Stacey Abrams' Star Trek Cameo: How She Became The President Of Earth

The finale for Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery" has a certain unexpected cameo in it. Across Seasons 3 and 4 of the series, one of the ongoing plot threads is the fracturing of the Galactic Federation and the exiting of several key members of the organization, including Earth. Thanks to the actions of the Discovery team, however, Earth is eventually ready to re-enter the fold by the end of Season 4. That's when fans finally meet the President of Earth, played by none other than real-life Georgia politician Stacey Abrams. It's quite a major moment, and per series showrunner Michelle Paradise, it took quite a bit of planning to make it all happen.

In an interview with SYFY, Paradise explained that the idea for an Abrams cameo began when the show's team was considering who would be a good representative for Earth's big return in the series. "Stacey Abrams came to mind and I texted [series co-creator and executive producer Alex Kurtzman] and said, 'What do you think about Stacey Abrams as the President of Earth?' I've never seen so many exclamation points in my life in response!" she recalled.

After that, it all hinged on Abrams actually accepting the role, something which Paradise was hopeful of due to the politician being a fan of "Star Trek: Discovery." "We reached out and set up a call with her, where Alex and I pitched her about the season, about this character, about what it would mean, and we asked her if she would be interested," the showrunner said. "And she was! And then she did it and it was such an honor and a privilege to get to work with her, and such an amazing thing that she came to do that."

Stacey Abrams was more than willing to become President of Earth in "Star Trek: Discovery," but her appearance did come with a certain caveat. In an interview between Michelle Paradise and Variety, the showrunner noted that Abrams asked not to be spoiled on anything in Season 4 of the show outside of her role. "She was very specific about that," Paradise explained. "She wanted to be able to just watch it and enjoy when the show finally came out. So, yeah, we avoided all the spoilers."

Beyond Abram's request, the process of actually filming the politician's part went quite smoothly. "Star Trek: Discovery" cast member Sonequa Martin-Green recalled that she was impressed by Abrams' acting prowess, due in part to the official having a history with the performing arts during her education years. "She was just so comfortable with what she was doing, and knew exactly how to be and where to go and everything," the actor said. "I guess I shouldn't have been surprised."

Per Martin-Green's account, the biggest challenge of filming Abrams' part was the cast and crew trying to contain their excitement. "We were fanning out the whole time, just trying to cover it up, trying to be cool," the performer said. "We adopted her so fast. We were like, 'You're "Star Trek" family forever now.'"