Sometimes it feels like Star Trek: Discovery‘s Jett Reno is just Tig Notaro transported through time and faking her way through a successful career in Starfleet. That’s not a bad thing, but I and others have wondered over the years how the stand-up comedian gets so much runway in her scenes when Trek productions are historically very against improv and going off script. I asked the actress if she had a hand in writing Reno’s lines for the series, and her answer legitimately surprised me.
As we prepare for the end of Star Trek: Discovery, Tig Notaro was kind enough to talk to CinemaBlend about her time on the show. In addition to learning the awful first name Jett Reno had, there was also a chance to ask the actress why Reno feels incredibly similar to Notaro’s other roles. I speculated that maybe she had a hand in the show’s scriptwriting when it came to the character, but when I asked, I was shocked by the answer:
I don’t, and I don’t think I need one because the writers nail it every single time. I get asked that all the time if I’m writing any of it or if I’m riffing any of it, and I wouldn’t dare because they hand me gold every time. And I’m just like, man, it’s incredible.
Tig Notaro has nothing to do with the scripts in Star Trek: Discovery, which means the writers are just that good at capturing what makes her great. It makes me sad the chances feel slim we’ll see her in upcoming Trek projects, because Reno has become one of my favorite characters of the entire series. If she was somehow available for a series centered around Reno, I’d definitely watch it.
So if the actress has nothing to do with the lines before she reads them, how did the show nail her signature personality from the time she was added in Season 2 up to now? Part of that is thanks to her longtime friend and Star Trek top brass Alex Kurtzman, who went to pretty awesome lengths to get it right:
I think that one of the things that went into developing Jett Reno was, even though I’ve known Alex [Kurtzman] forever, he told me that he really sat down and watched and listened to all of my stand-up and really tried to channel my vibe in it. And I, I just think that they’ve done a remarkable job and I couldn’t do anything better than what they’ve done.
It’s awesome of Alex Kurtzman to do that for Tig Notaro, and it’s really paid off given all she’s brought to Star Trek: Discovery in her limited screen time. The actress does have her main gig to commit to, after all, and it only takes a few minutes of watching her hilarious stand-up special on Max to understand why the world isn’t ready to see Notaro commit to acting full-time.
Alex Kurtzman shared his honest opinion.
As much as I love Tig Notaro’s jokes, I do hope there’s room for her to appear in the Star Trek universe after Discovery ends. We do know that there will be a Starfleet Academy series coming to those with a Paramount+ subscription, and I wonder if the comedian would be a good fit for the series. We do know that Jett Reno has worked a lot of gigs throughout her life, so I feel like she’d be a great substitute teacher for any cadets looking to make a career in Starfleet.
There are only a handful of episodes left in Star Trek: Discovery, and it remains to be seen how much of Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno will be included. No doubt she can continue to be an asset as the crew races to obtain the Progenitors’ technology before the Breen, as they’re going to need all the help they can get. Can we just have the rest of the episodes right now?
Star Trek: Discovery streams new episodes of its final season on Paramount+ on Thursdays. CinemaBlend will continue to talk to the creative minds behind the series, and the details about the show that readers may not know about.