Warning: SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Erigah” are forward!
After making a visitor look as Chilly in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Elias Toufexis returned for Season 5 to play L’ak, who’s been trying to purchase the Progenitor expertise together with his lover, Eve Harlow’s Moll, to allow them to lastly cease being fugitives. L’ak stands out as the primary Breen to have their face proven within the Star Trek franchise, however just some episodes after that was revealed, the character isn’t any extra. “Erigah,” which simply dropped on the 2024 TV schedule, noticed L’ak by accident dying by his personal hand. Whereas talking with CinemaBlend, Toufexis opened as much as us about how he “sussed out” this twist was coming early on and what made his scenes within the newest Discovery episode so tough to movie.
Why Elias Toufexis Figured L’ak Was Going To Die
L’ak was injured in the direction of the tip of Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth episode, “Mirrors,” and though he and Moll (whom some say seems to be like Ashoka’s Shin Hati) have been in a position to escape from the ISS Enterprise in a warp pod, the Federation was in a position to recapture them in “Erigah.” He was in dangerous form at the start of the episode, however there’s an opportunity he finally might have recovered. Sadly, L’ak determined to inject himself with an enormous dose of tricordrazine as a distraction in order that Moll might escape, however he ended up giving himself an overdose. Right here’s what Elias Toufexis advised me forward of “Erigah” releasing to Paramount+ subscribers of how he reacted when he realized about L’ak’s destiny:
I had sussed out that L’ak was both going to die or one thing needed to occur to him, as a result of within the story it appeared that the Breen and the Federation wanted a motive to up their battle a bit extra. So I knew one thing needed to do with L’ak, and I used to be like, ‘I wager you he’s gonna die.’ So after I bought the [script for] Episode 7, I wasn’t stunned, let’s say. I believed as a narrative, this is sensible as a catalyst for the previous few episodes of the season, proper? I used to be unhappy as a result of I really like going to work. Though there was part of that’s like, ‘Oh good, I’m not going to should put on that make-up once more.’ There was that a part of me. However for probably the most half, I knew it was coming.
So Toufexis was sensible sufficient to foretell that L’ak wouldn’t make it out of Star Trek: Discovery alive, and the loss of life did certainly worsen the battle between the Federation and Breen. Primarch Ruhn, L’ak’s uncle, arrived together with his Breen troops to Federation headquarters demanding his nephew’s launch. The scenario was already extremely tense, with Ruhn ready to go to battle with the Federation if he didn’t get his approach, however L’ak’s loss of life pushed him over the sting. So far as what capturing his remaining moments as L’ak have been like, Toufexis mentioned:
The day we shot it, it was unhappy in spurts, however it was all about what Eve [Harlow] was doing, and Eve was so nice in it that it made it simpler for me to play that loss of life scene as a result of she was so good. After which once we yelled ‘Minimize!’, we’d settle down a bit and get again to the completely happy set that Star Trek: Discovery is. Then it will get unhappy once more, however only for a pair minutes. After which after I was executed executed… they’re so nice there, I bought to present a bit speech and all that type of stuff about how completely happy I used to be to work with everyone, which is all the reality. One of many biggest units I’ve ever been on. Yeah, it was a tragic day, however I additionally bought to do a very nice loss of life scene in Star Trek. Laborious to complain, actually.
As for why Ruhn was so determined to get L’ak again, it was revealed that the latter was the Scion of the Breen Imperium, i.e. a direct descendant of his species’ emperor. Ruhn wanted L’ak so as to correctly rule the Breen, however his nephews loss of life ruined that plan. Nevertheless, after watching the love of her life die, Moll knowledgeable Ruhn in regards to the Progenitor tech that she and L’ak had been hoping to commerce to the Breen to erase their erigah. Now she’s keen to assist the Breen purchase that tech to make use of towards the Federation, although she’s solely doing this as a result of she believes it could possibly revive L’ak. So as to keep away from battle, inspiring captain Michael Burnham and her superiors agreed handy Moll over, although Booker disapproved of this.
Why Elias Toufexis Had Issue Capturing His Scenes In “Erigah”
Whether or not or not L’ak might be introduced again to life by the Progenitor tech stays to be seen, but when that is certainly the character’s final look, then it was a fairly inactive end to his story. As a result of L’ak was so badly injured in “Erigah,” he was confined to a bio-bed, and as Elias Toufexis defined under, that didn’t make for a simple appearing expertise:
It was very tough. I bear in mind studying that episode and going, ‘I don’t transfer this complete episode. I’m on this dumb mattress.’ You wish to know the actually annoying factor about that? It’s that any scene that was round that mattress when L’ak was type of within the background, that’s nonetheless meant I needed to sit by way of six hours of make-up, even when I didn’t shoot something as a result of they could to catch items or they could seize you, and also you by no means know, proper? So you need to cowl it up. So there have been days after I by no means even bought filmed, however I used to be within the full make-up. It was onerous, and likewise it’s like, the make-up is a sure approach, so there’s solely a way you may sit with out the make-up getting squished in your face… with out the prosthetic, I imply. So I used to be looking for methods to look regular underneath these bizarre digicam angles after I’m mendacity in a mattress. It was all technical stuff like that that bothered me.
But regardless of all that discomfort, Toufexis was understanding of why it was obligatory for him to be laying down all through the whole lot of this Discovery episode. Apart from, he now has an fascinating statistic for the function that he can share about his time on “Erigah.” In his phrases:
From a narrative viewpoint, it didn’t hassle me. He’s injured, he must be mendacity down. It was all technical stuff that was type of annoying that week. However I did the maths, and due to that background stuff… the episode took about two weeks, that one week, I used to be extra L’ak than I used to be me when it comes to hours spent. It was simply so lengthy and consistently within the make-up for therefore many hours, after which go dwelling and sleep, after which come again and put all of it again on once more.
There are actually simply three Star Trek: Discovery episodes left, so head to Paramount+ these subsequent three tales to see how this nook of the franchise involves an in depth. For those who’d quite look additional forward into the longer term, look by way of the lineup of upcoming Star Trek TV reveals.
