Actor Doug Jones portrays the character of Commander Saru in Star Trek: Discovery. On October 5, 2022, the official Star Trek website posted an interview with Doug.
Doug was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 24, 1960. One of his first paying jobs was as the character Mac Tonight in MacDonald’s commercials in 1986. He also worked as a contortionist: “You’d be surprised how many times that comes into play in commercials. They’ll want somebody to hold a box of Tide funny or something. I once squished into a box for a commercial for relaxed fit jeans.”
Doug’s acting career picked up after 1990’s Night Angel. He was cast as the thin clown in 1992’s Batman Returns and the zombie Billy Butcherson in 1993’s Hocus Pocus. In Hocus Pocus, he met makeup artist Tony Gardner, one artist among many who worked their magic on Doug to make him the memorable character that he has become. Tony made a lasting impression. Guillermo del Toro, who directed 1997’s Mimic, became Doug’s favorite director. “He is my favorite director I’ve ever worked with, and every other director knows that going in. Guillermo knows more about me than I do. He’s a very people absorber. So every actor he’s ever worked with, he sums up their personality within minutes and he knows what buttons to push to get things out of them as a director. It’s a brilliant gift to have as a director.”
Doug said, “So I was born in 1960, The Original Series was on network television in ’66 when I was a six year old boy going, ‘What is that? Whoa.’ The career that I’ve had being under rubber bits, it seemed like it would be a no-brainer to have me in one of these shows or movies along the way as an alien, something, something. And I made it all the way into my mid to late 50’s going, ‘Nope, I guess it’s not gonna happen.’ Then the phone call comes, ‘Hey, Doug, there’s a new Star Trek show coming called Star Trek: Discovery. They just came out with a straight offer to play Saru, a Kelpien. I was told by the writers’ room, you know, you’re a Kelpien. You’re not a Vulcan, but you are the Spock of this show. When I was a kid, he was my guy. He’s the one I related to on the show, he was the taller, thinner one that looked different than everybody else. And like, visually didn’t quite fit in and yet no one made mention of it. I love him, I wanna be him. And so when they said you’ll be the Spock of the show, it’s like, ‘Really?’ So now, sure enough, I am the tallest on the bridge of the starship Discovery.”
Reportedly the offer came from Discovery showrunner Bryan Fuller. “It was like, ‘Oh, I’m getting a call, and no audition is required?’ It was just an offer. I have waited, all my life, for the moment to happen, where a big role in a big series was just being offered to me, based on reputation alone, and it was humbling. The gravity of that was not lost on me, so I wanted to make sure that I met the challenge. I was like, ‘Okay, rubber and glue is gonna continue on Dougie for a while,’ and what comes with that is a legacy with a fandom that is rabid for ‘Star Trek.'”
Doug’s first statement in the YouTube video linked in the “Spock of Discovery” article seems to be a good description of his character. “We actors are known for being divas. There’s an old joke, you know, how do you make an actor complain? Give him a job. Right, so if you go in with that being the stigma that we have, and you’re not that, people think you’re the nicest guy in the world, oh my gosh.” Thank you, Doug, for being a nice guy.
Reference:
Doug Jones on IMDb
Doug Jones on Memory Alpha
Doug Jones on Wikipedia
Doug Jones on Learning from Saru and Being the Spock of Discovery
Doug Jones Was Ready To Be Done With Prosthetics Until He Was Offered Star Trek: Discovery
Who was Mac Tonight? on YouTube
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THIS WEEK IN STAR TREK HISTORY
15 October
1924 – Mark Lenard is born.
16 October
1954 – Jeff McCarthy is born.
17 October
1917 – Marsha Hunt is born.
1945 – Thomas Kopache is born.
1947 – Michael McKean is born.
1956 – Mae Jemison is born.
18 October
2012 – Joel Marston dies.
2013 – Mary Carver dies.
2021 – William Lucking dies.
19 October
1966 – Roger Cross is born.
2002 – John Meredyth Lucas dies.
20 October
1922 – John Anderson is born.
1933 – Ralph Maurer is born.
1934 – Michael Dunn is born.
1942 – Robert Costanzo is born.
2000 – Arthur Tovey dies.
2006 – Jane Wyatt dies.
21 October
1933 – Georgia Brown is born.
1991 – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is viewed by Gene Roddenberry, three days before his death.
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The United Federation Starfleet Blog is written by Captain Hal Jordan and is published every Friday. Join in the discussion! Engage with us on Discord at: discord.io/ufstarfleet
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