Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Hugh Culber

Culber and Stamets were already a married couple aboard Discovery when the series began in 2017, but the actors behind the roles had known each other for nearly two decades prior to getting their space legs.

The pair first met in 1997 when Wilson Cruz took over the part of Angel in Rent, their stints in the musical overlapping for about a month before Rapp left the Broadway production, and a lasting friendship was formed. As he told MetroWeekly, Rapp, who was cast first in Discovery, and aware that Cruz was in the mix of names to play his on-screen husband, was "crossing his fingers that [Cruz would] be the one" to play Hugh and "very, very happy when that happened".

Both actors appear regularly together in interviews, at awards ceremonies, and conventions, often fielding as many (if not more) questions from 'RENTheads' (diehard fans of the musical) as they do from Star Trek fans, and wherever the twain shall meet.

At the 2022 Awesome Con, the two actors discussed the impact of their longstanding friendship on their Star Trek coupling, Cruz commenting that it is "the easiest thing in the world to make-believe you're in love with Anthony Rapp," also emphasising the importance of chosen family within the queer community.

Cruz reiterated this sentiment in a heartfelt Instagram post when the news broke that Discovery would be ending after season five, expressing his gratitude "for the chance to create a family both on and off screen that I will cherish for the rest of my days".