Hugh Culber | |
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Star Trek character | |
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First appearance | " Context Is for Kings" (2017) |
Created by | Bryan Fuller, Gretchen J. Berg, & Aaron Harberts |
Portrayed by | Wilson Cruz |
In-universe information | |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Physician |
Significant other | Paul Stamets |
Planet | Earth |
Affiliation |
United Federation of Planets Starfleet USS Discovery |
Hugh Culber is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He appears in the television series Star Trek: Discovery. Culber is portrayed by actor Wilson Cruz. Originally introduced as a recurring character in the first season of the series, Culber is promoted to a main character in the second season. Within Discovery's narrative, he is the ship's senior medical doctor and partner to its engineer Paul Stamets ( Anthony Rapp).
In July 2016, Wilson Cruz was cast as Culber, Paul Stamets' love interest, after having previously worked with Anthony Rapp on the musical Rent. [1] Cruz was revealed to be reprising his role of Culber for the series' second season, as well as being promoted to the main cast, on July 23, 2018. [2] The character's appearance in the third season was confirmed in October 2019, a year before its premiere. [3] In October 2020, just prior to the third season's premiere, Culber's role in the fourth season was confirmed, when it was announced that the series was renewed. [4]
About the character in an interview about being promoted to the main cast in season two with Anthony Pascale, Cruz said: "this season for this couple [Culber and Stamets] is really about deepening them individually. We get to find out a lot about Culber–who he is, what he wants, what makes him tick, what his ambitions are–separate and apart from this relationship. But we get to learn a lot about this relationship and it is put through the test." [2] Cruz also confirmed that the reason he was only in the recurring cast because he was in 13 Reasons Why at the same time. [2]
Culber is one-half of the first openly gay regular character couple in a Star Trek television series. [5] On creating the first gay couple in a Star Trek series, Cruz said he "felt like it was a long time coming ... What's great about the way that the show is handling it is it's not like we are having a special two-hour episode about gay relationships in space. It's not that. They just happen to be in love, and they happen to be coworkers. And, I hope by the time we get to [the 23rd] century that it will be exactly like that." [6] In the season three episode " Su'Kal", Culber appears a member of the Bajoran alien race briefly in a hologram simulation. [7]
Talking toward the fourth season, Michelle Paradise noted that Stamets and Culber would form a "really lovely" family unit with the non-binary Adira Tal, who was introduced in the previous season, and their transgender boyfriend Gray. [8]
In the first season, Culber treats Ash Tyler, who is struggling to contain his alternate Klingon personality, but is later killed by his patient. In the second season episode " Saints of Imperfection," Stamets travels into the mycelium to find a copy of Culber, and brings him back to life.
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. [5] In 2019, Hugh Culber was ranked the 10th-sexiest Star Trek character by Syfy. [9]