Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp is one of the stars of the latest Star Trek Online update, called “Awakening”. This week, he gave a phone interview with Space.com, to discuss his role in the game, as well as drawing on LGBTQ and grief themes for his performance in Discovery, and a little bit about what’s next for him.

First up: Star Trek Online. According to Space.com, in the game’s new update, “Rapp said gamers will encounter Stamets as a hologram, taking inspiration from The Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager. And without giving away any spoilers, he says it will be a deeper dive for fans into ‘evolving and discovering more of my memories’.” As for whether Rapp plays the game? He describes himself as a completionist, and as Space.com explains, “he’s a little scared to try out playing Stamets in a massively multiplayer online game that could theoretically go on forever.”

Rapp is one-half of the Discovery team sometimes called “Culmets” - a “ship” of “Culber” and “Stamets” - whose characters are married on the show. Rapp talked in the interview about fans’ reactions to their relationship, and his inspiration for season two, when he had to deal with Culber’s loss. Of the fans’ reactions, he said the response was incredibly positive around the world. He also said, “There was a hunger and desire within the Trek fans, and especially the LGBTQ+ Trek fandom, to have representation.”

That hit particularly hard in season two, when a key part of Stamets’s character development was dealing with Culber’s sudden death in season one. Rapp said of his performance, “Growth from loss is a very particular and personal kind of growth. [...] Finding ways to make peace with grief, with loss, with missing someone, that in and of itself, it's a more inner journey that was done really beautifully with the writers in season two.”

Rapp is currently in Toronto, shooting Discovery season three. But it’s far from the only thing that he’s got going on. Space.com points to a concert series that he’s doing with former Rent co-star Adam Pascal, and he’s also writing a story for a new anthology book inspired by the Arthurian legends. He also occasionally does a solo show, as he will this weekend at Bucks County Playhouse in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Rapp certainly isn’t hurting for projects.

Star Trek Online “Awakening” is available for PC now, and on Playstation 4 and Xbox One on October 15th.

This article was written for the podcast Daily Star Trek News.

Alison Pitt is the writer, producer, and host of Daily Star Trek News, on the Roddenberry Podcast Network. A veteran Star Trek podcaster, she started her career on the weekly show Priority One: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast in 2015. She has appeared on panels at Star Trek Las Vegas, WonderCon, and San Diego Comic Con.