That’d be adorable, for sure. And I’m sure things must have been fun on set. Did any actors have any specific requests or thoughts about their costumes?
We were all pretty giddy with excitement. There was schooling involved. Often our prep time is just two weeks for an episode, and I was lucky that the writers gave me the heads-up about this episode well in advance so I could infuse as much detail as possible. Actors did get a sneak peek at the designs earlier than normal, and they were all thrilled. The great thing about our cast is that they are incredibly collaborative with all the departments and there’s a lot of trust there. We just work as a team. Every character on the show is a team effort. We all contribute equally, I would say.
Costumes, they are such an integral part of filmmaking, and often the actors do find their character through costume. The only feedback really that we got was practical things about movement. Melissa Navia, for instance, who played Sir Adya, had to wield the sword. She had to fight, she had to perform stunts, so we had to make sure that she had enough room in the arms of her jacket and that it wasn’t too long or cumbersome, because she’s actually in real life so petite. It’s just practical things like that we took on board.
You already shared some fun little tidbits, but are there any other little details that you think Trekkies would love to know?
Alex Silverberg is our key sculptor and he hand-sculpted the dragon pauldrons on the Crimson Guard armor. On a “Star Trek” show, we get to use incredible processes like 3D printing, but there is a certain magical charm and organic quality that building something like that from hand brings to the show.
I love mixing both processes, especially if we have the time, and that we can highlight Alex’s insane talent. That was really cool. He actually molded the ones everyone’s wearing from a foam rubber, so they were soft and not heavy and cumbersome on set, especially for stunts and stuff. The piece looked like it had sharp edges. But it was close to people’s faces so we had to make sure it was safe for those stunt sequences. There are about 150 pieces that make up the Crimson Guard armor and everything was custom-built by our special effects team that’s led by the incredible Jennifer M. Johnson. It was just a very labor-intensive episode, but we were just so happy working on it.
Bernadette Croft/Paramount+One costume we haven’t touched on is Celia [Rose Gooding’s], Uhura’s, gown because her outfit is very elaborate and from a layperson looking at it, I’m like, “Wow, that must have taken a lot.” I would love to hear how that came together.
Celia’s fittings are always so lively and fun. She’s someone who puts on the costume and struts around and gets us all going. She put on those finger ornaments and the jewelry and she just embodies the character so effortlessly. Our set team looks after the costume, so they make sure the continuity’s correct. They make sure the actors are comfortable. Instead of wearing all that stuff for 12 hours a day, in between scenes, they help take elements off so the actors can kind of relax because they really do have to conserve their energy, especially on those long shooting days. Our set team makes sure all the elements are kept together and they’re not lost in everything. There are a lot of pieces that they track and they do all the last-minute touches, they make repairs. It’s definitely a team effort.
