Star Trek: Discovery Casts Spock's Father, Pushes Premiere Date

James Frain is boardingStar Trek: Discovery as Sarek, the Vulcan father of Spock, CBS Television Studios announced Wednesday.

In other news, the series will miss its scheduled May premiere date as production on the series begins next week. A new premiere date has not been set.

Frain is perhaps best known for playing the vampire Franklin Mott on Season 3 of True Blood, but he's a recognizable face from dozens of film and TV appearances.

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Interestingly, Sarek has been cast, but not Spock. Discovery takes place about a decade before the events of the original series, and Sarek is the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, so it's possible that he'll just be doing that job. We'll have to wait and see how his family comes into it.

Frain joins previously announced stars including Sonequa Martin-Green, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Rapp and Doug Jones.

Star Trek: Discovery's premiere date is being postponed yet again, with CBS stressing that the premiere date is remaining "flexible" due to production demands and cast members' other commitments. This is the second time the series has been pushed back, after being moved to May from its originally-scheduled January premiere date. Co-creator and original showrunner Bryan Fuller stepped down in October.

These might all be adding up to a troubled project, but reps for CBS All Access tell TVGuide.com: "We love the cast, the scripts and are excited about the world the producers have created. This is an ambitious project; we will be flexible on a launch date if it's best for the show. We've said from the beginning it's more important to do this right than to do it fast. There is also added flexibility presenting on CBS All Access, which isn't beholden to seasonal premieres or launch windows."

Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on CBS. All subsequent episodes will premiere on CBS All Access, the network's streaming platform.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)