You appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise. What do you remember most vividly about your time on the set, and what made that experience special for you?

Star Trek: Enterprise was special for a couple of reasons. First of all — it was Star
Trek. I got to play an alien! But it was also the first job I booked after moving to Los Angeles
from the East Coast. I’d been living in Florida and had been a series regular on a children’s
television show called Big Bag, and Enterprise was one of those early moments where I thought,
“Okay... maybe this move is actually going to work.”
What I remember most vividly, though, is not being able to see.
I played a Suliban Commander, and I had these full-eye contact lenses as part of the makeup.
We were shooting outside on a hot Los Angeles day and then moving back and forth onto this
freezing-cold soundstage. Every time I went inside, the contacts would fog up. Completely.
So there are actually moments in that scene where I genuinely cannot see the actors standing in front of me.
I finally got to be on Star Trek — and I couldn’t see any of it.

 

If you had the chance to return to the Star Trek universe today, would you prefer to revisit your original role or play a completely new character? Why?

- I would absolutely love to step back into the Suliban Commander role. It’s been
over 20 years, so I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t fit the costume anymore. LOL.
But how cool would it be to revisit a character we only met briefly all those years ago and
discover where he is now? Maybe he’s risen through the ranks. Maybe he’s become a leader of the Cabal. Maybe he could even give Silik a run for his money.
I also genuinely love working with prosthetics. There’s something about looking in the mirror
and seeing someone — or something — completely different looking back at you. I’d love the challenge of stepping back into that makeup and discovering who the Commander has become after all these years.

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With The Mandalorian & Grogu bringing new adventures to the Star Wars galaxy, what excites you the most about being part of such an iconic franchise?

- It’s Star Wars. There’s no downside.
I vividly remember seeing the first film back in 1977 and just being transported. These were real
people who happened to be dealing with outer space and aliens — not the other way around.
What George Lucas did, and what Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni continue to do, is find the humanity in all of these stories.

That’s why we’re cheering in our seats for Luke, or for Mando, to take down the bad guys. We connect with the people first. And, in my humble opinion, that’s why the franchise speaks to so many people.
I mean, if you really look at it — and I realize they may take away my Star Wars street cred card over this — The Mandalorian & Grogu is really a family drama with blasters. It’s about finding your people and feeling like you belong.
Also, it’s Star Wars. Full stop.

 

The Star Wars universe continues to grow with new stories and characters. If you could choose any type of character to play in a future project, who or what would it be?

If Jon and Dave were asking? I’d say, let’s meet Prefect Nobah before that fateful
meeting on the ice planet. What’s his home planet like? Why did he align his people with the
Dark Side? Does he have kids? Does he like his mother-in-law? How did he become Prefect? I’d love to explore all of it.
That said, if the phone rings again and I’m invited back into the Star Wars universe in a
completely different role, I would totally be there yesterday.
This is the way.

 

You've worked on Marvel projects as well. What do you think makes Marvel productions so unique for actors compared to other film and television franchises? 

Getting to enter the MCU as Edison Po on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was truly
extraordinary because, from day one, it didn’t feel like television. It felt like each episode was its own film within the larger franchise.
Every aspect of the production was operating on an elevated level — the stunts were bigger, the explosions were bigger — but so were the relationships. They were palpable. When Edison kidnapped Coulson, I actually got a little “hate” mail. It was as if I had harmed a member of someone’s family! That told me everything about how deeply audiences had connected with those characters.
What Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon were able to create and execute was incredible,
and I’ll forever consider myself extremely lucky to be a part of that world.

Hail Hydra.

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In Criminal Minds, you stepped into a very different world . How do you prepare mentally for roles in intense crime dramas?

For many years, my career lived in crime dramas, before I started stepping into all
these various fandoms and universes I’ve been lucky enough to inhabit. But crime drama will
always feel like home. All drama, really. And comedy. LOL.

I’m not avoiding the question! I think it’s just that I actually prepare the same way for any role
I’ve been given to breathe life into. Who are they? Why are they here? What do they need? It’s all the same, whether I’m playing Prefect Nobah, Edison Po, the Disc Jockey in Twin Peaks, or
the Bird Man on Grey’s Anatomy. They all want and need something. It’s my job as an actor to
figure out what that is.
Nowadays, working equally as a writer and producer, I can definitely see how all those acting roles have informed and shaped the characters I create on the page.
It goes back to something I said earlier: we’re all looking to belong. Criminal Minds is no
different.
Well, it’s a little different. Those morgue scenes were really cold!

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