He and Chieffo, who plays fellow Klingon L'Rell, have help from Discovery's official Klingon translator Robyn Stewart—the number-one female Klingon grammarian in North America—and dialect coach Rea Nolan.
"It's very much like an opera," said Mitchell. "Even if you don't understand the language, you understand the emotions and the body language."
Chieffo, meanwhile, compared breaking down Klingon to breaking down Shakespeare. "We don't take it lightly," she said.
Meanwhile, Cruz, who plays Dr. Hugh Culber, touched on how glad he was to contribute to Star Trek's ongoing egalitarian vision.
"There's a kid out there who's going to turn on his TV, and they're gonna see two men love each other and support each other and support each other's genius, and it's not going to be an issue," he said of his on-screen relationship with Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp). "It's just going to be what it is."
"It's no accident that it's called Discovery," he continued. "[The characters are] discovering each other. They're discovering themselves."
WATCH: Star Trek: Discovery - Official Trailer
Cruz also praised co-star Sonequa Martin-Green (Michael Burnham). "If I can take a moment to attest to the great leadership that Sonequa has modeled for us," he began. "Her work ethic is unbelievable. She sets a high bar for all of us."
Finally, Vartholomeos observed that Discovery, which follows a long line of franchise titles (including The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise), is set to determine a future course for Star Trek as a whole. "I think it's important that this series inspire the next generation of fans," he said.
Stream the entire first season of Star Trek: Discovery, exclusively on CBS All Access.
WATCH: Star Trek: Discovery Cast Straight From The Set
Sitting with panel host and film critic Scott Mantz, Mary Chieffo (L'Rell), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Connor), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), and Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber) expanded on their Star Trek: Discovery characters, which led to Mitchell telling the audience about showing his son a picture of him in full Klingon garb.
"Now all my son wants to do is play Klingon," he laughed.
Kol's appearance is so intricate, Mitchell continued, that he spends about three-and-a-half hours getting into makeup and another half hour getting into costume.
So what does he do to pass the time?
"First, Doug Jones (Saru) comes in and gives me a hug," Mitchell joked before turning serious. "I'm always going over the Klingon language. I'm constantly running my lines over and over again [while getting ready]. Because it's incredibly difficult. It takes a lot of muscle memory pronouncing the syllables over and over again."
WATCH: Cast And Cosplay Abound At The Star Trek Official Convention​
But at least Mitchell can rest easy knowing that his Klingon-language pronunciation is practically perfect. He and Chieffo, who plays fellow Klingon L'Rell, have help from Discovery's official Klingon translator Robyn Stewart—the number-one female Klingon grammarian in North America—and dialect coach Rea Nolan.
"It's very much like an opera," said Mitchell. "Even if you don't understand the language, you understand the emotions and the body language."
Chieffo, meanwhile, compared breaking down Klingon to breaking down Shakespeare. "We don't take it lightly," she said.
Meanwhile, Cruz, who plays Dr. Hugh Culber, touched on how glad he was to contribute to Star Trek's ongoing egalitarian vision.
"There's a kid out there who's going to turn on his TV, and they're gonna see two men love each other and support each other and support each other's genius, and it's not going to be an issue," he said of his on-screen relationship with Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp). "It's just going to be what it is."
"It's no accident that it's called Discovery," he continued. "[The characters are] discovering each other. They're discovering themselves."
WATCH: Star Trek: Discovery - Official Trailer
Cruz also praised co-star Sonequa Martin-Green (Michael Burnham). "If I can take a moment to attest to the great leadership that Sonequa has modeled for us," he began. "Her work ethic is unbelievable. She sets a high bar for all of us."
Finally, Vartholomeos observed that Discovery, which follows a long line of franchise titles (including The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise), is set to determine a future course for Star Trek as a whole. "I think it's important that this series inspire the next generation of fans," he said.
Stream the entire first season of Star Trek: Discovery, exclusively on CBS All Access.