Saru's Walk In Star Trek: Discovery Wasn't An Intentional Decision
Actor Doug Jones is 6'4" tall and has always been rail thin. He trained as a mime and contortionist, making him uniquely qualified to portray characters whose faces weren't visible. One of his earliest gigs was playing the anthropomorphic crescent moon character Mac Tonight for a series of McDonald's commercials. This led to many, many roles on TV and in movies playing monsters, creatures, and other nonhuman characters. His face is visible in only about half of his roles.
One of Jones' higher-profile roles is Saru, the Kelpien Starfleet officer on "Star Trek: Discovery." Saru was a fearful, cautious character, whose species had been bred to serve as food for another, dominant species on his home planet. He had evolved to think like prey and is incredibly wary of danger. Saru is a sensitive, emotionally open character, a far cry from the bold-faced frontiersman so often seen in the franchise. Jones gets to employ his soft voice and capable body language to communicate a lot about Saru. He is easily the best character in the series.
To make Saru taller and more alien, the costumers on "Star Trek: Discovery" outfitted Jones with a special pair of raised shoes. They're like high heels, but with the heels missing, forcing Jones to walk around on the balls of his feet. Wearing those shoes, it seems, forced Jones to alter his gait dramatically, creating a strange and unique "Saru walk." Jones would kind of sashay, leading with his knees. His arms would dangle behind him, and he would have to wave them behind his back as he strode down the hallways of the U.S.S. Discovery.
In a 2021 interview with TrekNews, Jones talked about how the Saru walk was not a character decision, but a demand of the costume. Luckily, the character was born from it.
I wouldn't change a thing
Being a mime, Doug Jones, who has played all sorts of strange and unusual characters, is likely sharply aware of his body language as an actor and pays attention to a character's walk, gestures, and head movements. Jones said that he had studied his character in terms of attitude, sense of humor, and line delivery, but allowed the actual physicality to grow from the necessities of the costume and makeup. He added:
"[Saru] kind of came about organically. You know, the script is always your starting point, but then you, the actor, take on other qualities. For example, Saru's sarcastic sense of humor, or the way he visually reacts to people, like the movement of his eyes or the way he holds himself or walks. That all came about all by accident. The 'Saru walk,' which I hear is a popular part of the character, came about sixty seconds after putting on the costume, because of the way those boots kind of altered my posture."
Jones admitted in the same interview that the fourth season of "Discovery" provided the unique character challenge of placing Saru — a timid character — in a position of authority. For that season, Saru was the captain of the U.S.S. Discovery, and Jones had to present a sensitive and soft-spoken character as possessed of command skills and resolute decision-making acumen. "Saru wanted to be the captain of a starship," Jones said. "Doug Jones, not so much."
One gets the impression that Jones is, like Saru, also soft-spoken and sensitive. It seems that Saru matches the actor's personal sensibilities well. Perhaps that's why Saru is such a dynamic character; he feels honest.