Sonequa Martin-Green Loves Being a Sci-Fi Superstar

For years Sonequa Martin-Green, the previous Walking Dead star and present captain on Star Trek: Discovery, heard the identical rumors all of us did. Rumors that NBA celebrity LeBron James was going to take the mantle left by Michael Jordan and make one other Space Jam for Warner Bros. That speak had been floating round since 2012—and now that Space Jam: A New Legacy is right here and he or she’s in it, the actress is happy past perception, but additionally reflective of how lengthy the journey took.

“I had heard those rumblings too, and… I was really interested in how they were going to modernize the story,” Martin-Green informed io9 on a latest video name. “Because [the original] was obviously perfect for 1996 but so much has changed. And I wondered about that. Even when I had the blessing of coming on board—once I got over the overwhelmingness and the freakout and my mind being blown and just so grateful to God for it—I did wonder how will it be modernized and how will audiences today take it in. But I am pleased to say that I think it was modernized to near-perfection. It did everything that it needed to do to be nostalgic and be connected to the original, but also be its own thing, have its own identity and speak to people today in 2021.”

In Space Jam: A New Legacy, Martin-Green performs Kamiyah James, the fictional spouse of LeBron James (who, as you could know, is an actual particular person) and mom to 3 children, certainly one of whom will get sucked right into a computer-generated world referred to as the Warner Bros. Serververse. There, LeBron will staff up with the Looney Tunes to play towards the world’s creator, AI G. Rhythm (Don Cheadle) to get his son again, all whereas his spouse and children are a literal captive viewers. That means not solely was Martin-Green on set to look at James play on this excessive stakes sport of Space Jam, she ended up standing alongside Warner Bros. characters like Batman, Catwoman, the Jetsons, and the Flintstones. Some of them have been on set in costume, however most have been added in CGI later.

“I was geeking out over the script. I was so happy about it,” she stated when requested concerning the movie’s cameos. “I remember telling my husband, I remember telling my sister like, ‘Oh my goodness. you are going to love what they’ve done with this.’ I think that they were entrusted with [the Warner Bros. legacy] and I think that they succeeded with flying colors. I really do.” And she’s not simply saying that as a result of she’s within the film, although that’s most likely a part of it. Martin-Green is a professional fan of the unique Space Jam. “It was a big deal in my home,” she stated. “I grew up with that film. I really, really loved it. We loved Michael Jordan in my house. We loved all things MJ and Chicago Bulls and all that good stuff. So Space Jam was a big deal to me.”

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What was additionally a giant deal was working with James, a person whose worldwide attain and movie star overshadows most human beings on the planet, not simply actors. “I had never seen someone like that operate in their day to day life,” Martin-Green stated. “He has so many things set up around him in order to ensure his success and I had never seen that before. So it was actually really inspiring to see everything that is in place that he has determined is necessary to be the champion that he is. So that was very different for me to see that and witness that firsthand.”

As followers, we’ve witnessed firsthand the rise of Martin-Green as a fan favourite sci-fi celebrity. From Tamara on Once Upon a Time, to Sasha on The Walking Dead, to Captain Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery, she carved out an admirable area of interest for herself lengthy earlier than hanging out with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. A distinct segment that wasn’t particularly deliberate, however ended up figuring out nonetheless.

“I didn’t think I would be in the sci-fi genre, and especially not for this long,” she stated. “I did not imagine that or expect that. But I love this genre and I have come to love this genre so much because I feel that it ends up being so integral to people taking in the themes of the movie or the TV show, whatever it might be. I think that having these circumstances that are so hyper-realistic, those kind of fantastical circumstances to believe in, causes you to suspend your disbelief in such a way that the themes of the movie or the TV show can really get into your heart or your subconscious. That’s true of sci-fi for sure and that’s what I love about it. You can really tell some stories and really get strong, important messages across through these fantastic circumstances.”

You can get extra of these messages in Space Jam: A New Legacy. It opens in theaters, and on HBO Max, July 16. Star Trek: Discovery returns with season 4 later this yr on Paramount+.

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