David Benjamin Tomlinson - Star Trek: Discovery’s Saurian, Linus - talks about his time in the makeup chair

Star Trek: Discovery’s Saurian, Linus, stands among the crew on a turbolift

It takes plenty of time to film an episode of Star Trek. With early call times for cast and crew and many hours spent filming, a production like Star trek: Discovery is a pretty busy workplace, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a happy one. David Benjamin Tomlinson is the actor who plays Linus on Discovery, not to be confused with another famous David Tomlinson, who acted in Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Tomlinson spoke with Trek Report recently and shared what it’s been like for him to join the franchise and be part of the Star Trek team.

“The talent, the camaraderie, the affection, the cooperation…it’s a remarkable group of people,” Tomlinson said of his colleagues. “It’s rare to find a group of people working on a set as big as this one, fostering an environment of support and acceptance and delight and professionalism.” Tomlinson added that “Sonequa [Martin-Green] is astonishing. She is truly a wonderful leader.”

The first part of getting ready to be on set all day is makeup. For an alien character like Linus, Tomlinson is fully covered in prosthetic attachments, which can take up to two hours to attach before filming. While this certainly seems like a labor of love, Tomlinson said that he enjoys the time in the makeup chair and that the prosthetic artists working with him are “extremely fun to spend time with, even if it’s 4:30 [in the morning].” 

With all of his time in the makeup chair and being restrained on set by his prosthetics, Tomlinson found a friend in fellow onscreen alien actor, Doug Jones. “Doug has become a terrific friend and ally,” Tomlinson said of Jones. “When we’re together, we’re constantly hugging, or sitting quietly together, or lending each other support,”

Working in prosthetics can be a drain both physically and mentally. Tomlinson is grateful to have Jones on set to share his insights or, sometimes, just to sit together. “Working in the prosthetic makes it challenging to connect with people between takes, because even simple conversation takes a lot of extra energy which you want to save for when the cameras are rolling,” says Tomlinson. “Sitting in silence with someone who is having a similar experience can be a powerful thing.”

You can watch a time-lapse video of Tomlinson now on StarTrek.com, showing just what it takes to get into full prosthetics and makeup for the Linus character. And if you’d like to hear more from Tomlinson, then be sure to mark your calendars for August 8th, when he’ll be appearing at the next In-House Con with fellow Discovery actors Sara Mitich and Hannah Spear.