WARP FIVE: Mary Chieffo on Her Klingon Love and Return in Star Trek: Lower Decks

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

We're nearly halfway through the fifth and final season of , where the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with addressing with "subspace potholes," aka subspace rifts, that are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. When a dimensional hole opens in Klingon space, Lieutenant JGs Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler track down the former's friend Ma'ah. Unfortunately for the two Starfleet officers, they can't scan and analyze the hole without a Klingon captain's approval. And more unfortunate for Ma'ah, , and the two humans happened to show up at the very pugh qegh at the very moment he was getting reacquainted with a former romantic interest, K'Elarra.

StarTrek.com had the opportunity to catch up with Mary Chieffo, who makes her return to the Star Trek universe, as the fiery K'Elarra in "." Grab yourself some bloodwine and dive in!

On Her Return to Star Trek

On the opportunity to play in the Star Trek sandbox again, Chieffo shares, "I keep saying the word 'delight,' particularly because Lower Decks is such a wonderfully humorous, delightful show with a lot of heart and depth as well."

"I've just been a fan of it out the gate," continues Chieffo. "So getting to jump in, specifically into Lower Decks, was such a thrill. And then, to get to be another Klingon. That I did get to create a new character, and lean on all of the background, and research, and everything I'd done in the past when I was working as L'Rell [on ]."

On the Klingons K'Elarra and L'Rell

How does K'Elarra compare to L'Rell, the leader of the Klingon Empire, whom Chieffo portrayed for two seasons?

"K'Elarra is definitely similar to L'Rell in that there is a strong through line of lady Klingons who, while they are within this patriarchal system, they are pretty badass," notes Chieffo. "They ask for what they want, and they get what they want, for the most part. So I really love that they're both uniquely strong women. And in contrast, L'Rell, we certainly see her come up against a lot more intense stuff throughout her time on Discovery. So I don't envy L'Rell that."

As for her approach to K'Elarra, she divulges, "As much as L'Rell's near and dear to my heart, I think K'Elarra probably is having a little bit more of a fun, chill lifestyle in general. She gets to go check out the thrash player in the band. They've got the beating heart of a Klingon, or the eight-chambered beating heart, I should say. And again, it was very cool because I had looked at all of these TNG lady Klingons when I was working on L'Rell, and the , and , and Grilka. And so, K'Elarra got to be a little bit more in that vein, which was really fun."

tlhIngan maH. taHjaj

After nearly a decade of being in the Star Trek universe, being a Klingon comes naturally to Chieffo.

"I haven't been reading up on my Klingon every day recently," she reveals, "but because I did all of that research, it's innately in me. Just in the way that there are certain parts of human history that I know pretty well, and can reference in a conversation. It's pretty neat to go, 'Yeah. I still remember this part of the Klingon War here, or this part. That they do have eight-chambered hearts.'"

"Again, I love my research, and I love being able to hold a conversation around topics," Chieffo continues. "It's neat that Klingon happens to be something that I'm quite well-versed in. And it has been fun at conventions, and any place where you do start talking to someone who knows Trek. It's neat to be able to say, 'Oh, and here's some facts about Klingon stuff.' And I'm a real advocate for the expanded world of Klingons, which again, this episode really showcases in a beautiful way. You get to see the farm life. You get to see, 'We're not a monolith,' and I will say 'we' because I will forever be a Klingon."

On What It Takes to Authentically Voice A Klingon

Nailing the guttural enunciation of Klingon phrases is crucial to Chieffo's process.

"When I would run lines, you're either doing it, or you're not doing it," shes posits. "You're either spitting, or you're mumbling it. And then, it's not actually the words. Our translator, Robin, would listen back, and go like, 'Oh, that [guttural noise]. Actually, it was a little bit more of a [guttural noise].' It has a different meaning."

On Designing Her Own Klingon Rite

In "A Farewell to Farms," to prevent Ma'ah from blowing her off, and ensure she and Boimler can complete their mission, Mariner explains that humans, like Klingons, have their own set of standards they must abide by, such as the totally made-up "Edict of Unreturned Favors."

If Chieffo can make up her own rite, what would it be? "It's funny because I'm a little bit of a witchy person in real life," she states. "I grew up really believing in magic, and all that sort of stuff. And ceremony is really important to me."

"With my partner in the morning, just once we're settled in at breakfast, I just go, 'Happy breakfast.' It's not actually that the breakfast has to be happy. It's acknowledging that we're beginning the day. And so, that would be the 'Rite of a Happy Breakfast'? Or 'Rite of A Start to a New Day.' That feels like the Klingon version. Yeah, it's a good day to be happy. Striving for it."

"Or even, to Brené Brown it, it's living in joy. Happiness are these spurts of things, but to have a place of... The 'Rite of Joy in the Morning.' There we go. I'm really brainstorming this. I'm taking this very serious," concludes Chieffo.