Bryan Fuller posted this on Instagram as a birthday greeting to Laurence Fishburne, back on July 30.
So apparently Fuller had intended to carry over the Hannibal cast into Discovery in various parts — and this was how he'd imagined Fishburne in Klingon prosthetics. It also suggests that the much maligned Disco Klingon designs were decided upon after Fuller left as (preliminary) show runner.
ETA: Here is a rundown of the casting plans he had in mind, originally revealed on the D-con chamber podcast. I would have watched Gillian Anderson as a starship captain.
I loved the way they were presented, and I immediately felt like the richness of the added details (like the differences between the great houses) made it the new "definitive" depiction of Klingon culture, just like how DS9 really added a lot to the Ferengi. I also honestly don't even feel that visually they were presented as radically different enough to justify an augment-virus-style retcon (but I wouldn't have complained)!
This right here. When I first saw them I also just kind of assumed that in that period, baldness was probably just more fashionable or something.
Trekkies: "Why is Sisko bald but M’Benga is not??"