Friday, March 18, 2022

AFTER THIS; MERE GOVENORSHIP
Stacey Abrams Becomes President of United Earth on Star Trek: Discovery: 'She's a Civil Hero'


Kelly Wynne 
© Provided by People Marni Grossman/Paramount+
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Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams looked presidential in her recent acting role.

The longtime Star Trek fan, 48, made a cameo in the season 4 finale of Star Trek: Discovery as the new President of United Earth.

Abrams, who is currently the only Democratic candidate in Georgia's race for governor, has been vocal about her future plans to serve as the president of the United States. She previously told Five Thirty Eight that she hopes to run by 2040.

Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green raved about Abrams' cameo, telling Deadline that the cast, including Chelah Horsdal, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala, Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander, were all ecstatic to spend time with the politician.

"I'm still floored when I think about Stacey gracing us with her presence in our Season 4 finale," Martin-Green said. "We spent so much of our time fanning out and pretending to be cool in her midst."

Praising Abrams, the actress added, "She's a legend in the making and a civil hero, and she was an absolute delight to work with. She wowed us with her charm, humility, and generosity, and she whipped out some acting chops too! It was an honor for me as a Black woman to stand with her in the story. It's an experience I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

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Abrams has been vocal about the impact the Star Trek franchise has made in her life, even using plotlines from the show to illustrate her own world views in her book Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change.

Because of her deep love for the series, Abrams had one request when stepping into the role as fictional president, according to executive Producer Michelle Paradise. Abrams agreed to the role if they promised not to spoil anything from season 4 — and just give her the information she needed to play the role.

"She was very specific about that," Paradise told Variety. "She wanted to be able to just watch it and enjoy when the show finally came out. So, yeah, we avoided all the spoilers."

Paradise also said Abrams was a natural choice for the role. "We always knew that Earth returning would be a big, big moment, and coming into season 4, we knew that was going to happen in the finale," she said. "As we started to look ahead to the finale, we realized we are going to need a face for this moment, someone to represent Earth."

Paradise added, "When the time came to start talking about the president of Earth, it seemed like, 'Well, who better to represent that than her?' "

Casting Abrams paid off. "There's just something that made us think, 'Well, of course she can do it,' " Paradise continued. "And she did. She just blew us away."

Georgia's gubernatorial race is expected to conclude in November and Abrams is running against current Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp.

This isn't her first time running for the position. She lost to Kemp in 2018.

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