Mary Chieffo brings a whole new style of Klingon inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5. Chieffo originally portrayed L’Rell, who became Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, inStar Trek: Discovery’s first two seasons.
InStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, the USS Cerritos investigates rifts in space that lead to alternateStar Trektimelines. One such breach in space brought Lieutenants Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) to the Klingon home world inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 4, “A Farewell to Farms.” Mariner met up with her old friend Ma’ah (Jon Curry), who was tempted bya lusty Klingon woman named K’Elarra (Mary Chieffo).
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Cast Guide: Who Voices Each Character In The Final Season
Meet the Lower Deckers and bridge crew of the USS Cerritos as Star Trek: Lower Decks warps into its fifth and final season on Paramount+.
ScreenRantchatted with Mary Chieffo about playing aStar Trek: The Next Generationera KlingoninStar Trek: Lower Decks, her Star Trek: Discovery memories, what she thinks happened to Chancellor L’Rell, andwhether L’Rell could have been part ofStar Trek: Section 31.
Mary Chieffo On Getting Cast As A New Klingon In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
Chieffo Is Modern Star Trek’s Most Prominent Klingon Actress
Screen Rant: Let me give you your flowers, because you are the most prominent Klingon actor in this era ofStar Trek,and you are certainly the most important woman to play a Klingon sinceDiscoverystarted.
Mary Chieffo: Thank you. Qapla'! as we would say in Klingon. I feel very honored. I love that. That’s such a Klingon thing to feel, but it has been such an honor from the get-go, when I was cast, just getting to do in-depth research. There’s so much out there on Klingon history, and, of course, the language itself. And I’m such a nerd geek myself that just getting to immerse myself and research Klingin and bring a lot of honor to the species.
We got a lot of that in those first two seasons of Discovery, especially with L’Rell, and her whole journey was just so epic and incredible. I just couldn’t believe all of the epic things I got to do as that character. And then to continue that legacy with Star Trek Online. And then getting to flex some Duras sisters-inspired energy on Lower Decks. But I do feel very grateful to be a part of this legacy, especially with the Klingons, and as a woman and as a woman leader, as a chancellor who comes up against a lot of stuff, I’m glad we had that story represented.
Tell me about finding out you got a role onLower Decks. It’s been a while since you’ve been onDiscovery.
Mary Chieffo: It was such a thrill. They reached out, and I was out of town. And it was just the most delightful thing to be like, ‘Oh yes, I would love to come in and be a different Klingon.’ And I’m such a fan of Lower Decks. I think they just do such great stuff. Mike [McMahan] and Brad [Winters] have always been so lovely, and I’ve just always enjoyed their company. And so, this moment was so perfect. They were like, ‘Wait a minute, we need a lady Klingon. We know a lady Klingon.’
I did get to do L’Rell’s voice on Star Trek Online, as I said, and that was great to continue on with her voice. But to then get to do a new Klingon of this era was just such a delight. It’s such a great comedy. They just write it so sharply. It just all made sense. When I got the lines, I was like, ‘Oh yes, this is a lady.’
The Differences Between K’Elarra In Star Trek: Lower Decks And L’Rell In Discovery
The first thing I noticed about K’Elarra, when I realized it was you doing the voice, is that you didn’t have Klingon teeth to talk through like you did with L’Rell, right? I was like, ‘Wait, Mary sounds different.’ And it took me a minute to put it together. So tell me about playing a Klingon without the prosthetics where you’re just doing the voice.
Mary Chieffo: Totally, yeah, without the prosthetics, without the teeth, without the accent. For L’Rell, I developed such a specific dialect based off of the fact that we were speaking so much Klingon. Those Klingons hadn’t been exposed to the Federation English. K’Elarra is from the TNG era, so I really got to have it be closer to that more heightened Shakespearean dialect. And I let her have a little bit more of Mary’s flavor in a certain way, which I delighted in.
I think again, having done all the different Klingon research in the past and looked at all the different Klingon women, I did really try and pull from different elements. And when I was in the recording booth, Brad and I had so much fun playing with the sultry moments where she really does get into the sexy talk, and then when it gets really gruff. It was really fun to play with a different from L’Rell but still very Klingon energy.
My favorite line was when Mariner goes, ‘What crawled up her boob window?’ Refresh my memory, but L’Rell didn’t have one, right?
Mary Chieffo: No boob window. My first Chancellor copper dress did have a nice, long V line. (laughs) We joked that it was like she was setting the precedent. But no, I did not ever have an official boob window, so I’m glad that I have fulfilled that legacy as well.
What Could Have Happened To L’Rell And Her Family After Star Trek: Discovery
Was Chancellor L’Rell Erased From Klingon History?
As you mentioned, you played L’Rell in the first two seasons ofDiscoveryandStar Trek Online. Do you have any headcanon about what you think happened to L’Rell, Ash Tyler, and Tenavik?
Mary Chieffo: I love that question. A lot of what they played with in Star Trek Online was very cool. They kind of went a little bit more with Tenavik, and bringing me back. It’s a completely different timeline. So I thought that was very fun. But for me, it’s the question I love to pose. And I felt this from the beginning with L’Rell, even before she became chancellor, with all of the characters we were playing on Discovery in the first two seasons, you kind of have this question mark of why aren’t they referenced in the future? And obviously, we got a huge part of that answered at the end of season two for everyone, but for L’Rell to be Chancellor, I do think it is quite prescient. Why do so many female leaders get forgotten and erased from history?
I would love to see what could have possibly happened. How long did she reign? And is it just that they kind of take her for granted at a certain point, or was there some sort of coup? I do think there’s a lot of potential, but I’ve always been really fascinated by the question of what could have happened? Because something happened that didn’t allow her to be spoken of in the future. Obviously, we know because the shows were written beforehand, but I think that’s the fun of any sort of prequel. We do get to ask that question and maybe investigate it.
I can only imagine, given L’Rell’s track record on the show, I’m sure it’s probably a very tragic reason. I can only imagine it getting a little more Greek and a little more Shakespearean. And speaking of Tenavik, I think the episode with him is just so incredibly beautiful. The tragedy, I would love to imagine a world where L’Rell does finally get to be reunited with him as an adult. I would love that.
Was Mary Chieffo’s L’Rell Contacted About Being In Star Trek: Section 31?
Section 31 Is A Discovery Spinoff That Was Originally Planned As A TV Series
There are a couple of seasons ofStrange New Worldscoming up. Maybe they’ll touch on it. It’s the same era. I’m also so excited forSection 31,Originally it was supposed to be a TV show. Were you ever in the loop about maybe a part in that before it became a movie?
Mary Chieffo: No, I wasn’t. I mean, I thought it was a great idea. I think it is awesome to explore that world. L’Rell obviously had a lot of interactions with Georgiou, and took some fair amount of advice from her too. But alas, no L’Rell in Section 31.
Star Trek: Discovery’s Klingons Were From A Different Sect
We haven’t seen theDiscoveryKlingons in years, and I was thinking aboutStarfleet Academyand I wish they would do Klingon 101, and canonically explain all the different types. Just sort of all out for the cadets in the future. I remember you once said that your Klingons were from a different sect.
Mary Chieffo: Yes, when we first were exploring it in the very first episodes with T’Kuvma, they were a kind of a more ancient race or legacy. That was what T’Kuvma found to be true. And he created this sarcophagus ship, the ship of the dead. And I really loved that. I remember we had some in-depth conversations, even in the rehearsals before we filmed anything, about how, he had been ostracized as a Klingon, and wanted to create a space for other Klingons that had been not taken seriously, and not respected.
It was a house of misfits in a lot of ways. Voq, and then L’Rell, being from two different houses, and L’Rell being from one of the only female-led houses, the house Makai, who were spies. We didn’t explore it fully in depth, but I definitely felt that that was the history we all brought as those Klingons, knowing that was part of why we loved T’Kuvma. He was a leader for all Klingons, not just some of the more brutalistic and loud ones.
You were, of course, part ofDiscoveryfrom the beginning. You helped lay the foundation for everything we have now. What’s your perspective on howStar Trekhas evolved in the last six or seven years as someone who helped usher it all in?
Mary Chieffo: Thank you. And I do feel that. Discovery was this incredible moment near the beginning where we were, ‘Oh, here we are, we’re bringing this franchise back to life on the medium-sized screen, or whatever screen you may have. I feel so honored again to have been a part of that beginning, and it’s been amazing to see what’s happened since.
I was thinking about Lower Decks and how I think it was maybe the second or third Vegas. You know, Star Trek Las Vegas is always a benchmark. It has been for me since before the show even aired. I came to that one to help promote the show. So it has become just a consistent part of my life. But I remember the year that Lower Decks was announced, and Mike was there with a bunch of the writers, and I remember us all meeting up for dinner and just being like, ‘Welcome to the family!’ Because that had been what we had experienced as Discovery from the fans and everyone. So it was very cool with Lower Decks.
And then I remember when they announced Picard, and obviously, Strange New Worlds was directly out of the Discovery family. And so, it’s been incredible to just see the franchise continue to expand. And as a queer woman, it’s been thrilling to see how much more LGBTQ representation we’re getting. And I hope we get even more Star Trek across the board. You know, infinite diversity and infinite combinations. I hope that legacy just continues because it is, it’s infinite. And I hope with the amount of shows that are coming out, we just get more and more.
About Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
In Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, the crew of the USS Cerritos is tasked with closing “space potholes” – subspace rifts that are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Jr. Officers Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford … if they didn’t also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries, and scariest of all: their own career aspirations. This upcoming season on Paramount+ is a celebration of this underdog crew who are dangerously close to being promoted out of the lower decks and into strange new Starfleet roles.
Check out our otherStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 interviews:
New episodes ofStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.
