John Cho hasn’t yet had the chance to speak with George Takei following the announcement that Hikaru Sulu is revealed as gay in Star Trek Beyond. This dynamic is not unlike the current state of USA politics (with some politicians obsessing over all the different people supposedly coming to kill us, and others calling for unity in troubled times), a fact that star John Cho says was not lost on him or his Beyond castmates. “When I thought about it, I wanted two things: I wanted the parents to look as traditional as possible”.
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Basically it was a little Valentine to the gay Asian friends that I grew up with. And according to the man who plays the character, John Cho, it might have further ventured into new realms by providing Sulu with an on-screen same-sex kiss – except that it didn’t make it into the final cut. This is an important point for me and I’d like to know your opinion on this too. It was directed by Justin Lin and written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. Asked when that time came, he said: “I don’t know”.
But the writer gave in eventually, somewhat out of necessity. We definitely had trouble finding East Asians first off, and then actors willing to play gay. They embrace and walk off with their young daughter. Cho spoke with Variety promoting the film and said that he hasn’t been able to talk with Takei, who originated the role and said after the announcement that he was opposed to changing the sexuality of an existing Star Trek character.
The new series titled Star Trek: Boldly Go takes the place of the current ongoing Star Trek comic and reunites fan-favorite creative team Mike Johnson and Tony Shasteen to tell the continuing stories of Kirk, Spock, Uhura and the whole crew in the direct fallout of the events of Star Trek Beyond.
“It felt like the way to make it a non-event”. “You know, it’s really not an issue”.
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Yet the actor and activist called the choice “unfortunate” and untrue to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s vision.
