Toronto actor Humberly Gonzalez, a graduate of the venerable Canadian Film Centre, continues her rise in television with a leading role in the highly anticipated Star Trek: Section 31, now streaming on Paramount+. The film, which premiered on Jan. 24, sees Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, navigating the shadows of Starfleet’s secretive division while confronting her past.

Gonzalez joins a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Omari Hardwick (Power), Emmy-winning actor Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim), Kacey Rohl (Hannibal), Sven Ruygrok (One Piece), James Hiroyuki Liao (Barry), and Joe Pingue (The Expanse). 

Gonzalez, best known for her role as Sophie Sanchez in Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia, has steadily built an impressive resume across television, film, and even gaming. Her latest foray into the Star Trek universe marks another significant milestone in her career, solidifying her status as one of Canada’s rising stars.

“It’s a wonderful day, I just saw myself on a billboard in Times Square,” says Gonzalez, during a recent interview following the show’s premiere.

Gonzalez says filming in Toronto at Pinewood’s famous Star Trek stage was unique, with the entire main cast on set the first day.

“That’s very rare on a film or TV set. A lot of the times it’s very out of order chronologically,” she says. “But we spent two full film days with one scene, which is when you first meet the entire team, and when you watch the film you see that it was the best way to start a project because we all really had to rely on each other. I could tell that I was amongst people at their best.”

The Star Trek: Section 31  team features award-winning actor Michelle Yeoh, who, according to Gonzalez, had a positive influence on the cast.

“She really lifted everybody up,” she says. “Everything comes down from the top. So Casey, Michelle and I are the women of the cast, and I felt very taken care of. I felt I had permission to play because she was very playful.”

A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s prestigious conservatory program and the National Theatre School in Montreal, Gonzalez continues to break new ground in the industry. Proudly Venezuelan and fluent in Spanish, she brings a rich cultural background to her diverse body of work.

“I do feel the program is such an accelerator for the talent that we have in Canada,” Gonzalez says. ” They are really nurturing the next wave of Canadian talent, and I always wanted to go to that school.”

And, being a Toronto kid, Gonzalez took great pride in showing off her city to her cast mates while in town for filming.

“We went to a Maple Leafs game, we went to karaoke, we went out dancing, we ate lots of really good food,” she says. “Toronto has a lot to offer. And we grew really close very quickly; it’s such a gift to have that.”

Gonzalez says working on a Star Trek production is a right of passage for Toronto actors. “As a Canadian, it’s such a rite of passage to do Star Trek. We have Pinewood Studios, first of all. And within Pinewood Studios, we have the Star Trek stage. Everybody knows that it shoots there. So if you’re an actor or an upcoming actor in the city, you know about that and you want to be a part of it,” she says. “It’s really a showstopper, the sets, the costumes, the makeup, the prosthetics, the team, it’s such a family. It’s very niche.”

Beyond Star Trek, Gonzalez has been making waves in the world of gaming, lending her talents to the new Star Wars: Outlaws video game where she portrays the title character, Kay Vess. 

Adding to her growing list of accomplishments, Gonzalez recently wrapped filming for Netflix’s upcoming series The Waterfront, created by Kevin Williamson. She also starred in Sony Pictures’ horror hit Tarot, a surprise box-office success that grossed $45 million globally on an $8 million budget.

With her star on the rise, Gonzalez is proving that the journey to the final frontier is just beginning. 

We all know that pets are important parts of our lives (for some people, the most important), so people are willing to shell out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for everything from pet DNA kits to pet food. But some pet owners are looking to take that special bond a step further — by cloning them.  A Texas-based company called Viagen Pets is the first (and only) North American firm to offer commercial cloning of dogs and cats.

 

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It’s a bit controversial, but genetic preservation involves collecting and storing your pet’s DNA for cloning in the future — it can be stored indefinitely before cloning takes place (many owners who are iffy about cloning just start with genetic preservation). The procedure begins with a small tissue sample, typically collected by a veterinarian using a biopsy kit. This sample is then sent to the lab, where viable cells are cultured and “cryopreserved” (or frozen) for long-term storage. The cost for genetic preservation is $1,600 (USD), with an additional annual storage fee of $150.

Biopsies can be done at any age, although samples taken from a living pet are preferable. So, say, if your pet passes unexpectedly, Viagen advises contacting them right away, and immediately refrigerating (not freezing) your dog or cat’s tissue sample after death.

After genetic preservation, be prepared to shell out a ton of cash if you want to move forward with cloning. Apart from sales tax, cloning your dog or cat will cost $50,000 (paid in two equal installments), and cloning a horse will cost $85,000, also paid in two equal installments. The actual cloning process also takes some time — about eight months to clone a dog and a year to clone a cat.

 

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As much as owners love their pets, a cloned animal isn’t an exact replica of the original pet, especially behavioural-wise. A pet delivered by cloning (via natural birth or c-section) will have the same genes as the original donor pet but can best be described as an identical twin born at a later date.

Viagen notes that cloned pets will have their own unique personalities. While the clone might inherit many traits from the original pet, the cloned pet’s experiences and environment will shape who it becomes.

“So, your pet’s clone may look just like your beloved companion, but they’ll bring their own special spark to your life!” Viagen stated in a recent Insta post.

Even with the high costs, pet cloning is becoming more popular. Viagen has reportedly conducted thousands of cloning procedures since it first opened in 2015 (the company even has a wait list). In 2018, Barbra Streisand said she used the service to clone two puppies from her late dog Samantha, who passed away in 2017. Canadians have also taken advantage of the cloning service (like this Kelowna woman, who reportedly has two clones of her cat Bear, who passed away in 2022).

Still, animal welfare activists have warned that the cloning process can typically require impregnating multiple dogs to produce a single clone, leading to many stressful pregnancies, miscarriages, and dead clones. Some studies even suggest that dog cloning only has a 20 per cent success rate. The solution, they believe, is to simply adopt an animal in need (even now, shelters are still dealing with post-pandemic pet surrenders as people head back to the office, this after a surge in demand for pets during COVID lockdowns).

If you’re interested in cloning your pet or are simple curious about the topic, visit Viagen for more info.