Hey nerds!
I'm Wil Wheaton!
And this is "The Ready Room,"
your official behind-the-scenes hub
for all things Star Trek Universe.
Today, we'll be looking at Star Trek: Discovery's
latest episode, "Terra Firma, Part 2."
So if you haven't watched the jaw-dropping conclusion
to this epic two-part episode, trust me when I say
there are massive spoilers coming your way
-: in about 30 seconds.
Spoilers that you absolutely want to avoid.
So be sure to watch that episode first
before you watch our episode
if only because it was so unbelievably cool.
Oh my God.
To that end
our special guest today is the only guest
that makes sense for this installment of "The Ready Room."
I am talking about her most Imperial Majesty,
Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan,
Dominus of Kronos, Regina Andor,
Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius,
Michelle Yeoh is joining us all the way from Paris!
And if that wasn't enough
we also have an exclusive clip from next week's episode
of Star Trek: Discovery coming your way
after the interview.
But before we get to that,
I can't not talk about it anymore.
The Guardian of Forever!
The freaking Guardian of Forever on Star Trek: Discovery!
I literally jumped up off my couch when that was revealed.
How unbelievably cool was that!
For more details on this beautiful sendoff for Georgiou,
let's go to our latest "Moments of Discovery" video.
Control room, did you see the Guardian of Forever? Ah!
Engage.
This isn't the Terran Universe.
A vulnerability is not a death sentence.
[Michelle] One of the interesting things
about their relationship
that we try to highlight in subtle ways
over the course of the season
is that they are not each other's person.
This isn't Prime Georgiou and this isn't Mirror Burnham.
They are the mirrors of one another put together.
My hand
is fine.
bowl crashes: - [Tilly gasps]
See?
Where I'm from wars would've started over much less.
Thankfully we're not there.
For her to go back and realize how disconnected she was
and that she hungered for a connection
that she didn't even realize at the time.
And she's now found that with this crew
and with this person in particular, Burnham.
You gave me new life.
And the rest of your crew isn't so bad either.
And it's sad for her at the end
that she's gonna have to go and let go of that.
I think a lot of the struggle in their relationship
has been trying to relate to one another
as the person they knew, not the person they are.
But in that final moment together
they're both able to admit you are my person.
I've seen that some endings are inevitable.
Mine, Captain Burnham's,
and perhaps your Philippa was destined for her end as well.
You are my Philippa.
They have found a way
to love and honor one another for who they are,
and that they've both been changed by one another.
I just think it's really beautiful
that they were able to get to that place.
I'm gonna send you back to a time
when the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe
are still aligned.
Then it's time for Georgiou to leave
and she has no choice.
That's so you won't fall apart, atomically speaking.
Now she's wanting this Burnham to come with her
and that's not possible.
Can Michael come with me?
Afraid not.
This Michael Burnham is right where she needs to be.
And then Georgiou is able to leave
and it's tragic and wonderful and bitter sweet
all at the same time.
Who are you?
Really?
[Guardian] Really?
[echoing] I am the Guardian
of Forever.
It was really interesting
when we start talking about the Guardian of Forever
because it's always great to have these callbacks
back to TOS.
Because no matter how far ahead we are in the future,
it grounds us into what Trek is really about.
[Michelle] At the end I think she realizes
that wherever she lands
she can create a new life that does have connection.
She doesn't have to go back to the person she was.
She is as changeable as all of us
and she gets to choose the future she wants for herself.
And I think that's the crossroads she finds herself in.
[portal rumbling]
When we first read Episode 10 and realized
that that was gonna be Michelle's last episode,
it was pretty emotional for us on Discovery.
people cheering: - It was really important to us
that we gave her the sendoff of an emperor.
Let's put this on the coolest location we could find,
which it is,
let's build the coolest Gate of Forever which we could,
which we did.
And it was very emotional
saying goodbye to her on that last day.
It's a pretty big deal for us.
[people cheering]
I am extremely excited to welcome my next guest.
The most badass emperor
Star Trek has ever known or ever will know.
Michelle Yeoh, thank you so much for joining me today.
It is so cool to meet you.
[Michelle laughing]
Well, Wil, hello.
It is really cool to meet you
because I've been such a fan of yours
since you were young Wesley
-: in The Next Generation. -: I love that.
-: I love that so much. -: No, I really related,
I wanted to be
you.
-: You were so cool. -: Oh my gosh.
You were so smart
and I wanted to be that young, smart kid.
Ah!
If I could open up a portal to my teenage self
and just let him know that someday
we're gonna get to have this conversation,
he's gonna feel so much better about a lot of things.
Aww.
Let us dive into these two "Terra Firma" episodes.
Going back to the Mirror Universe.
Were you as shocked as we all were
that you were gonna get to go back
and revisit that universe?
After three years of Star Trek: Discovery,
nothing shocks me.
It's like you're waiting there to be excited,
to be, you know, swept off your feet
and to go, "Wow, is that really happening?"
And I think the entire cast was just so excited
to be the mirror of themselves, you know?
-: Yeah. -: And see.
And they relished in playing those characters.
I mean it just comes oozing out of them
and everyone was trying to decide how they would play it.
I mean I was an old hag.
I'd been doing it for, you know, three episodes,
doing the Emperor
-: from the Mirror Universe. -: Yeah.
And I could see everyone else around
like Tilly,
Mary Wiseman, and Sonequa!
-: Oh my God, it's maniacal. -: Yeah.
I looked at them and go
"I really don't want you to follow me back."
laughing: No, no, no. -: Yeah.
We had a really good time exploring that universe
-: for what it was. -: Yes. Yeah.
And I think especially for the Emperor,
after having been away from it
and then coming back to the Mirror Universe
with
new eyes.
-: I think enlightened -: Yeah.
in a certain way
by
the Discovery.
Oh my God, the goody good shoes from Starfleet.
From Michael Burnham to Saru and
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
And it really
sank deeply in her
more than she actually wanted to admit
-: some of the times. -: Yeah.
So it was a dynamic
two episodes
going into the Terran world.
Her story arc is so interesting
and so satisfying to watch.
It's to inspiring that someone from the Terran Empire
could be changed
as much
as she has been changed
by her time in the Prime Universe.
And I thought that it was symbolic and beautiful
that you and Sonequa start the series
in the Jordanian desert together,
kind of like out in the middle of nowhere,
and then
you finish
in a similar
visual environment.
And it is almost as if things have come full circle
for the two characters,
going all the way back to the beginning of Discovery.
Would you talk a little bit about
what that experience was like,
both saying goodbye to Michael Burnham
and also saying goodbye to Sonequa.
You're right.
It seems like a full circle,
especially in the way of the scenery, how it all played out.
To be honest, when we arrived on location that morning
it was very different from what you see now.
-: Interesting. -: It was
as far as the eye could see, it was just gravel.
-: Yeah. -: It was like,
it was supposed to be a more desert
-: but with stones. -: Uh-huh.
You know, barren kind of thing.
And then the hand of God stepped in and said guess what?
I'm gonna take you guys, you girls, you ladies
back in a full circle and gaza-boom!
Snow started coming in.
If you looked properly, we are not dressed for that day.
-: No you're not at all. -: Wearing our leather outfits
with leather--
no.
And as the day progressed it suddenly went,
oh my God, the whole landscape just went completely white.
-: Wow. -: We were doing
the entire scene with snow flurries
and I looked at, yep,
at one of the shots
and I go "Oh my God.
My face is frozen.
I am speaking like this."
[both laughing]
And it's like one of the most powerful scenes
but it,
it really did bring the entire journey
for these two ladies like to a full circle
in the sense we started out in the blistering hot
-: in a sandstorm. -: Yeah.
And now we are saying goodbye in this.
It's beautiful.
Did you have conversations with the writers at all
regarding Georgiou's storyline?
Did you know
that she was always going to be leaving around Episode 310?
No.
Actually,
I talked about it with Alex and Michelle
and I did ask them I said
"Did we always plan for Georgiou to leave?"
-: Yeah. -: And
it wasn't planned this way.
-: Yeah. -: But
it came a point where it was necessary
if we were to go on more journeys
-: Got it. -: with Emperor Georgiou
that some things have to happen.
And it was,
if I talk about it now,
I haven't stopped crying since I...
[Michelle sighing]
I get it.
[Michelle laughing]
This is not Emperor Georgiou.
-: Yeah. -: But...
-: I completely get it.
Like these--
And I wanted to ask you about how you feel about her.
Like when we come to these moments,
and they happen to all of us as actors,
we come to these moments where the character arc is finished
and we've had an incredible time telling the story
and we've fallen in love with our cast members
and we feel so strongly about it,
and then we have to let it go.
And we have to,
we have to just say goodbye to that.
How hard is it to say goodbye to her?
-: It's never gonna be goodbye.
-: Not if I have a hand in that. -: Yeah?
-: More of a see ya later? -: [Michelle laughing]
But at that moment it was really tough.
-: Yeah. -: 'Cause, you know,
knowing that
I won't be seeing my new family for a while.
I mean we will always be in touch
as we are always in touch with each other,
but it is more difficult because I related on so many levels
with the different characters that we played
and the actors
who gave some of the most amazing performances
and brought all these characters that were on paper to life.
And our writers were just brilliant.
They gave us--
they painted a canvas
and allowed us to step into these new worlds
with characters that have so much background
and complexities.
In my 30 years of being in the business,
Georgiou has been so fulfilling as an actor
that it's been awesome.
And so for that reason alone, I'm never going away.
They have me there.
You got to play a tremendous range with Georgiou.
She starts out as a renegade.
She starts out--
she never stops being a badass
but she starts out
really being antagonistic
and
when she goes back to the Mirror Universe
we see how much she has changed
compared to her fellow Terrans.
Would you talk a little bit
about playing those scenes with that different context?
As Captain Philippa Georgiou
she was the core of goodness, the heroic,
everyone's hero and you want that person to be your mentor,
and when she died, the writers, everybody,
-: kept her spirit alive. -: Mm-hm.
So when Emperor Georgiou
from the Mirror Universe turns up,
everybody is horrified
because we all know what the Terran world is about.
But she was born into a world where a sign of weakness,
any vulnerability means instant death.
-: Mm-hm. -: And she did not come up
by being kind to the people around her.
She threw her weight around and she was skilled
and she was masterful in manipulation
and I think she learned how to read people instantaneously,
who were her people that she could trust
and people she had to destroy.
-: Mm-hm. -: Then, of course,
here comes
Sonequa Martin-Green,
or Michael Burnham.
-: Yeah. -: The good Michael Burnham.
And it changed her.
It completely showed her this is the Michael,
this is the daughter that she had always wanted.
I mean why do you build an empire?
-: You don't live forever. -: Right.
You build it for the people that you love.
And for her the one person that she truly loved
was Michael Burnham.
And upon meeting the good Michael Burnham
she realized we have to change.
So when she was given the second chance by our
glorious Guardian of the Portal
-: Yes. -: to go in,
that was when she was also being weighed
to see if she had changed
because it is very obvious
that Emperor Georgiou's journey has not ended.
-: Right. -: It has not come to an end.
But it depends on her whether it will end abruptly.
So in that way,
I loved when she walks through the portal
and she realizes, oh my God,
I am dressed as the Terran Empire
and I can see all my soldiers in front of me
expecting the badass Emperor,
and you can see in her eyes
she has changed dramatically and drastically.
It's a really beautiful, very Star Trek redemption arc
that says we all have choices to make.
We can overcome what is expected of us.
We don't have to
fulfill a destiny that someone chose for us,
we get to do our own things.
And one of the things I have always loved about Star Trek
is that it works on multiple levels.
We have this deeply philosophical level
that rides with the entertainment,
but we also have this incredible
action, science fiction level of it
and I wanted to switch gears
and talk about that for a moment.
You have some amazing fight sequences this season.
This latest episode in particular,
you have this incredible,
just amazing all-out melee with the crew.
Would you talk a little bit about
filming some of these more physically challenging scenes
this season?
Well, thanks to our stunt team led by Chris McGuire
-: Mm-hm. -: and his whole team.
They are just brilliant.
And my stunt person, you know, people that are,
who was part of that core team,
understands the kind of action
they want to bring to the table.
I mean the scenes are written for us.
It's setup for us in that way.
Yeah.
But when I walk up to Chris, we talk about the drama.
Why are we fighting?
-: Mm-hm. -: Because that will change the
dimensions and the diversity of the styles of fighting.
-: Mm-hm.
Are we just doing a street brawl?
But then when I fight with Michael Burnham,
-: these are two high warriors. -: Right.
So there has to be a different style of fighting.
Are they fighting to kill each other
or are they fighting a defensive way?
-: We have to understand that. -: Yeah.
Well I mean it's a beautifully choreographed dance
that is just a joy to watch.
Safety first.
That's the most important thing.
No matter where she is,
whether she is in the Prime Universe
or she is in the Mirror Universe,
Georgiou always has the most amazing costumes.
Just the most incredible, beautiful outfits
I have ever seen.
In these two episodes, you got to wear that crown
and that incredible fur cape.
Do you have a favorite piece
that Gersha Phillips designed for you
whether Mirror Universe or Prime Universe?
I am,
full disclosure, I have been so envious
of the incredible clothes you have gotten to wear
all season long.
It's almost like she is in this like futuristic fetish gear
-: that is just so, so cool! -: [Michelle laughing]
That is so funny.
Gersha Phillips and her team, they rock.
They rock to the universe and back.
Yeah.
Every time I walk into their creative room
I'm just prepared
because Emperor Georgiou has the most stunning outfits.
She needs her own collection.
The outfits, the corsets, the rubber,
-: the leather, the boots, -: Yeah.
-: and the jewelry. -: Yeah.
My God.
That tiara, when I looked at it I was like my, gee, wow!
Somebody's gonna be really jealous up there [laughing].
And it sets like a halo.
Yeah.
-: It's very grand. -: Yeah.
And I have so much fun.
Lena Headey says that when she put on the corset
and the dress and the wig to become Cersei Lannister
she was just automatically
just constricted and uptight
and just like it made the character just explode out of her.
When you put on Georgiou's regal
just badass clothes,
that honestly, all of her clothes should go on a tour.
Like the costumes should go on a tour
with the jewelry and everything so we can see them up close.
-: But when it's on-- -: Right?
Do you feel that?
Is it one of those things where it comes on
and it's just like, oh, this little extra piece of her
just explodes into being because the costumes pull it out?
Emperor Georgiou is like contained.
-: Oh, how interesting. -: Is in armor.
-: Yeah. -: It's like a protection.
If you look at it, you know, her cape,
her armor that sits around her and her sword by her side,
it keeps you very upright
'cause you can't like slouch
and, you know, do weird things in it.
-: But it exudes power. -: Yeah. Yeah.
But it doesn't come exploding out.
It's like [grunting].
And you want it like all kept in.
Oh that's great.
That's what Gersha and her team has done
is like they speak for themselves.
The episode that we just saw
has very strong ties to the original series.
Very obviously, the Mirror Universe
in the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror."
We've had the fortune,
good fortune of visiting that universe a couple of times.
But the ending has this amazing reveal
when we find out that it was The Guardian of Forever
from the City on the Edge of Forever
that made all of this possible.
How amazing is it
to see Discovery paying homage
and connecting to the rich legacy
of the original Star Trek series?
That is kudos to the showrunners,
you know, Alex and Michelle, you know?
And the writers who really bring all these nuances
back to the front
because at the back of their head
they know all the things that they need to do
to make sure that this world is kept to what it is.
So homages like this are so important, right?
And the Guardian of the Portal, of Forever,
is so apropos to what's happening now.
-: Yes. -: He says to Georgiou,
"When you're ready go forward.
Go through the door."
And what we are saying today is
we have a pandemic.
This is the time when we have to move forward.
We have to leave behind all of the burden,
all of the bad things,
and all of the luggage that we have, behind,
step through the portal, and make it a better world,
and be a better person.
So it seems like the homage we are paying
is like also a reminder of what we can do for ourselves
and for our planet.
That's like the ultimate Star Trek message
is "We are better than this."
We, together, can do more than we are doing right now.
Yeah, that is the ultimate Star Trek message.
It is interesting to me how when you did this episode,
none of us knew we were going to be doing this now.
None of us knew we were gonna be in a pandemic
and that we would be talking to each other
from two continents right now.
I know, but that's,
I guess, you know, we are so--
a lot of the times when you think the way the writers think,
they're almost ahead of themselves.
Star Trek always told me, when I was a little boy,
Star Trek always said "There's a future."
And Star Trek always said like this moment is not great, but
there are better moments ahead, when we work together,
when, you know, when we come together.
That message seems to
parallel
Georgiou's character arc.
I think it kind of tracks the larger message of Star Trek
which is
we can do more together than we can do alone.
And I feel like
from seeing her as the wholesome Captain of the Shenzhou
to being the terrifying Emperor of the Terran Empire,
to being an agent of Section 31,
to seeing her finish off this transformation,
going through the portal back to the Mirror Universe.
When you look back
on all these individual pieces of her experience,
how do you feel about your character's journey on the show
from Season 1 to now,
and is there anything we haven't talked about
that you deeply care about that you want to touch on
while we still have some time in "The Ready Room" today?
Wow.
We only have some time?
Wow, we're gonna need a lot of time--
We'll take as much time as you've got.
[Michelle laughing]
[Michelle] No.
I do believe there is always good in people.
-: Yeah. -: And this is what we've seen
with the Terran Emperor.
And she is the epitome of the Terran world.
If she can change,
just what she can do to inspire other people to do.
DiscoveryMm-hm.
But change don't come so easily because we're weird.
You know, we resist changes as if it's going to destroy us
but certain changes in our lives are necessary
to make it better.
But we have to be also surrounded by good people
who understand what are the necessary ways
and changes to make.
And for Georgiou, she was very blessed
that Michael Burnham and the Discovery
crashed back into the Mirror Universe,
and she met the good people of Starfleet,
you know. From Tilly--
I really,
as a person, I really relate to the character Tilly.
-: Because-- -: Me too.
Right?
Ah, I feel so seen right now.
[Michelle laughing]
And I love looking up at Saru who's like six foot,
-: Yeah. -: seven foot tall.
And even though the Emperor is so much shorter,
you know, it's not the stature.
It's like,
all right, we're toe-to-toe on this.
And, you know, when Saru tries to dismiss her
the Emperor's like, "Not a chance buddy."
And she's already, she left.
So
she has learned to give and take
from the people in the Starfleet
and I think that's how she grew
and that's how she learned about humanity.
And I think for all of us,
as a human being,
this character has brought to light, you know,
to the forefront, so many things
-: that we all strive to be. -: Yeah.
You know, and sometimes when we think,
ah, it's a hopeless situation.
Maybe it's not so hopeless.
It's only hopeless because we think it is
and we haven't tried.
She is a beautiful example of the Star Trek philosophy
that no one,
no one is beyond redemption.
There is redemption for everyone
if they're willing to put in the work.
Yes.
If they're willing to put in the work.
-: And that's-- -: Yeah.
I think that is the most important message, as well,
is that we must be,
we must open our hearts to that.
It's only ourselves to be blamed
if we can't change.
So, I thank my writers, my God.
They have been like my,
my pedestal.
They have been my solid foundation
of how I could just play and explore with this character.
I love Georgiou.
I hope that she is not gone.
I hope that we will see her again
at some point in the future.
Georgiou is never going away.
-: Excellent. -: She will live on and on.
[Michelle laughing]
Well, I know I speak for myself,
and I suspect I speak for a great deal of fandom
when I say "Excellent."
[Michelle laughing]
Thank you so much for coming to "The Ready Room"
and spending some time with me today.
I am incredibly grateful.
It's been a real pleasure.
Thank you.
A little earlier I talked with Michelle
about some of Georgiou's epic fight scenes.
Now we have even more insights
into the making of these action-packed set pieces
with Discovery's own Stunt Coordinator, Chris McGuire.
Take a look.
I grew up a karate geek.
I grew up doing martial arts.
My brother and I would reenact all the Bruce Lee movies
and, you know, we would just reenact these fight scenes.
We have
the wonderful Chris McGuire
who is the captain of orchestrating those fight sequences.
Whenever you're doing a fight sequence
you always want to go back to the story.
We purposely made the conscious decision
to make sure that the fight felt rough.
Not clean.
Messy.
And the reason why it felt messy
is because our emotions
were hindering our physical movement.
Character-wise, they're two brothers
who haven't seen each other in quite some time
and there's a lot of built-in resentment and whatnot.
When you have two very physical actors
in a very emotional scene,
every single beat of that fight needs to be choreographed.
When you're fighting with family,
and I can say this from experience, I have four brothers,
there's certain barriers that you can punch through
because you're family.
So in actuality you go harder.
So we had to have the openness in the room
to really go hard for each other.
So in this fight sequence there are headbutts,
there are kicks, very heavy punches.
And I think it needs to be that raw.
It had to be
'cause you always want different fights
to have different textures.
And, again, it informs the story and the relationship
between these brothers.
And I really do hope that that translates on screen.
[yelling]
I love moving my body and I do some fighting outside,
not professional,
but just doing some light kickboxing or Muay Thai.
But to actually do it
knowing that you are fighting against somebody
and embodying a character that is fighting for their life,
it's a completely,
completely different thing.
Your whole mind and body has to,
has to be in it.
You have to believe you're about to kill this person.
What we'll do is rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
It builds into their muscle memory
so that they're not having to think about
whether their left foot goes there or right foot goes there.
And then they can totally, safely, of course,
immerse themselves in the character and let go.
But Chris is so good
in terms of helping you move
the way your body naturally moves
because not everybody fights the same way,
not everybody moves the same way.
I would throw a punch and he's like, "Oyin, really close
you're not gonna hit somebody like that.
Your fingers will break."
So you have to really be committed.
[metal clashing]
So we did a big sequence in Episode 10
in the Mirror Universe
where Georgiou has a fight with Mirror Burnham.
It's just you and me now, mother.
[Chris] Michelle is always very specific
as to what she wants
and what she doesn't want in a sequence.
So in this particular sequence
she wanted to be on the defensive the entire time.
She didn't wanna throw a punch or kick
and she wanted it designed
so that she had absolutely no choice
but to kill Mirror Burnham at the end of the sequence.
So we design something. Michelle comes in
and she tells us what she likes and what she doesn't like.
That's very exciting 'cause I've been a fan,
you know, growing up.
And then we sort of roll the camera
and sit back and I can guarantee you
you're gonna see something pretty special.
As we bring ourselves back from The Edge of Forever,
inquiring minds would like to know
where is the Discovery crew heading next?
Well, I'm going to give you just a hint
with this brand new exclusive sneak peak
from next week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Enjoy.
[Saru] Wherever she is,
I'm sure she's getting help.
Lucky to have each other.
You're a part of that, you know?
You have them.
And you have us.
I miss her already.
We're sort of a package deal.
You have me too.
You're back?
Is that Gray?
Gray's here?
You're lucky that we are at a memorial service,
or I'd be giving you a piece of my mind.
I'll just be checking something.
Yeah.
Thank you, as always,
for joining me here in "The Ready Room."
Next week we have representatives from both sides
of Star Trek: Discovery's galactic conflict
beaming into "The Ready Room."
Doug Jones will be representing Starfleet
and Janet Kidder will be representing the Emerald Chain.
Until then, I'm Wil Wheaton.
Live long and prosper.