Martin-Green: Burnham’s Journey From Failure To Self-Forgiveness
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Sonequa Martin-Green is pleased that Star Trek: Discovery was embraced by fans, and grateful to play a character who is principled and moral.
“It’s kind of inexplicable,” said Martin-Green, speaking about Discovery‘s popularity. “It’s hard to put into words just how much it moved me and it touched my heart to see the response. It’s something that you can’t quite wrap your words around. Sometimes, you can’t even wrap your brain around it. That was a big desire of ours: to pay homage to what had come before and establish ourselves as something different as well. The fact that people took to that is astounding.”
The actress spoke about Burnham and her story arc; where Burnham went in the first season and where she will go in the next season. “You get to witness her evolution,” she said. “You meet this person who is still evolving and changing and falling and growing and stretching and straining. The evolution continues in season two, of course, and it was such a road to redemption in season one. It was about fighting for absolution from those deep moral mistakes that have been made, and finding it in small and major ways. You’re going to see the next step in that path of redemption. Self-forgiveness is a big one. You’re going to see Michael grapple and contend with that.”
Burnham’s character appeals to Martin-Green. “I really appreciate how principled Michael Burnham is, just having that standard to live by that is greater than you,” she said. “That is something that really, really speaks to me” and Burnham’s “perseverance “against all odds” is also something that Martin-Green appreciates.
“I certainly would hope that I’m persevering and principled in my own life,” said Martin-Green, “but it definitely makes me want to reach even farther and reach even higher. As Michael Burnham, I stand by a very strict moral code and I’m certainly making my mistakes, but I appreciate the writers for allowing me to do that — to fall and keep getting back up in the pursuit of who I really am as Michael Burnham.”
So what about season two and the rumors swirling about the crew of the Enterprise? “There are a lot [of theories] out there,” she said. “We love the theories. We love them.”
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