Star Trek: Discovery actor Elias Toufexis, who plays one of the main villains in the upcoming fifth season of the series, has made it a point to emphasize that his character, L'ak, is not just crazy.
"L'ak is not the Joker. He's not crazy," the Canadian actor told the hosts of TrekCulture. "He’s very stoic and tough. He’s not big and crazy."
Appearing on the YouTube channel, Toufexis provided a bit of context for his character. According to the Season 5 synopsis, the upcoming fifth and final season "finds Captain Burnham and the U.S.S. Discovery crew uncovering a mystery that will send them an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries."
"But there are others on the hunt as well..." the synopsis teases. "foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it."
Toufexis' L'ak is one of these foes, alongside Eve Harlow's Moll. Together, these two have been likened to Bonnie and Clyde.
The actor hinted that although his character technically is the villain in the season, there is a reason for what they are doing. And as Season 5 unfolds, we'll get a better understanding of their motivations.
This is not just a bad guy that is evil throughout. They go into why he’s doing what he’s doing and Moll too and why they love each other and how they fall in love. All that stuff, at least in my case, I played it completely genuine. It’s a genuine love they have for each other and they just want to do what they’re going to do and they want the Federation off their tail. That’s what the story is about from our point of view. So there are there’s so many moments of love and romance and also moments of fear and doubt.
And so it’s not just him being angry all the time and evil… They’re both layered characters. And they really get into that as the season goes forward. With sacrifices and battles and fights and love true love! That’s what the season is for Moll and L’ak. It’s all that kind of fun, great romance. But they still do bad things and have to justify why they’re doing those bad things… It’s a whole layered thing. It was really, really fun to to play.”
We got our first glimpse of L'ak and Moll in the SDCC 2023 exclusive clip. This clip is apparently from the Season 5 premiere episode, titled "Red Directive," which finds Burnham aboard an 800-year-old Romulan vessel on the hunt for a "hidden artifact."
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, which will be the finale season for the series, is set to premiere on Paramount+ in April. Those who attend SXSW in Austin in March will be treated to a first viewing of the premiere episode.