‘Star Trek: Discovery’ cinematographer Philip Lanyon on that surprise Stacey Abrams cameo [Exclusive Video Interview]

“Star Trek: Discovery” saved one of its biggest surprises of Season 4 for the finale: an appearance by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate and “Star Trek” fan Stacey Abrams, who played the president of United Earth. It was a cameo, Abrams said, that came about because of her deep love for “Discovery” and its captain, Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green.

“Whatever the story was, I wanted to be a part of it because watching Michael Burnham come into her power as captain, watching this party-crew reclaim itself — not only in a new era but in a new space that is so reminiscent of what they remembered but so different — that, to me, speaks of why we do the work we do in politics,” Abrams told The Hollywood Reporter this year. “It’s about giving people hope and giving them a better life and creating this vision of what is possible.”

For “Star Trek: Discovery” cinematographer Philip Lanyon, Abrams’ appearance was “surreal.”

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“I think it was our last day of Season 4,” Lanyon tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: Cinematographers panel. “Expectations were high and but it was also kind of a joyous atmosphere. It was very exciting.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

Lanyon has worked on multiple “Star Trek” properties. He served as cinematographer on “Star Trek: Picard” before coming back to “Discovery” for Season 4 after having contributed to Season 2 of the Paramount+ series.

“‘Picard’ is very much a kind of a character piece about the man. And ‘Discovery’ is more of a larger scale, kind of humanistic stories, this adventure and discovery,” he says of the difference between shows.

“Star Trek” remains a vital property for Paramount+ and continues to draw legions of fans young and old from around the world. Asked why the franchise remains so relevant to modern audiences, Lanyon says it all goes back to its “positive view of the future.”

“There are a lot of stories out there that are dismal and negative and portray an apocalyptic future for humankind,” he says. “‘Star’ Trek kind of says, ‘Look, here’s a path forward. We can, we can get along and we can communicate and we can explore and discover. So I think the fans appreciate that as well.”

Serving as a cinematographer on the series has also helped Lanyon’s love for “Star Trek” flourish. “Even if sometimes the effects have been poor or something like that [on older episodes of the ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’], you just buy-in because the concepts are so great.”

All episodes of “Star Trek: Discovery” are streaming on Paramount+.

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