Summary
- Celia Rose Gooding and Tawny Newsome formed a real-life friendship through their roles in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks crossover episode.
- Gooding praises Newsome as "the love of my life" and credits her for uplifting her and inspiring her character Uhura's growth.
- The crossover episode allowed both actors to explore their comedic sides and brought a positive, joyful energy to the set.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 crossover episode with Star Trek: Lower Decks sparked a real life friendship between Celia Rose Gooding and Tawny Newsome. Gooding plays Ensign Nyota Uhura, who helped welcome Star Trek: Lower Decks Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) to the USS Enterprise. Strange New Worlds' comedic crossover directed by Jonathan Frakes was a smash hit with critics and audiences, and one happy result is Celia Rose Gooding and Tawny Newsome became actual besties.
Awards Radar interviewed Celia Rose Gooding about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where the Grammy Award-winning actor spoke effusively about her friendship with Tawny Newsome. Calling Newsome "the love of my life," Gooding explained how her real life friendship with Newsome reflected how Mariner helped inspire Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' crossover episode, "Those Old Scientists." Read Celia's quote below and check out Awards Radar's full interview in the link above.
I think Uhura and Mariner, their relationship was so… I don’t know. It reminds me of how I love Tawny Newsome. Tawny Newsome is the love of my life. I love her so much. And so to get to work with her and really have a very honest conversation, it felt at times very much like Celia and Tawny talking as opposed to Uhura and Mariner, just because she was someone who I talked to a lot about just showing up in this franchise and how to be a person in Trek.
I don’t know if I really ever expressed it to her as specifically as I will try to now, but she really just uplifted me in a way that made me feel so safe and so supported, and gave me such freedom to try new stuff and really take big swings comedically. I consider myself to be a really dramatic actor. And the comedic moments find them when they can, but I think, when it comes to me, the comedy has to be in the writing. And because we have such a stellar writing team, it worked out so well. But yeah, that scene when we’re in Uhura’s quarters and she’s opening up to Mariner saying that, “I don’t know what the future version of me is doing, but I am barely holding it together.” And Mariner is the one who teaches her how to relax and exhale and let her, at the time, very short hair down and take a little bit of pressure off herself.
And that gave Uhura permission to move to a version of herself that is, again, more recognizable. I think the Uhura that generations of Trek fans have gotten to know and love is somebody a lot more relaxed than the Uhura that we’re seeing today. And she’s a lot more carefree, a lot more joyful, a lot more… She flirts with life. And I love that about her. I can’t wait to bring more of that to my Uhura as time goes on. But I think Mariner is one of the first people in canon that we’re seeing really just feed and uplift Uhura’s joy and uplift her confidence, which is something that she desperately needed more of in that season. And so, to be able to do that with somebody as just awesome as Tawny Newsome, it just felt real good. It felt really, really good.
She is just a wonderful person and a wonderful actor and a wonderful medium and person and friend. And so, to be able to play opposite her and to really just be poured into by her, it felt very good for the character and for the greedy actor that lives within me. It was great. And Frakes is such a wonderful director. The three of them, Jack, Frakes and Tawny, they brought such a lightness and a… Ooh, come on language, find me. They just brought such a air of positivity and lightness and joy and ease to the room that was so necessary because they’re sandwiched in between.
Tawny Newsome's Mariner Is A Big Influence On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Uhura
Sometimes, meeting your heroes is good.
Ensign Beckett Mariner meeting Ensign Nyota Uhura was a pivotal part of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks. Naturally, Uhura is a Starfleet icon to Mariner, who knows all about the 23rd century Communications Officer's achievements on the Starship Enterprise. But the young Uhura Mariner met is uncertain and lacks confidence, which is something the chaotic 24th century has in droves. It's a clever bit of writing for Mariner to help push Uhura along her path to becoming the Lt. Uhura Nichelle Nichols played in Star Trek: The Original Series, while Mariner learned it can be a very good thing to meet your heroes.
Celia Rose Gooding and Tawny Newsome reflect their characters, and Mariner and Uhura's, friendship in real life. Newsome is a seasoned and accomplished veteran of comedy and television, and she's now even a writer for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Gooding is younger but still incredibly accomplished at this relatively early stage in her career. It's heartening to know Tawny and Celia hit it off in real life. Unlike Mariner and Uhura, who may not meet again on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Celia Rose Gooding and Tawny Newsome stay in touch and see each other when they can, including at Star Trek conventions.
