Anthony Rapp

Anthony Deane Rapp is an American stage and film actor who plays Lt. Paul Stamets, a science officer specializing in  on the USS Discovery, in. He is best known as the original Mark Cohen in the musical Rent, and reprised the role in the 2005 film version directed by Chris Columbus, costarring Sarah Silverman and Joel Swetow.

Rapp noted that he thought Discovery shared "DNA" with blended with the original series. 

Rapp made his acting debut as horny teenager Darryl Coopersmith in the 1987 comedy Adventures in Babysitting, which coincidentally was Columbus's directorial debut opposite Ron Canada and John Davis Chandler. Rapp followed up with 1989's Far from Home, costarring Matt Frewer and Dick Miller. That year Rapp also appeared in the thriller Grave Secrets, with Trek veteran David Warner. In 1993, Rapp was cast as bigoted college student Richard "McGoo" Collins in the 1950s set drama School Ties, along with Ed Lauter and Kevin Tighe. That year period dramas were a theme as Rapp next appeared in the '70s-era coming-of-age film Dazed & Confused, with Christine Harnos. The only contemporary film in which Rapp appeared that year was Six Degrees of Separation, with J.J. Abrams, Bruce Davison, and Oz Perkins. Hit films continued to follow with Rapp making a presence in the natural disaster thriller Twister in 1996, joined by Zach Grenier, Richard Lineback, Alan Ruck, and Scott Thomson. Rapp's most recent film work is 2016's Do You Take This Man, with Sam Anderson and Thomas Dekker.

In 2000, Rapp played smarmy college student turned attempted cult leader Jacob in the college comedy hit Road Trip, which featured Andy Dick and Ellen Albertini Dow. 2001 saw Rapp in the Ron Howard-directed biopic A Beautiful Mind, with Josh Pais and Christopher Plummer. 2004's Open House found Rapp working with TOS guest star Sally Kellerman. In 2006, Rapp reunited with Andy Dick in Danny Roane: First Time Director, written and directed by Dick and costarring Debra Wilson.

Rapp's debut on the small screen was in the 1990 telefilm Sky High, co-directed by James Whitmore, Jr. In 1994, Rapp was seen in Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker, with John Glover and Brad Greenquist. Rapp ended the '90s costarring in 1999's Man of the Century, with Frank Gorshin. Following their work in Twister, Rapp and Ruck worked together again in 1997 on Ruck's series Spin City in the first season episode "An Affair to Remember", with John Harrington Bland. In 2000, Rapp was seen in the TV biopic The Beach Boys: An American Family, alongside Jad Mager, David Spielberg, Ned Vaughn, and Clay Wilcox.

Rapp is openly gay and has been out most of his career. His character is also the first openly gay character in the TV series. 

In 2001, in an interview with The Advocate magazine, Rapp revealed that in 1986, when he was 14, he was the subject of unwanted sexual advances by a then-unnamed actor. In 2017, galvanized by other actors revealing their experience of sexual harassment in Hollywood, Rapp stated that the actor in question was Kevin Spacey. The next day, Netflix, which broadcasts Discovery internationally, announced it was cancelling Spacey's show House of Cards, which was already slated to end, stating they were "deeply troubled" by the revelation. Coincidentally, Spacey had been filming "All the Money in the World" and was subsequently fired by director Ridley Scott. Scott then had the film reshot with Rapp's "A Beautiful Mind" costar Christopher Plummer taking over Spacey's role as J. Paul Getty.

Star Trek appearances

 * (First appearance)
 * (First appearance)

Other appearances

 * as $𝜇$
 * Episode 6
 * Episode 11
 * Episode 14
 * Episode 3
 * Episode 14
 * Episode 3
 * Episode 3