Sonequa Martin-Green: First African American Woman To Lead ‘Star Trek’ Ensemble Cast!

Sonequa Martin-Green

Sonequa Martin-Green Makes History

Actress Sonequa Martin-Green has nabbed a huge new role. Martin-Green, will star on the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery as Lt. Camdr. Rainsford, who is described as “lieutenant commander with caveats ”, according to a report. The 31-year-old is the first African American woman to lead a Star Trek cast. The series co-creator, Brian Fuller, made it a goal to cast a “non-white actress” for the part In August he explained,

Star Trek started with a wonderful expression of diversity in its cast … we’re continuing that tradition. We wanted to paint a picture of Starlet that’s indicative of encountering people who are much more different than we are.

The series will also feature the franchise’s first openly gay character. In a bit of a deviation, Martin-Green’s character is not a captain. Fuller stated,

We’ve seen six series from the captain’s point of view. To see a character from a [new] perspective on the starship — one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context.

Sonequa joined the cast of AMC’s hit show The Walking Dead as Sasha Williams during season three. Previously, she starred as Courtney Wells on CBS’ The Good Wife and on ABC’s Once Upon A Time as Tamara. Reportedly (although it hasn’t been confirmed), Martin-Green, will remain on The Walking Dead. The series will premiere in May on CBS and then head to “All Access,” the network’s live streaming and video-on-demand service. Discovery will also be distributed by Netflix. Mary Chieffo, Doug Jones, Chris Obi, Anthony Rapp and Michelle Yeoh round out the cast. Congrats to her!

By: @missjohnsonp_