‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Casts Rainn Wilson as Original Series Character Harry Mudd
“Star Trek: Discovery” has cast “The Office” alum Rainn Wilson in the role of Harry Mudd, Variety has learned. It is unknown how many episodes Wilson will appear in at this time.
Mudd was a charismatic interstellar con man who had repeated run-ins with the crew of the Enterprise in the original “Star Trek.” The character, who was first played by Roger C. Carmel, also appeared in an episode of “Star Trek: The Animated Series.”
Wilson, in addition to his Emmy-nominated role on “The Office,” starred in the Fox series “Backstrom” and HBO’s “Six Feet Under.” On the film side, he has starred in the indie film “Super,” “The Rocker,” and he will also provide the voice of Gargamel in the upcoming movie “Smurfs: The Lost Village.” He is repped by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
He joins “The Walking Dead” actress Sonequa Martin-Green, who will star as the lead lieutenant commander, plus James Frain as Spock’s father Sarek, Anthony Rapp as a space fungus expert, and Michelle Yeoh as the captain in charge of the Starship Shenzhou. Other cast members include: Jason Isaacs as the captain of the Discovery; Terry Serpico as Admiral Anderson, a high-ranking official of Starfleet; Maulik Pancholy as Dr. Nambue, the chief medical officer of the Starship Shenzhou; and Sam Vartholomeos as Ensign Connor, a junior officer in Starfleet Academy assigned to the Starship Shenzhou.
“Discovery” was originally set to launch CBS All Access in January 2017, but the hotly anticipated series has been repeatedly delayed and now is pushed to debut late this summer or in early fall. The CBS streaming service was instead kicked off with the help of “The Good Wife” spinoff, “The Good Fight.”
As Variety previously reported, sources say difficulties casting and behind-the-scenes flux, including Bryan Fuller stepping down as showrunner, are cause for the show’s delay. CBS Corp. boss Leslie Moonves previously said at an investor conference that he was confident in the quality of the series, and the delay is due to requiring a lot of post production. “It’s important to get it right, and ‘Star Trek’ is the family jewels,” Moonves said.
“Star Trek: Discovery” hails from CBS Television Studios, Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Exec producers are Kurtzman, Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg, Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth.
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