Her recent quick jaunt to the Adobe Guadalupe vineyards in Mexico with her husband of thirty-plus years notwithstanding, actress Penny Johnson Jerald considers herself a Champagne person. “We just went to the vineyards there for the weekend. I’m a Champagne person.” She tells the AFRO, “I can start with wine and that’s probably the limit. I know nothing about anything else.”
Penny Johnson Jerald is one of the stars of Fox’s ‘The Orvile.’ (Courtesy photo)
Johnson Jerald certainly knows about having longevity in a tough industry. Having been featured on some of the most iconic series in modern television such as “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “24,” “Castle” and HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show,” the Juilliard trained Johnson Jerald has one of the most recognizable faces on television. Born and raised in Baltimore County, she is the second of six children. “We were the first ones to try that integration thing. It was actually good. Because my mother, they didn’t know what she was it was, I guess, more comforting we thought for her, until they found out she wasn’t what they thought she was. Then it was ‘Okay, how do we categorize these people?’ because no one really called people biracial then.” Her parents got married as teens and stayed together for twenty-one years. Though divorced, they remain friends.
Though similar to one of Johnson Jerald previous vehicles “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” her latest project, is set on a spaceship as opposed to a space station. “The Orville” was created by, and stars, Seth MacFarlane who is also the creator of the animated comedy “Family Guy.” This might lead you to believe the show is a comedy but that would be somewhat wrong. “It is a dramedy sprinkled with funny. It’s not funny ha ha ha. It’s like “Larry Sanders” in science fiction. We get to say things that you’re thinking that would make things funny, but the situation itself is something that’s real to life and then sometimes we go into the real science fiction. We’re conversation starters.”
The show deals with a host of issues like religion, motherhood, gender, marriage, and adultery that are tackled with intelligence and levity in equal measure by an ensemble cast that includes MacFarlane himself as the captain and Johnson Jerald as the Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Claire Finn. As improbable as it seems at first glance, Johnson Jerald didn’t have to audition for the role. MacFarlane, who also exec produces the Neil DeGrasse Tyson hosted “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” was a fan of her work and reached out to her. She explains, “It was to my surprise that he was actually a fan of a lot of the shows that I’ve been a part of like “Star Trek,” “Larry Sanders” and “24.’”
Johnson Jerald tells us that MacFarlane “has managed to put together a character that I am very proud of.” Dr. Claire Finn is the voice of reason on a ship where the other characters sometimes tend to be tripped up by their emotions. She is also a fully-fleshed out, multifaceted individual. Johnson laughs as she explains, “I never know what’s going to happen to Claire. I’m happy that she is a mother and that makes her more grounded. I love grounded characters. I get to be tough. They call us “chick-asses”. I never use foul language but that word seems to be one of empowerment.”
Shooting the series has been challenging. “We worked extremely long hours,” she says, “And didn’t have weekends off for some time but it was so worth it. We weren’t trying to have any episodes that were fillers. You want to make something that’s meaningful and you don’t want to take your audience for granted so you have to put the work in.”
Part of the fun of “The Orville” is that it populated with a menagerie of aliens types with which sci-fi fans are familiar as well as introducing some new ones. Several members of the core team on the U.S.S. Orville are non-earthlings. The genuine camaraderie of the cast is evident. Johnson Jerald confirms that they, “Not only like each other on the set but we have a group text where we’re always talking to each other all eight us as a group. We’re wishing happy birthday or whatever it is we’re doing and I just think that’s very special.”
“The Orville” broadcasts on Fox and episodes are on demand at major digital platforms.