page_title: List of Star Trek: Discovery characters
section_title: Michael Burnham
hierarchical_section_title: List of Star Trek: Discovery characters / Main characters / Michael Burnham
caption_attribution_description: English: Cast &amp; creators panel at SDCC 2017
context_page_description: Star Trek: Discovery is an American television series created for CBS All Access by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Set roughly a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series and separate from the timeline of the concurrent feature films, Discovery explores the Federation–Klingon war while following the crew of the USS Discovery. It premiered on September 25, 2017.
  The series stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, a Starfleet mutineer who is given a war-time field assignment as a science specialist on the USS Discovery and the adopted sister of original series character Spock. Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, and Mary Wiseman round out the main cast. They were joined by Jason Isaacs for the first season and Anson Mount for the second. Characters seen previously in Star Trek also appear in recurring roles, including Spock's father Sarek, portrayed by James Frain, and Harry Mudd, portrayed by Rainn Wilson.
  The following list includes Star Trek: Discovery's main cast, as well as all guest stars deemed to have had recurring roles throughout the series, and a supplementary list of other noteworthy guests.
context_section_description: Michael Burnham (portrayed by Sonequa Martin-Green) is a science specialist aboard the USS Discovery. Burnham was First Officer of the USS Shenzhou, where she was referred to as "Number One", until she was convicted of mutiny and sentenced to life in prison. Discovery captain Gabriel Lorca, brings Burnham back to duty with a temporary wartime assignment as a scientist on his ship. Burnham was raised following Vulcan culture and traditions by Sarek, and is the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Science Academy.
  Series co-creator Bryan Fuller had anticipated casting announcements for the show in October 2016, but no announcements had been made by the end of that month. The majority of the series main characters were believed to have been cast by then, but no actress had been cast for the series' lead role. This was a source of "some internal stress" at CBS, with the casting of the character deemed "a far tougher assignment" than expected. Several African American and Latina actresses were being looked at for the role, with CBS "not seeking a huge star and [preferring] a fresh face for the part." Martin-Green was cast in the role in December, which was revealed with the character's production codename "lieutenant commander Rainsford". Her casting was officially confirmed in April 2017, following the end of her run on The Walking Dead, with the character's actual name also revealed. The character has an inner conflict due to being raised by Sarek, with showrunner Aaron Harberts explaining that many of the actresses tested for the role "either went way too robotic and chilly or way too emotional", but Martin-Green was "able to be aloof but warm; logical but able to surrender her emotional side to the audience."
  Since Sarek's son Spock never mentioned a sister in the original series, executive producer Alex Kurtzman said that the specifics of Burnham's backstory would be revealed in a way that would not break the existing canon continuity. As the show's protagonist, Burnham was not made a starship captain, like those of previous Star Trek series, "to see a character from a different perspective on the starship—one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates; it gave us richer context". She is referred to as Number One to honor the character of the same name portrayed by Majel Barrett in the original Star Trek pilot "The Cage", and was initially pitched to CBS as only being called Number One in the series. Fuller deliberately gave the character a traditionally male name as he did with the female leads of three previous (non-Star Trek) productions. Martin-Green decided that the character was named after her biological father.
caption: Sonequa Martin-Green
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