Brett Gray — Daily Star Trek News

13 OCTOBER 2022 – If Kate Mulgrew is a Star Trek veteran, Brett Gray is new to the universe. This is in keeping with his character Star Trek: WonderDahl, who turned out to be the captain of A protostar and undergoes on-the-job training as he desperately tries to hold onto his command. At 25, Gray is relatively young and plays a character that is even younger. He is a soft-spoken, very sincere person and immediately liked.

On how Dahl has changed since the series began:

I would say he is much more of a leader than before. You know, I think Dahl sometimes gets a bad rap because, you know, he was left as a child on a child labor mining planet and he was forced not to talk to anybody and I think that can be very difficult for somebody . And, you know, for him to come and learn how to improvise with other people and build a team and become a leader, I’d say that’s the biggest change.

Seeing fans in person at NYCC…:

It feels good. It’s really great. The first time we were able to really premiere this story, and now that we’re here, there’s so much feedback on Twitter and Ella [Purnell, who plays Gwyn] showed me the subreddit the other day all about Prodigy and stuff, so it’s been really cool to see people react to the show and to witness our own little mini fanbase kind of start to break away from the whole Star Trek franchise. Yes, it’s cool. It’s a privilege and an honor. You know, you hope when you jump into something as big as Star Trek that you leave your mark.

…and for future presence Star Trek conventions:

I’m looking forward to it, I wish I had a full Dal cosplay so I could hide in the crowd as Dal. It would be such a fun irony! I haven’t been a guest on any of the cons yet, and I’d like to at some point because, I mean, have you seen it there? [The NYCC show floor.] There are so many people and from all my years in New York I had no idea it was so huge! So yes. I will have a lot of fun and spend a lot of money when I go.

For Dahl’s search for identity:

I know [where Dal’s from], of course. You know, Dahl has been searching for who he is, who his parents are, where he comes from, what his purpose is, you know, since the beginning of the series, so all of that will be revealed in this next part of the season. And, you know, he’s going to have to face what’s hard for anybody, I think, to meet or go and find out who’s out there.

I feel like it was imperative for Dahl to learn who he was because, you know, it’s hard for him to have any kind of model of what he should be or where he comes from or, you know, what his purpose is, again, is throughout universe. And you know, it can be hard not seeing each other around. You know, I think sometimes I relate to him even as an actor, you know, like I don’t see a lot of myself on screen. And therefore you don’t really know what roles to play, or where you fit in, or how to talk to people. So, I think for Dahl, especially the position he’s taken as a captain, you know it’s going to be a difficult reality to come to terms with who you are and to be able to accept that and figure out what to do with it after that. Especially at such a young age.

On PRO’s grown-up themes and how they inform his approach to Dal:

[Those themes have informed the approach to Dal] one hundred percent. And I think we’re just talking about the last question and how we can feel divided in society even by race. This was my immediate route to Dal. When I first read the script, even in my audition, you know, I felt like, “Oh, I get that, how it feels to be kind of an outsider or an outsider or alienated in some way.”

So I think, yeah, it’s dealing with sort of one of the last prejudices in the whole Star Trek universe, is what are you and who are you and where do you come from and what does that mean for your role in society? So yeah, I think it’s really important for him to learn who he is, but also for the people watching and the younger audience watching, it’s kind of that lesson wrapped in danger, adventure, fun, friendship and all those things. So it’s like, you know, at the same time that it’s this big heavy, soft subject, kids are able to kind of like and relate to it and absorb it as this kind of story for other kids.

So, yes, it’s very political, it’s very big topics, but they’re covered in honey.

On (not) preparing for Dahl’s role:

I tried not to prepare at all. You know, I was really nervous going into it. I thought, you know, maybe I should watch every Star Trek and I should go learn about everything and see who the people are and stuff like that. And as I read the scripts for the first season, I realized that I could find all of this as myself with Dahl. So, I don’t know if that was the right way to do it, but I feel like it freed me up so much.

I remember my first captain’s log. I don’t know if you’ve heard any of them on the show. They are improving. But it was super lighthearted and the producers loved it. You know, they thought, “Wow. They are usually done very delicately and super seriously. Did you choose to do this?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t even know what a captain’s log is.’ the one we’ve seen before.

And it also helped me chart Dahl’s growth better because, you know, if I don’t know and Dahl doesn’t know, then as we’re both learning together, I can inject that into my performance. So I tried not to watch anything.

On Dahl’s imposter syndrome featured in an upcoming episode:

I feel like Dahl has impostor syndrome from the start, you know? I mean, again, he was thrown into a mining planet for child labor sometime during his teenage years. So, I think a lot of his inner monologue is around making sure he’s great and making things work for him and making sure he’s getting what he needs. And I feel like he’s learning, again, who he really is, you know, to empathize with other people, how to relate to other kinds of races of everything, you know? So I feel like he’s always had some kind of imposter syndrome and he’s learning who he is.

And I feel like all the characters, you know, even Gwyn learns so much about her father and really what they were there on Tars Lamora to do, everything she knows is also a lie. I feel like a lot of them had some kind of imposter syndrome. So it’s great to see him like, you know, in this episode, specifically. I had so much fun being both Dahl.

But yeah, I feel like it’s a big throughline of, you know, self-discovery and not just in terms of who you are, but where you come from and what that means in terms of your strengths and weaknesses and how you play into the bigger scheme of the greater good.

On how PRO’s messages resonate with his generation:

I think Gen Z is one of the pioneers of self-discovery. I think we’re uncompromising and we’re not afraid to come in and shake things up in any of the industries, in any of the franchises, and in any of the societal norms that are put in place. So, I think that’s the perfect message for our generation. I think I’m coming so people can see, like, “You know what, I’m connecting with this person and it’s great because of these things,” and “I’m not connecting with this person and it’s great because of these things,” both of which are enough. and that’s good.

I think it’s a really great way to introduce young people to the mindset of what our collective consciousness should be. Especially in the world right now, it’s kind of dark sometimes, you know. It can get kind of rough, it can get kind of limiting. I think you know that people’s freedom and “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” is an important thing for everyone to start learning and working more at any age.

What lessons would you like viewers to take away from PRO:

It doesn’t matter where you come from. You can either be on the slave planet or, in Gwynn’s case, you can help run the slave planet as long as you learn your lessons and understand what you are and how best to use it in a way that serves others. I would say I think that’s the most important thing.

And also, I’m kind of a badass about friendship and leadership and whenever there’s any personal inner growth. So yes, it doesn’t matter where you come from and stay close to your friends.

On what fans are most excited to see in Season 1, Part 2:

I’m very excited for people to see Dahl’s origin story. I think it’s dealing with one of the last prejudices again, I think even about Starfleet. And I think it’s going to be a big moment in the Trek universe for a huge change.