Summary
- Directing Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou in Section 31 was described as “incredible” by Osunsanmi.
- The first Star Trek movie made for streaming, Section 31, features Yeoh back as the anti-heroine Georgiou.
- Osunsanmi praised Yeoh’s performance, saying it felt like they never stopped filming with her.
Star Trek: Section 31 director Olatunde Osunsanmi says directing Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh’s return as Emperor Philippa Georgiou was “incredible.” The first Star Trek movie made for streaming on Paramount+, Section 31 brings Yeoh back as Georgiou, the anti-heroine originally introduced in Star Trek: Discovery. Osunsanmi is a producer and director of Star Trek: Discovery who helmed 14 episodes of the show, including the upcoming series finale, “Life, Itself,” before directing Star Trek: Section 31.
At WonderCon, Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s premiere episode was screened, followed by a panel with showrunner Michelle Paradise and director Olatunde Osunsanmi moderated by Scott Mantz. When Mantz asked Olatunde about Star Trek: Section 31 and working with Michelle Yeoh again, Osunsanmi described directing Yeoh in the next Star Trek movie’s first scene, which is glimpsed in the first image released from Section 31. Check out Olatunde’s quote below:
Michelle came in, [and in] that very first scene that we shot, it was like she never left. It was incredible. Actually, that was literally what I told her: It feels like we just stopped filming with you yesterday. And so, what happens in that very first scene is… Oh wait, I can’t give that away.
Again, all these Treks are a little bit different. This one is definitely different, but it’s still Trek. And we just finished shooting just a week and a half ago. And it is awesome.
What We Know About Star Trek: Section 31
Georgiou visits Star Trek’s ‘lost era’
Variety‘s cover story about the future of the Star Trek franchise dropped some big bombshells about Star Trek: Section 31. The most significant is Emperor Georgiou meeting a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) in a nightclub. Star Trek: The Next Generation fans know Rachel Garrett was the first female Captain of the Enterprise. A tragic Star Trek legacy character, Captain Garrett commanded the doomed USS Enterprise-C in the TNG season 3 classic, “Yesterday’s Enterprise.”
A statue of Captain Rachel Garrett was the ‘Red Lady’ that was destroyed on M’Talas Prime in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Star Trek: Section 31 incorporates time travel if Emperor Georgiou meets the young Rachel Garrett and possibly recruits her into Section 31. This also means Section 31 is set at least partly in Star Trek‘s “lost era” between the end of the 23rd century in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the mid-24th century start of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Section 31 is shrouded in mystery, but each dramatic hint only builds anticipation for director Olatunde Osunsanmi’s Star Trek movie to premiere on Paramount+.
