Avaah Blackwell on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and its Fandom Legacy [Interview]

While Star Trek: Discovery beamed into the 32nd century shaking up its entire setting and universe for its third season, Discovery been breaking barriers and changing things up since before then.

Introducing new species such as the Kelpiens and the Ba’ul, the first new television iteration of the franchise since Star Trek: Enterprise finished its run in 2004, Star Trek: Discovery was not afraid to take daring risks beginning even in its first season. 

Avaah Blackwell is among one of these creatives that helps seamlessly pull this show together, adding new breadth and new peoples to Star Trek while maintaining the spirit slowly introduced throughout the series before.

Introduced in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Avaah Blackwell plays the Osnullus, a previously never-before-seen sentient species with a relationship with The Federation, as evidenced by their service within Starfleet upon the U.S.S. Discovery. They even make it to The Mercantile all the way in 3188.

I recently spoke with Blackwell regarding her love for the science fiction genre and her experience with Star Trek: Discovery and its legendary fandom. 

While Blackwell describes herself as a “gun for hire,” she’s had an affinity for the science fiction genre and is no stranger to it. 

“I do whatever my ability allows me to do. I like prosthetics. I like physical roles. So, anything that I can really get into my body. Osnullus is all body acting and, so is action-acting. So, anything I can use my body to express, I like to do.”

But she also explained her connection to science fiction, saying, “I’ve always been a huge fan of science fiction. Some of my favorite films are Alien and Lord of the Rings, which is more fantasy, but I’ve always loved the way that science fiction is told. How it’s sort of a genre that is also classical and leads us into the next stage of our humanity.”

But Star Trek: Discovery isn’t her first rodeo with Star Trek, nor science fiction in general. She also was featured on 12 Monkeys (the television series), which albeit it was a fandom favorite, it was also not on the same scale as Star Trek. 

“It was smaller than Trek, but it was not a small show by any means. It was very large for the time, and it was on Syfy,” she clarified. “A bunch of the same prosthetics people that work on Trek, at least in the Canadian crew, were also working with me on 12 Monkeys. Both had really good community vibes and both were really great experiences to work on,” Blackwell said.

But the shared crews aren’t where the commonalities between Star Trek and 12 Monkeys end. The actress also told me, “Funnily enough, it had a pretty huge Trek influence.”

Terry Matalas, the showrunner and developer of the television adaptation of 12 Monkeys, started his career on Star Trek as a production associate on Star Trek: Voyager, and a production associate, writer, and cameo actor on Star Trek: Enterprise. Blackwell attributes his presence to the “Trek” influence on 12 Monkeys, referring to him as, “That influence was kind of already there at Syfy.”

But as The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Terry Matalas will return to Star Trek as showrunner for Star Trek: Picard’s season two, Avaah Blackwell also spoke about working with Matalas.  

“He’s great. The way his mind works is absolutely phenomenal. He’s so creative. And he has a strong vision.”

“If you’re working on a show that he’s working on, everybody even down to like me, and I was an actor on [12 Monkeys] obviously, but I was not by any means the most important actor. I fully understood the vision of his show, just by working with him on two days on set.”

“He’s an incredible creative and a very cool human being.”

But 12 Monkeys wasn’t her only exposure to the Trek world before she joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery Before her casting on the show, she modeled as a Star Trek: Discovery iteration Klingon for make-up artist Hugo Villasenor and James MacKinnon. 

“[Hugo] was one of the key prosthetics guys. He and James were doing a demonstration at [the 2018 International Make-Up Artist Trade Show in Toronto]. I was their model and that’s how I got into more prosthetics work with them… through that, I got a bunch of other alien roles on the show, which you will see this season,” Blackwell said.

One of which roles she already has played this season in the premiere episode, “That Hope is You, Part 1.” Among the U.S.S. Discovery officers Avaah Blackwell has played from this species, showing the Osnullus in the Mercantile security force expands their presence in the franchise.

But what goes into creating a new species entirely, whose name has only been mentioned off-screen? I asked her if there was any direction or information she received prior to jumping into make-up and costume.

“Nope.”

However, her portrayal was still a collaborative process shaped by the prosthetics themselves and the minds on set while filming. 

Alex working Osnullus mannerisms with ⁦@AvaahBlackwell⁩. Aliens have layers of unique performance that are not human. Tricky to get right wearing diff things on ones head ⁦@NevillePage⁩ ⁦@glenn_hetrick⁩ created amazing alien along with ⁦@jimmymackinnon⁩ pic.twitter.com/iS1CqovfMm

— Olatunde Osunsanmi (@CenterWillHold) January 24, 2019

“I would basically be put into the head and into the prosthetics and hope to go. James MacKinnon, the head of prosthetics, did give me a little bit of direction on how to keep my head so it looks good. And we all just kind of worked together with this prosthetic, with this character. And she’s an incredibly cool, mysterious alien on the bridge. She’s awesome. I was really only supposed to be one day and they just kept calling me back. So it’s been great.”

One would perhaps think that getting into make-up for the Osnullus would be extensive. But Blackwell explains that with her repeated appearances, the process is efficient. 

“They really streamlined it for me. The prosthetic itself, the head, weighs fifteen pounds and the gloves weigh about five pounds — 20 pounds worth of prosthetics total. We found out very quickly that I can’t leave that on all day,” Blackwell said.

“It’s just too much because you don’t see anything in [the Osnullus head]. I only have about 10% vision and I can’t breathe very well with it. There’s not much air that gets in there. So, they rigged it so that it kind of pops off like a helmet. It takes time for production and time for me.”

“So, when we get to set, I get into my costume, I go to hair and have all my hair braided and talk to the hair ladies, and then I go see prosthetics. I get in my balaclava, which is the hood I wear underneath the helmet that they’ve now braked up for balance.”

“Before we roll, I usually rehearse with my hands on — the hands slip on underneath my costume. Then, right before we roll, we pop my head on. The rehearsal without the head is usually so I can see where everybody else is walking so I don’t bump into them. I have to map out where everybody else is going to be, and then they pop my head on and we go.”

But as anyone involved with Star Trek knows, her involvement will undoubtedly beyond the prosthetics and physicality of her role. With a franchise as long-lived and a fandom as passionate as Star Trek’s, Avaah Blackwell is aware of the gravity of being a part of Star Trek. 

“It’s a pretty crazy ride, and I understand the responsibility that comes with it. I’ve just basically had to go with my intuition. It’s felt really great. I feel really honored that I’m being given this opportunity to do this and really sort of like champion what this species is about.”

“I’m exploring it and they’ve given me a lot of freedom to interpret my own ways of being and reacting with Osnullus.”

And what’s next for Blackwell? 

Well, even as she understands Star Trek and the importance of her role in this universe, she hasn’t gotten the chance to interact with the fandom fully. With the current situation, she hasn’t gotten the chance to attends any conventions, even though she’s excited to start, but she has gotten the opportunity to tea up with Rittenhouse Archives to autograph some Osnullus trading cards. You can find the season-two pack here. 

You can also find Blackwell in a stunt doubling role coming up in Jupiter’s legacy, which is expected to come out coming out in 2021. She also has a movie set to come out, ESP, a female mixed martial arts film.

Look out for these movies, because in her own words, “You could see me doing some fighting and you can see me out of the prosthetics doing the other thing I’m good at, which is a fight-action.”

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Don’t miss Star Trek: Discovery airing on Thursdays on CBS All Access!

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