Paul Stamets is a character in the fictional ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' franchise. He appears in the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Star Trek: Discovery''. Stamets is portrayed by actor Anthony Rapp. The character is one half of the first openly gay regular character couple in a ''Star Trek'' television series. He is a scientist and engineer who combines

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

into a fictional method for instantaneous

faster than light travel Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero ...

. Stamets is inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name.

Concept and casting

Rapp was revealed to have been cast as Stamets in November 2016. He was originally cast in a different, smaller role, but when discussing gay actors who could portray the character Stamets, the executive producers realized that Rapp was the actor they wanted to fill that role instead. He did not audition for either role. On April 11, 2018, Rapp was revealed to be reprising his role for the series' second season. In October 2019, Stamet's appearances in the third season were confirmed. A year later, along with the announcement of the fourth season, Rapp was revealed to continue to be reprising his role.

Characterization

Stamets and Culber are jointly the first openly gay characters in a ''Star Trek'' series, and the showrunners "wanted to roll out that character's sexuality the way people would roll out their sexuality in life". Rapp noted that Hikaru Sulu was portrayed as gay in the film '' Star Trek Beyond'', calling that "a nice nod. But in this case, we actually get to see me with my partner in conversation, in our living quarters, you get to see our relationship over time, treated as any other relationship would be treated". In the series, Stamets often talks about mushrooms in space. Stamets later develops real world contemporary mycological science into

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

concepts in the portrayal. Stamets believes the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...

is organized by

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s and

mycelia Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates in ...

as the "building blocks of energy across the universe". Stamets is inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name, whom Fuller had introduced to the series' writers early on after becoming interested in his research into spores. The character's outlook that physics and biology are quantifiably the same thing also comes from the real Stamets's research and theories.

Reception

Various publications described how the character set a precedent in both the ''Star Trek'' world and generally in media as a depiction of a gay character.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stamets, Paul Fictional LGBT characters in television Fictional lieutenant commanders Fictional scientists Star Trek: Discovery characters Starfleet lieutenant commanders Television characters introduced in 2017 Time travelers Fictional characters displaced in time LGBT Star Trek characters Starfleet engineers Fictional gay males