LOWER DECKS’ Gabrielle Ruiz on portraying T’Lyn, the Cerritos “straight man”

On Star Trek: Lower Decks, Lt. Junior Grade T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) is a more recent addition to the crew. However, she quickly won Trekkies over after her first appearance in season 2’s “wej Duj,” and has only been rising in our estimation ever since.

Comics Beat was thrilled to catch up with Ruiz over Zoom to learn more about her experiences  voicing the Vulcan science officer-in-training on the animated comedy. We asked about how she feels her personality compares to T’Lyn’s, about the most difficult aspect of “Vulcan deliver” to nail down, and about how her lifelong relationship with the Franchise affects her performance.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

AVERY KAPLAN: Several of your fellow Lower Deckers have commented on how similar they are to their characters. I’m curious whether you feel your personality is similar to T’Lyn’s?

GABRIELLE RUIZ: Well, I don’t play an instrument, but I’m very musical, as well. I feel like Vulcans are very artistic. They’re in the performing arts, and they’re very talented in that. I have a Broadway background, and I think precision and accuracy and passion have a lot to do with that. I feel that I can claim that fame as a Vulcan.

Being the straight man of the group, the person that says, “Oh, you were making a joke,” that’s a lot of my sister. My sister literally, still sometimes to this day, doesn’t understand that I’m making a joke. And she says, “Oh. You were making a joke.”

So it’s a hybrid: me and my sister are T’Lyn.

KAPLAN: What is the recording process like for you? Do you go into the studio?

RUIZ: I go into the recording studio, yes, since the beginning. And I have had moments where there is the producer or Mike McMahan are across the glass window and they’re giving me notes through.

But a lot of it has been on Zoom, where everyone’s where they are. We record one to three episodes in a four hour span. Because we record our own lines: we don’t go through the actual length in real time of a script. So if T’Lyn has three lines, or 30 or 300, we just go through the bookends of what lines are happening where. 

And I have a great producer, Brad Winters, who walks me through the scene and says, “This is what’s happening.” He’ll feed me the line before and I get to give him three to five takes, and giggle every single time. But you don’t hear that part.

KAPLAN: Has there ever been a “Vulcan delivery” that you had to work especially hard to nail?

RUIZ: Some of the scientific jargon that they give me… As a voice over actor, we kind of get in trouble with questions like these, because I don’t technically memorize anything.

But sometimes the phonetics of things that need to sound Vulcan and also be correct… I’ll get on YouTube just to hear that word; what is the emphásis on the right sylláble. It becomes a challenge to get the words in the right order with a Vulcan style.

It’s a double whammy. But again, some of my Vulcan colleagues before me are having to memorize that stuff! At least I get a few takes to really focus on it.

KAPLAN: Have you had any particularly memorable experiences with Trekkies since stepping into the role of T’Lyn?

RUIZ: The first time I saw someone in cosplay as T’Lyn, I kind of took her down and hugged her and she almost fell. I was very human about it, I was not in any way a Vulcan about it. 

It was on the Star Trek cruise, and I saw her and I sat her down and bought her a beer. I was like, “I’m a fan of you! Thank you for loving her!” I hope she didn’t think I was crazy. That was a fun moment. 

And just at the cons, there’s a photo behind me of T’Lyn as I’m sitting at a table. Because you don’t know me by Gabrielle’s face, you know me by T’Lyn’s face. The moment they realize it’s me is very exciting. Because then they’ll just rush the table and we’ll have our kiki about T’Lyn. I’m enjoying every minute of it.

KAPLAN: In addition to T’Lyn, you also play Lt. Lemonts and Lt. Jr. Grade Castro, who are both humans. Is there another Star Trek alien species you’re eager to add to your repertoire in the future?

RUIZ: I want to be computer. It might be season 1 of Lower Decks where I had one computer line, and I was like, “I’ve made it!” So if I could be computer on any other Star Trek in the future. I don’t care what the pay: I will be computer for you.

KAPLAN: Would you be interested in portraying T’Lyn in live action?

RUIZ: You know, fans have come up to me at cons and told me that I could nail it. So, if they think I could nail it, I would love to nail it.

I have had the short bob for a Broadway show that I did once. I think I could rock that bob. Yeah, I’d love to put the ears on. (Á la T’Lyn:) It would be remarkable.

KAPLAN: Would you be interested in reprising the role of T’Lyn in animation?

RUIZ: I mean, what kind of question is that? Of course. Absolutely. There’s no question. I will be happy to offer my T’Lyn vibes to anyone that would like to hear her and love her and have her in a scene. 

I hope people understand how grateful I am that I get to be a part of this Star Trek universe. My mom is a Trekkie, I grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation. The moment I called her and told her this was happening, we were thrilled together. So, I would love to. 

KAPLAN: As you mentioned, your mother is a Trekkie. How has this long-term relationship with the Franchise has affected your portrayal of T’Lyn?

RUIZ: The effect of it was, from the beginning with the audition, it’s important that it’s correct. It’s accurate. It’s honorable to the Vulcan species and also to Leonard Nimoy. 

Nimoy took it serious from the very beginning. He knew as funny as Vulcans can be, it was important to create this world, this universe, this culture, that I have the responsibility to continue. It affects me deeply. I really take it seriously. 

And the fact that I get to do it in comedy is such a bonus. Because being so serious and so stoic, and having the core four and everyone on the Cerritos be so bouncy and bubbly and fun and loud… I love my placement of toning it down and deadpan. Because that, in some ways, makes them even funnier.

KAPLAN: What would you personally order from the food replicator?

RUIZ: I mean, I’m a mother of two kids that are under four right now. So honestly, anything hot that I don’t have to make sounds great.

I love burgers and fries, and I’d probably order that with a beer. And nobody talk with me. Nobody try to share my food. That’s exactly what I would order.

New episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks are available for streaming on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

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