Star Trek Explorer #12: Gabrielle Ruiz and Playing the Vulcan Rendition of Mariner

The latest issue of the official Star Trek magazine, Star Trek Explorer #12, on newsstands today, delivers on all the latest insights into the Star Trek universe.

Within the pages of the latest issue of Star Trek Explorer, dive into a handful of exclusive fiction, interviews, and features.

Star Trek Explorer #12 celebrates Star Trek: Lower Decks with an exclusive interview with creator Mike McMahan and voice actor Gabrielle Ruiz. In addition, the magazine sits down with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cinematographer Benji Bakshi.

Elsewhere, the latest issue celebrates the epic conclusion of Star Trek: Discovery with a look at the series best moments across the seasons. Don't miss an all-new Star Trek: Discovery short story from writer Keith R.A. Candido and artist Mike Collins with a tale about augmented reality. All this and so much more!

Thanks to our friends at Titan Magazines, we have an exclusive excerpt on Gabrielle Ruiz's feature, below!

With three Star Trek: Lower Decks characters under her belt, Gabrielle Ruiz has a lot to be happy about – and despite the cool and collected exterior of the latest addition to the Lower Deckers, the Vulcan Officer, Acting Ensign T'Lyn, Star Trek Explorer discovers there's some shared happiness in there as well…

"Originally, I auditioned for Tawny's role — for Mariner!" She began. "I come from Broadway — singer, actor, dancer. What's so cool about voice-overs is that you let it go so easily. It's all instinct. You have a name and know emotional stakes right away and it's so freeing. When this audition came through, there was no Star Trek sign on it at all — some Mike McMahan hints, but you could recognize his style anywhere. That's what's really nice, it's to work with what they give you, and it ended up being Mariner with a call-back!

"There were some hints about Mariner and I told my husband, 'I think it's Star Trek!' And I got really excited. So, I went in for the audition. They give you a script and you have an hour before the audition to read. You leave the script there. It's water-marked with your name on it, right? We read the pilot and Mike was there with the Executive Producers. I took the notes as best I could, got really excited and that was that. But when you hear Tawny in the role, you're like, up. That's her. She fit all the notes! Her energy and demeanor were perfect and after watching the pilot, I couldn't help but feel like she made total sense for that character."

Gabrielle then talks about the audition that landed her the role for T'Lyn.

"Then they booked me for a number of other characters. I was Ensign Lamont, a computer voice, and I can't express how much I cried. I mean, when I saw my name in the Star Trek font — I lost it. Then there was Castro — and there's such a lot of attitude in that character. If you know Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, then there's a lot of Valencia in her! I was having a blast just being a part of the crew. I got to hang out with Mike in the studio in 2019 and I was even able to have some influence on part of the story with Boimler. The following year, T'Lyn comes in."

Gabrielle pauses for a smile at this.

"The audition was so special. Not only did it feel like it got it right, which is a subjective measure of an actor appreciating her craft, but there was Spock, a database, a prestigious and an esteemed tradition to be a Vulcan. I did a lot of work and study for this character and listening — because there's a lot of listening in an animation and it hit me immediately: T'Lyn is a Vulcan rendition of Mariner. That's what I took, and I remember a season prior that [in the episode "wej Duj"], she kind of flips off her mum with the Vulcan salute and that felt like the moment where she tells her captain to 'live long and prosper, sir.' That was the audition scene, and I remember thinking that I had to match that to that — let's put her in a different universe. And you know what? I guessed right! I put some stoic comedy in there and I remembered listening to it and worrying if it was right. But this was special — to me, to my family and I booked it!"

Read the full interview in Star Trek Explorer #12 — on sale today, plus Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cinematographer Benji Bakshi; two all-new and exclusive Star Trek short stories; the life and legacy of Ro Laren; Explorer's definitive guide to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, and much, much more!