‘It makes you feel invisible’
Diversity on the small screen has improved markedly over the past few years, but Star Trek: Discovery stars Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp say it will be a long time before art actually imitates life when it comes to representation on television.
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DIVERSITY on the small screen has improved markedly over the past few years, but Star Trek: Discovery stars Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp say it will be a long time before art actually imitates life when it comes to representation on television.
That’s why the actors, both of whom are gay and who play
a gay couple on the popular sci-fi series, believe groundbreaking relationships like theirs on the show, still need to be called out and celebrated.
“In a way I feel that still for quite some time it will be important to highlight that these relationships are being represented,” Rapp tells Insider. “Because they haven’t been for so long, there’s been such a void, such an absence.”
Rapp, 47, drew international headlines in October 2017 when in an interview with Buzzfeed News, he accused Hollywood heavyweight Kevin Spacey of propositioning him for sex when Rapp was 14 and the House Of Cards star was 26.
Since that bombshell, dozens of men have come forward to accuse the two-time Oscar winner of harassment or abuse. His actions are under investigation in both the US and UK and he is set to stand trial this year in Massachusetts for the alleged abuse of a teen at a bar.
The intense media attention — and the relentless trolling he endured afterwards — has done nothing to stop Rapp from continuing to speak out for change.
“The other day I was strolling around on the internet and somebody had put together a collage of pictures of gay couples through the decades — like gay men in the 1890s being photographed together,” he says.
“So there has been such an absence of representation of any kind and straight young people themselves are so hungry for diversity of storytelling.”
As a gay man who is also of Puerto Rican descent, Cruz, 45, knows only too well what it feels like to be under-represented in television and film.
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He says when viewers who sit within one or more minority groups don’t see themselves represented on the screen, it can have a profoundly negative effect.
“There are people out there who don’t understand how it feels to turn on the TV or go to a movie and not see anyone who looks like or represents you,” he says. “It makes you feel invisible, it makes you feel unimportant, it makes you feel like you’re not part of the culture that you live in every day.”
The tireless advocate for LGBT rights, especially youth of colour, wants to ensure people understand exactly why it’s important and why he and his co-star are so passionate about it.
“I think part of the reason why we still have to have this conversation is that there are still people out there who don’t understand why representation matters,” he says. “Or why it’s important for our industry to make a concerted effort to make their cast look like the world that it actually is taking place in.”
Rapp and Cruz see Star Trek: Discovery — and the franchise as a whole — as a shining light for diversity and inclusion. Its message of tolerance for an array of different life forms and relationships has always been a beacon for respect and understanding.
“We’re following in the footsteps of George Takei and Nichelle Nichols who have used their visibility from being a part of Star Trek to talk about social issues,” Rapp says. “Gene Roddenberry, when he created this show, was trying to help change the world a little bit. Every little ripple can maybe make a difference.”
Cruz agrees and believes the show, which is now streaming its second season on Netflix, is the perfect soapbox from which to spread their message.
“The biggest platform we have is the show itself — we are helping people imagine what a world in which we respect each other’s differences actually looks like and you can’t create that world unless you can imagine it,” he says.
“It is a political act just being on the show and doing this show.”
Both actors are staunch Democrats with an almost palpable dislike for US President Donald Trump. While they admit they were surprised Trump won in 2016, they’re hopeful the vocal movement that has risen since will ensure he’s a one-termer.
“I didn’t think he was going to win, I thought ‘oh yeah there’s no way’ but now of course I’m more awake to the possibility,” he says. “But I think because everybody is so awake, there’s a tremendous movement now.”
Rapp volunteered for then presidential nominee Barack Obama in 2008.
But when asked if he would consider running for any type of political office, he doesn’t leave us guessing.
“Never! I would never,” he says emphatically.
“Only because I don’t want to be in that machine, I want to do what I can from the outside. It would drive me crazy and I’d want to hit my head against the wall, I’d want to scream at some of my colleagues and I know you can’t do that but I’d want to shake them,” he adds.
Cruz, on the other hand, isn’t ruling anything out just yet.
He chokes up in this interview when talking about his love of the United States and like his co-star has been active in the political machine for some time.
“I’ll never say never. If I had a feeling that I could be of service in some way down the line. As furious as I can get about our current circumstances, I love my country and so if I felt that
I could be of service to it, to hold it to its ideals, then I would consider it, sure.
“But I’d only do it if I know I was going to win,” he laughs.
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