A Joyous Conversation with Eve Harlow & Elias Toufexis

[00:00:00] Hi everybody, welcome to the Sci-Fi Sisters podcast where we give you our point of view.

[00:00:36] I'm Tamia and I'm joined by my sister Yvette Blackman Tom.

[00:00:45] Hello.

[00:00:46] Hello, Yvette.

[00:00:47] Hello.

[00:00:48] I can't get that low.

[00:00:49] Oh, Trek.

[00:00:50] Hello.

[00:00:51] She heard me in the morning when I wake up.

[00:00:54] It's really sexy y'all.

[00:00:56] That's what he said.

[00:00:58] Right off the bat.

[00:01:08] Uh-oh, we got the cool kids.

[00:01:10] I know right?

[00:01:11] The cool kids which means we're going to mess up and it's just going to be a hot mess.

[00:01:15] Sabrina and hi Sabrina, hi friend.

[00:01:17] They're going to listen to the show and be like, what were you all doing?

[00:01:20] What were you on?

[00:01:22] Ah well.

[00:01:23] We're happy to be here with you guys and we're happy to be together.

[00:01:29] We've got a really cool thing for you today because Paramount was kind enough to grant

[00:01:36] us some time to interview Eve Harlow and Elias 2.

[00:01:40] Fexus, Maul and Locke from Star Trek Discovery Season 5.

[00:01:47] So that's the interview that's coming up for you guys today.

[00:01:51] Wasn't it cool?

[00:01:52] It was.

[00:01:53] I didn't know what to expect but it just ran, just like with every interview we do, it gave

[00:02:00] us a time limit if we go over it.

[00:02:03] Not our fault.

[00:02:05] Not our fault.

[00:02:07] But it was really good.

[00:02:09] We definitely connected and I think they seemed like they had a really good time.

[00:02:14] Yeah.

[00:02:15] I know we did.

[00:02:17] It was a delight to talk to both of them and we had seen Eve on the cruise but not gotten

[00:02:23] to spend any time with her.

[00:02:25] Elias is just a giant in the sci-fi world and in the world of gaming.

[00:02:32] So it was just really cool to be able to spend a moment with him as well.

[00:02:38] He's a big time Trek fan so that was nice too.

[00:02:43] Man, if we had more time.

[00:02:45] Oh boy.

[00:02:46] If we had had more time Elias could have talked Trek literally all day long.

[00:02:51] All day.

[00:02:52] It was cool.

[00:02:53] It was really cool.

[00:02:56] He was happy.

[00:02:57] He reminded me of every Trek person, every Trek fan I know when they get on a roll like

[00:03:03] they can't help themselves.

[00:03:05] Right.

[00:03:06] I don't know what you're talking about.

[00:03:09] Me neither.

[00:03:11] Okay, y'all.

[00:03:12] We're going to let you all listen to this fun little interview and we'll see you on the

[00:03:16] flip side.

[00:03:17] Hi, you guys.

[00:03:18] I'm Tamia and this is Yvette and we're the sci-fi sisters.

[00:03:23] Thank you for having for letting us talk to you today.

[00:03:27] This is awesome.

[00:03:30] Yeah.

[00:03:31] I know.

[00:03:32] Okay.

[00:03:33] So I know that this is a question you guys are going to get and have gotten a

[00:03:37] million gazillion times but our viewers are going to be able to see what's going

[00:03:42] on in the future.

[00:03:43] So I'm going to start with you, Yvette.

[00:03:45] I know you're going to have a million gazillions times but our audience is a

[00:03:49] little bit different from the average Trek audience.

[00:03:51] So we'd like to ask you please if you wouldn't mind one more time recounting

[00:03:56] your first contact with Trek just a little bit.

[00:04:00] Okay, Eve.

[00:04:01] I should go first on this one and then you could.

[00:04:03] Okay.

[00:04:04] So a very let me preface this by saying.

[00:04:09] I'm a big Star Trek fan.

[00:04:11] If I pulled this curtain back, you'd see my shelf of like Star Trek memorabilia

[00:04:15] before I would go to show.

[00:04:18] So I'm a giant fan.

[00:04:20] Eve is whatever the polar opposite of that is she's just like but she has no

[00:04:25] idea about Star Trek.

[00:04:27] So we would.

[00:04:29] We would.

[00:04:30] I was like, this is what the chase was and this is what the story is.

[00:04:35] These are the progenitors and I just explained all that stuff.

[00:04:38] My first my first contact with Star Trek was I don't know if you guys

[00:04:43] remember this or even old enough to remember this but in the.

[00:04:47] Bless you.

[00:04:48] It's so sweet.

[00:04:51] In the 90s or the early 90s PBS would air marathons of the original

[00:04:58] series and it would just be like all day Star Trek city on the edge

[00:05:02] of forever trouble with tribbles and all the best ones right there

[00:05:05] would do a top 10 count.

[00:05:06] That was my introduction to Star Trek because my dad and so I would

[00:05:10] just watch these.

[00:05:11] I remember these weekends particularly watching the original

[00:05:14] series and then just falling in love with those characters in

[00:05:18] that show.

[00:05:19] And then for me, Star Trek 2 to 6 those movies like they're in

[00:05:25] my DNA like I know every frame every sound.

[00:05:31] So I mean, of course I watched everything else and I really got

[00:05:36] into deep space nine and TNG and all that stuff.

[00:05:38] So I'm a big Star Trek geek especially this knife like to me it's

[00:05:43] I love that show and when I got the call to be on this show I was

[00:05:50] let's just say pretty ecstatic.

[00:05:55] And it was it was hard man it was hard to be on set and not

[00:05:58] be like oh my freaking out with every little thing.

[00:06:01] I feel like I'm a professional and I'm going to show up to work

[00:06:03] and do my job on the leaf but it was I was so I was freaking

[00:06:07] out of geeking out at every little bit.

[00:06:09] Like ooh that's like that's a Klingon sword.

[00:06:14] And then I'd have to claim everything to Eve who can take

[00:06:17] it from here.

[00:06:20] So everything he said is true.

[00:06:23] Like my first interaction with Star Trek was honestly like

[00:06:27] auditioning for it.

[00:06:30] But I think it's fun because I like now being in it like and

[00:06:35] like understanding the like the history of it and the

[00:06:38] importance of it to people like I did not have any of that

[00:06:41] pressure when I was auditioning for it.

[00:06:43] I was like okay cool.

[00:06:44] Okay it's in space.

[00:06:45] Okay cool this is how I'm going to do my makeup this

[00:06:47] is how I'm going to do my hair and just go for it you

[00:06:50] know like there wasn't all of the I think like pressure

[00:06:54] being like you're auditioning for a show that's really

[00:06:57] historically important and means so much to so many people

[00:07:00] which like now again when I like honestly I was like thank

[00:07:03] you like he was an amazing person to have next to me

[00:07:06] because it was yeah like a Star Trek dictionary you

[00:07:09] know being like something came up in the script.

[00:07:12] And I was like I have no idea what this means.

[00:07:14] He's like don't worry I'll send you a YouTube clip you

[00:07:16] know like he's just like memory alpha.

[00:07:19] So it was just like being like no like you don't

[00:07:24] understand like being on send like you know Jonathan

[00:07:27] and I was like you know it's like hey man like

[00:07:30] because he directed an episode and and and I didn't

[00:07:34] know who he was and he was just he was just like

[00:07:37] there was a person wearing like a Roker shirt and

[00:07:39] he was like oh I'm that guy like I was that

[00:07:42] guy on the show and I was like oh cool you know

[00:07:45] like she's still here.

[00:07:48] Wait, I hear?

[00:07:50] Yeah there you go.

[00:07:52] I hear okay.

[00:07:54] It's alright.

[00:07:56] I either say but it was like I think what was

[00:08:00] really cool is like nobody had any sort of ego

[00:08:04] about it and like really excited to like

[00:08:08] educate you on this stuff you know

[00:08:11] and yeah but that was yeah I knew nothing now

[00:08:15] I know more.

[00:08:17] Yeah you know more.

[00:08:19] That's so cool.

[00:08:21] We're really excited to have both of you excuse me

[00:08:23] in the Trek family now and you know Eve it was

[00:08:26] awesome being on the cruise with you because

[00:08:28] your energy was really infectious and lovely

[00:08:31] and you know and somebody it's always somebody's

[00:08:34] first Trek.

[00:08:36] You know one Trek is always somebody's first

[00:08:38] Trek so welcome to the family.

[00:08:40] Okay.

[00:08:42] People are so nice and like it's just a thing of

[00:08:44] like welcome to the family welcome to the family

[00:08:46] like there's again like the glitter that I was

[00:08:48] given I wear that glitter all the time.

[00:08:51] You know what I'm saying?

[00:08:53] I can't fit anymore right now because I came to

[00:08:55] visit my friend I brought the glitter with me.

[00:08:57] That's awesome.

[00:08:59] That's awesome you are I mean until she said

[00:09:01] that I was like wait yes you were on the

[00:09:04] other cruise and that is so cool that you

[00:09:07] came on the cruise and nobody knew what to

[00:09:10] expect and you didn't know what to expect so

[00:09:13] I mean welcome to the family again.

[00:09:16] When I was on the cruise I was like whoa this is

[00:09:19] what the popular kids felt like.

[00:09:21] Nice to you everyone's giving you like a high

[00:09:24] five.

[00:09:26] That's right.

[00:09:28] You got to get you on the cruise next.

[00:09:31] Well since we're here we're going to

[00:09:34] get to the next one.

[00:09:37] Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

[00:09:40] Well since we're all part of the Trek family

[00:09:43] now is there a particular aspect of Trek

[00:09:46] philosophy that speaks to you this is for

[00:09:49] both of you and that you incorporate in your

[00:09:52] daily life.

[00:09:54] For me the one of the reasons I think I

[00:09:57] fell in love with Star Trek was

[00:10:00] it kind of reminded me of it kind of reminds

[00:10:02] me of the way that I was writing as an allegory

[00:10:06] for moral and societal issues right.

[00:10:09] And for me

[00:10:13] you know

[00:10:16] my favorite thing about Star Trek is it's

[00:10:19] it's welcome, welcomeness of everybody

[00:10:22] kind of thing.

[00:10:25] One of my favorite lines is

[00:10:28] remember in the I think it's it's a turn

[00:10:31] of the

[00:10:34] Corp.

[00:10:37] The one where it's balanced the terror.

[00:10:40] Where they're doing the Romulan thing and the

[00:10:43] first time you see Romulan who turns out to be

[00:10:46] Spock's dad later but

[00:10:49] one of the crewmen turns to Spock

[00:10:52] and he goes why does he look like you

[00:10:55] and Kirk says

[00:10:58] leave your bigotry in your quarters.

[00:11:01] Remember that line specifically growing up that

[00:11:04] specific line. I'm back growing up and going

[00:11:07] oh this is more than just an adventure show

[00:11:10] this is about

[00:11:13] people dealing with life as but using

[00:11:16] sci-fi as an allegory.

[00:11:19] That's my favorite thing about Star Trek there's no one particular thing that I could focus on

[00:11:22] but the fact that you use sci-fi

[00:11:25] as an allegory is that you can

[00:11:29] really use your heart to talk about society

[00:11:32] its problems how to solve them.

[00:11:35] I don't necessarily agree that humans will become this utopia like

[00:11:38] in next generation.

[00:11:41] That's why I think why I like

[00:11:44] why not?

[00:11:47] I don't think you're going toward that.

[00:11:50] We start talking like this I'll talk the entire time.

[00:11:53] I'm going to talk about the sci-fi context.

[00:11:56] I think that's what I like to do in the

[00:11:59] expanse.

[00:12:02] Both roles.

[00:12:05] Thank you for knowing that I played two roles.

[00:12:08] Again I love legit sci-fi.

[00:12:11] Interesting human stories

[00:12:14] and problems in the sci-fi context.

[00:12:17] That's what I love about Star Trek.

[00:12:20] I know it's a bit of a

[00:12:23] part of the story but again

[00:12:26] OIS was my dictionary wikipedia

[00:12:29] explaining to me why it was

[00:12:32] important and doing research

[00:12:35] and being like to me what I really liked was the idea

[00:12:38] of everybody being important

[00:12:41] and everybody bringing to the table whatever their skill set is

[00:12:44] and how it's not just one person

[00:12:47] but everybody.

[00:12:50] You don't know when that person is going to come along

[00:12:53] and their abilities are going to be saved the day.

[00:12:56] I believe in a

[00:12:59] galliteran world where everybody has the opportunity

[00:13:02] to showcase their skills

[00:13:05] and I know we're not headed toward

[00:13:08] that utopia of no poverty and no war

[00:13:11] but I really like that

[00:13:14] that's what we should be striving toward

[00:13:17] and how amazing it's going to be when we get there

[00:13:20] and then we can explore other more important issues.

[00:13:23] That's one thing I think Discovery does really

[00:13:26] really well that I've always appreciated is the

[00:13:29] what Eve was just saying which is

[00:13:32] everybody has relied on and trusted for their skill

[00:13:35] and every season there's at least

[00:13:38] one episode where one of the crew members goes

[00:13:41] and says, you know what I'm saying, you know how to deal with this

[00:13:44] and we trust you with that.

[00:13:47] It's something that Eve just pointed out that I just realized Discovery does that

[00:13:50] very well, I love that.

[00:13:53] They're telling us that we have time for one more question

[00:13:56] so Eve we wanted to because we noticed

[00:13:59] on your Instagram post that you did

[00:14:02] several times you pictured stacks of books

[00:14:05] and we were like, ah she's our girl

[00:14:08] we have a book club that meets like bi-monthly

[00:14:11] virtually and reading is our jam too

[00:14:14] so were there any

[00:14:17] books that you read in preparation for mall?

[00:14:20] Is there anything literary that tied into that?

[00:14:23] And if not, do you want to hype up anything

[00:14:26] that you're reading currently that you'd like to talk about?

[00:14:29] Oh my gosh this is I didn't read anything but

[00:14:32] I love that you're in a book club. I'm in two book clubs actually.

[00:14:35] Yeah.

[00:14:37] They are the best.

[00:14:39] Yes they are.

[00:14:41] I mean, what I'm reading right now

[00:14:43] I'm reading Poor Things

[00:14:45] it was the book that was made into

[00:14:47] a movie.

[00:14:49] And I really wish that I'd read the book

[00:14:51] before watching the film because it's like

[00:14:54] the movie is amazing

[00:14:56] I'm really enjoying the book

[00:14:58] but it's just like I can't help but

[00:15:01] I'm really enjoying the book

[00:15:04] I'm just like I can't help but see the characters in the movie

[00:15:07] the book.

[00:15:09] So that's a little bit, I wish I hadn't done that

[00:15:12] and then

[00:15:14] I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[00:15:17] for the last club because

[00:15:19] I read it when I was like...

[00:15:21] My favorite.

[00:15:23] It feels so good.

[00:15:25] Sometimes when you read a book when you're younger

[00:15:27] and you're like oh man I'm going to go back to this

[00:15:29] and I don't know if it's going to stand the test of time

[00:15:31] it totally does.

[00:15:33] And it's totally different.

[00:15:35] Yeah, yeah.

[00:15:37] But it's just like it's amazing that he approached

[00:15:39] these like really heavy topics

[00:15:41] with so much humor

[00:15:43] and one of the things that I remember

[00:15:45] was this line

[00:15:47] that he was like he's like

[00:15:49] he pretended to be an out-of-work actor for 15 years

[00:15:51] which wasn't hard to believe.

[00:15:55] Funny me.

[00:15:57] That is funny.

[00:15:59] This is still a good line.

[00:16:01] You know, it's just like back when it was written

[00:16:03] I think that's like I love art

[00:16:05] of any kind whether it's books, music

[00:16:07] like visual art

[00:16:09] that it's like you don't have to

[00:16:11] it doesn't have to have context

[00:16:13] it's like oh this was written in this time

[00:16:15] this was written in this time it's like it's good

[00:16:17] across, you know

[00:16:19] like yeah and that's good.

[00:16:21] Can I still travel with the white towel?

[00:16:23] I do.

[00:16:25] I got my towel.

[00:16:27] So we had a meeting

[00:16:29] because this was also from my other book club

[00:16:31] we met two days ago

[00:16:33] we do virtually too

[00:16:35] because my two friends who I'm in it with

[00:16:37] they live in Portland

[00:16:39] and then we were talking about the towel

[00:16:41] because it seems so silly

[00:16:43] but it's so poignant for some reason that it's like

[00:16:45] that a person

[00:16:47] is like has their shit together when the world's collapsing

[00:16:49] but you know what?

[00:16:51] I got your towel.

[00:16:53] I got the towel.

[00:16:55] Little back.

[00:16:59] We have many more questions

[00:17:01] for you guys actually but we know

[00:17:03] that we are out of time

[00:17:05] and you know I was just before

[00:17:07] we go Elias and Eve

[00:17:09] I want to thank you so much for bringing

[00:17:11] such depth

[00:17:13] to these two characters

[00:17:15] to Maul and Locke

[00:17:17] and Elias like kudos to you

[00:17:19] for emoting through all of that

[00:17:21] makeup and everything

[00:17:23] and you know your voice

[00:17:25] work, your voice skills come through

[00:17:27] because you give us

[00:17:29] cords with Locke

[00:17:31] you know like there's heartbreak

[00:17:33] and there's insecurity

[00:17:35] and you know there's all this stuff

[00:17:37] going on that you just get from

[00:17:39] the way that your voice will break sometimes

[00:17:41] and it's just beautiful. It's lovely to see.

[00:17:43] Thank you.

[00:17:45] I'm really appreciate it.

[00:17:47] Kudos to, okay I had to

[00:17:49] wear those contacts for one episode

[00:17:51] and it is uncomfortable.

[00:17:53] It gets

[00:17:55] full and it fucking sucks so the fact that

[00:17:57] he did an entire season

[00:17:59] breaking contacts is just like

[00:18:01] he doesn't remedies me.

[00:18:03] He's a professional.

[00:18:05] He's a professional.

[00:18:09] People don't know how uncomfortable that shit is.

[00:18:11] I'm like

[00:18:13] fucks.

[00:18:17] Thank you so much.

[00:18:19] We appreciate you both.

[00:18:21] Thank you very much for your time.

[00:18:23] What book are you reading for your book club?

[00:18:25] Now I want to know.

[00:18:27] Oh okay so right now we're reading

[00:18:29] and we're going to meet on it on the 28th.

[00:18:31] It's a book called The Master of Poisons

[00:18:33] by Andrea Hairston

[00:18:35] and so we focus

[00:18:37] on works by

[00:18:39] Black and BIPOC authors

[00:18:41] and she has written this incredible

[00:18:43] epic fantasy

[00:18:45] that's very

[00:18:47] African

[00:18:49] culturally oriented

[00:18:51] and it's literally unlike anything I've ever

[00:18:53] read before and the last time

[00:18:55] that I read anything coming close to this

[00:18:57] was when I first started

[00:18:59] reading NK Jemisin

[00:19:01] who was also writing things that I had never

[00:19:03] read before. The world building is insane.

[00:19:05] Yeah.

[00:19:07] Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

[00:19:09] amazing

[00:19:11] or Andrea I'm not sure how she

[00:19:13] answers it.

[00:19:15] I'm writing it down because I'm always looking for

[00:19:17] like recommendations.

[00:19:19] Oh yeah. It's a meaty one.

[00:19:21] It's meaty alright.

[00:19:23] Thank you.

[00:19:25] Thank you.

[00:19:27] That was cool wasn't it?

[00:19:29] It really was.

[00:19:31] I had a good answer to them.

[00:19:33] Yeah I really had a good time. I wish

[00:19:35] we had so much more time with them

[00:19:37] as you were saying before

[00:19:39] just the

[00:19:41] I don't know it's just the looks on their

[00:19:43] faces when they were talking about

[00:19:45] the things that interest them both of

[00:19:47] them. I really wish

[00:19:49] we had more time because

[00:19:51] it would have been a really good interview.

[00:19:53] Yeah because like Eve

[00:19:55] you know Eve is a

[00:19:57] you know like

[00:19:59] flying under the not really flying under the

[00:20:01] radar but like she's a

[00:20:03] sci-fi player like she's

[00:20:05] had a lot of roles in

[00:20:07] genre stuff that is really cool

[00:20:09] like agents of shield and stuff like that

[00:20:11] you know. And what night agent

[00:20:13] yeah night agent

[00:20:15] she's played a couple of villains

[00:20:17] and stuff you know she could play a villain boy

[00:20:19] yeah

[00:20:21] for real though I would love to talk books

[00:20:23] with her.

[00:20:25] She would love to talk books with you.

[00:20:27] I think we might have to see if sci-fi

[00:20:29] sisters book club can invite

[00:20:31] her in some day.

[00:20:33] Yes definitely. I think she'll be reading

[00:20:35] some books from the

[00:20:37] sci-fi sisters.

[00:20:39] Exactly.

[00:20:41] Well it was a blast to

[00:20:43] do that and we hope you guys

[00:20:45] had fun listening to it

[00:20:47] and where can people

[00:20:49] write to us if they have

[00:20:51] thoughts about the interview or

[00:20:53] anything else.

[00:20:55] You can find us at

[00:20:57] sci-fi sisters.com

[00:20:59] That's S-Y-F-Y-S-I-S-T-A-S

[00:21:01] dot com

[00:21:03] Join us on the mother ship

[00:21:05] S-M-U-T-H-A-S-H-I-P

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[00:21:23] For more interviews

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[00:21:39] The Trekkeeks Network's

[00:21:41] Presenting Sponsor is

[00:21:43] Fansets. Go to

[00:21:45] fansets.com for pins and memorabilia

[00:21:47] for all your favorite

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[00:21:55] your exclusive 10% discount.

[00:21:57] And of course

[00:21:59] we would be remiss if we didn't

[00:22:01] thank our very first

[00:22:03] associate producer

[00:22:05] Sailor Marge. Thank you so much

[00:22:07] Marge for your support

[00:22:09] and we also have to

[00:22:11] thank the baddest engineer

[00:22:13] in any and all universes

[00:22:15] that's Dose the Anonymous one

[00:22:17] He is responsible for all the music

[00:22:19] you hear on our show as well

[00:22:21] as for the engineering

[00:22:23] that goes into this show and if you need

[00:22:25] his skills look him up on

[00:22:27] Instagram at Dose

[00:22:29] underscore the anonymous underscore

[00:22:31] one that's the number one y'all

[00:22:33] don't type it out just one

[00:22:35] and that's it for us today

[00:22:37] thanks so much for listening we love you guys

[00:22:39] peace love and hair grease

[00:22:46] Hey everybody sister Tamiya

[00:22:48] here with the shorty shoutouts

[00:22:50] for this month we'd like to thank

[00:22:52] the following patrons for all

[00:22:54] your support

[00:23:04] Bernadette Garcia Galvez

[00:23:06] Rhonda G

[00:23:08] Kendra Stronat

[00:23:10] Rita Poussaint Neathersall

[00:23:12] Mark Richmond

[00:23:14] Bill Erickson

[00:23:16] Zacchia Graham

[00:23:18] Linda Anderich

[00:23:20] Jeffrey Cochran

[00:23:22] Old Decline

[00:23:24] Peter Heisler

[00:23:26] Olga Kravchuk

[00:23:28] TJ Jackson Bay

[00:23:30] Liza Albright

[00:23:32] David Baker

[00:23:34] Sailor Marge

[00:23:36] Stephanie Dole

[00:23:38] Starbase Centaur

[00:23:40] 42110 Productions

[00:23:42] Jamal Taylor

[00:23:44] Scott Jensen

[00:23:46] Ann Bradley

[00:23:48] JR Pool

[00:23:50] Howard Hogan

[00:23:52] L.M.

[00:23:54] Kiltcheck

[00:23:56] Timothy Baum

[00:23:58] Dave A. Gregory

[00:24:00] K. K.

[00:24:02] Mohamed Noor

[00:24:04] Susan V. Gruner

[00:24:06] and last but certainly not least

[00:24:08] Anna Post

[00:24:10] Thank you all so much for your support we love you very much