"I struggle with every single aspect
of my life every hour of my day. But my little trick is to be present to the moment."
- People Online Chat, 1998
Over the years, Kate Mulgrew has been
interviewed a multitude of times during her career during which, in my opinion, she has no
fear in speaking candidly. I think she is articulate, intelligent and has said many
insightful things (about Star Trek and about life), some of which I have taken to heart.
It’s interesting to see how Kate Mulgrew has evolved over the years. I think that
evolution is evident in what she says and how she says it. This page is a reflection of
some of my favorite comments she has made on a variety of topics. These comments are taken
completely out of context, but to me, their meaning remains the same.
Click on the links below to see Kate’s comments on
various topics. The " " sign means a
new quote has been added.
on being a
‘Star’:
"I think people think I’m accessible. I’m never treated as a star,
either by fans or other actors, and I like it like that. I don’t get the star
treatment. I think that means I’m a good actor. They acknowledge me as a human being,
and to me, that’s invaluable, because that’s exactly what I am!"
Soap Opera Weekly, January 1992 by Jeffrey Pearlstein
on Trekkers/Trekkies: Back to Top
"A trekker is, in fact a ‘star trekker’. They are walking with
us, right? The trekker is motivated. The trekker is in motion. The trekkie
is a sort of neutral, benign, harmless viewer who just wants to watch. ‘Are we gonna
take a trek? We’re not a couple of trekkies, right?’ Then we’re
watching the trek. But the trekker is coming with us."
(Click
HERE to see screen captures of Kate as she says this)
Trekkies, ©1997
on Equinox, Part II: Back to Top
"It’s not Janeway against the crew, but it is sometimes Janeway alone,
because I am the captain , and in this case, I’m going head to head with a captain
who has resigned his ethics. For some reason that drives me to a certain kind of behaviour
that I don’t otherwise employ. I do become myopic in my pursuit of him , in my
diligence and my absolute commitment to bringing him down, if you want to use that
expression. All of which turn around at the end. Indeed, I feel that he has betrayed all
that I stand for, and having been lost now for six years, it is a particularly provocative
and dangerous dilemma to find myself in."
Star Trek Monthly #59 Late November 1999 by Lou Anders
on being an actor: Back to Top
"... Good acting is me listening to you and being utterly present to you and every
audience member knows if that’s true or false. That’s why you often watch people
watching television going "yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeaheyeahnext". It’s
dismissive, but you know in a second when someone is really there. Behind that, are hours
of preparation, I mean I go home at night after a 16-hour sometimes 18-hour day and I do
not go to bed until I have worked probably 2, 2 1/2, 3 hours on the next day’s stuff.
So I own the material so that in that moment, I can give the same to you. but it’s
always a struggle and it’s always a little frightening. ..."
7 Live, Seattle, 1995 [TV interview]
"I want to move people always, because I’m an actress, so that’s always
my essential compulsion..."
Star Trek: The Magazine, October 2000
on the captain’s Ready Room: Back to Top
"I consider the Ready Room to be her expressive laboratory. Usually, there’s
freedom there to express more warmth, more depth, more key emotions such as my allegiance
to my crew, the intensity of my feelings toward Tuvok, an anxious Neelix, or
whomever."
Star Trek: Voyager-The Official Magazine, February 1996 by Ian Spelling
on the episode
‘Counterpoint’ and working w/Mark Harelik: Back to Top
"Selfishly speaking, the episode I loved most to act in was probably Counterpoint.
I was such a dance with Mark Harelik [as Kashyk], who is a divine actor. The show was so
well written, it arguments so strong, and it was so simple as well. It was a coup within a
coup with in a coup. I got to play 10 levels at all times and I wasn’t always sure
which level I was on. That was at once scary and exciting. It was sort of Hitchcockian
Sci-Fi. But it is so crucial to me, my partner in any scene, in any episode, to make the
movement real, to convey any argument. And Mark gave me 150 per cent."
Starburst #270, February 2001 by Ian Spelling
on doing conventions: Back to Top
"There are many people who feel I should attend the conventions because
that’s part of the job--and I do want to honor the fans. I, in no way, want to
patronize them. But I find [conventions] a bit of a gray area. I went to one yesterday and
I’m on the set today feeling exhausted. It’s just not worth it. Not even to do
two a year. Because something’s going to suffer in my work And that’s what
really drives me nuts."
July 15, 1995, TV Guide by Michael Logan
on Kathryn Janeway: Back to Top
"I would say her key quality is fierce loyalty. She is first and foremost the
captain of this ship, and she’ll go down fighting for every member of its crew and
for all of her beliefs. I think she has a profound morality, which belongs to her alone,
which is why she is the captain of this ship. She always makes the choice for science and
for life, which ennobles her, and think sets her a little bit apart. But she is by no
means inaccessible, which is the beauty of who she is. Her femininity, her great heart,
her empathy, her need for personal contact--all of these things are in evidence most of
the time. But when she need to take over, she takes over like nobody’s
business."
Star Trek Communicator #100 December/January 1994/1995 by Pamela Roller
"This is the longest I’ve ever played any one character, and that
has been a fascinating experience. I know Kathryn Janeway very well indeed, but still not
as well as I intend to get to know her. I just find Janeway endlessly fascinating.
She’s a great character for an actress to play."
February 1999, Sci-fi TV by Ian Spelling
"A lot of her is me. I’ve had this broad under my belt for five years. I own
her - and nobody can tell me that I don’t own her." ... "I love every
single dimension and component of her being. Her nobility, her flawed character, her
laughter, her love of the absurd, her love of the unknown, her love of science...
I’ve loved her great heart, her formidable spirit, her guts. She has a much better
mind than mine, and a gifted imagination as well, but she’s a little prickly, and
certainly not without ego. She has this profound sense of humanity: she can talk to
anybody and they listen.”
TV Zone #112, March 1999 by David Richardson
"I love her spirit. I love her guts. She’s really got that mettle that I so
admire. She’s actually a little noble, but she’s deeply flawed. And she
understands the absurdity of life, and she has that curiously scientific mind, which is
the great challenge to me."
TV Week (Canada), February 6-12, 1999 by Robin Roberts
"Janeway is not Mulgrew, but I hope that she’s been enhanced by Mulgrew. And
I again would return to the note of humanity, which to me was going to be her strong suit,
even above and beyond the authority of her captaincy. I thought if I could really find the
nobility in her nature and reveal it through a kind of brokenness as well as nobility,
then I would have succeeded."
Star Trek: The Magazine, October 2000
"I have fashioned Janeway from the beginning with everything that I’ve had.
My commitment to her has been complete. And I’ve never sacrificed my integrity to
make her real."
Cinescape, March/April 2001 by Gregory L. Norris & Laura A. Van Vleet
"Kathryn Janeway is exactly who she reveals herself to be. She’s a complex
woman. She’s highly driven. She’s very smart and opinionated, but she is flawed.
She is human. She has made a lot of mistakes on their journey, on her journey and the
ship’s journey. She’s rather fond of making those mistakes, I must say, because
she can then correct them in new ways. She is, as I have always said, first and foremost,
a scientist. Even when she is revealed to herself as a flawed and pretty un-sensational
human being, she still sees herself as a problem solver. She will say to herself, ‘I
will figure out how to correct that.’ And she does that both philosophically and
morally. She’s a deeply human woman. What I’ve tried to show through the cracks
is her passion."
Starburst #270, February 2001 by Ian Spelling
on being a role model: Back to Top
Kate Mulgrew...is intensely aware that little girls are watching her now. "I want
them to learn to love themselves and to become passionate about something very early
whether it’s acting or science or the military or writing. I want them to look at me
and think ‘if that woman can do that, why can’t I?’ To exercise a passion
in your life as young as possible will promise that girl a life of richness beyond
anything."
Star Trek Communicator, Issue 131, Dec/Jan 2000-2001 by Deborah Fisher
on Jeri Taylor: Back to Top
"...Jeri Taylor was largely responsible for the creation of Janeway, for which I
am forever grateful."
Star Trek Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 46, (11/98) Interview by Lou Anders
on the Internet: Back to Top
"I think the Internet is terrifying. I hate the whole idea. What does it
mean but a total loss of privacy? [The fans] know everything."
July 15, 1995, TV Guide by Michael Logan
on her sons/being a working mother: Back to Top
"I love you, my sons..."
Late, Late Show with Tom Snyder, 1996
"I have a very rich and wonderful personal life, and at its core are my sons. I
will tell you very frankly that I have missed them badly in these five years. ... But what
we’re talking about is a block of time I’ve missed now with them. Years when
nurturing was crucial, I think to their self -esteem. The kind of nurturing that comes
without conditions or contingencies. The kind of nurturing that is so simple and so basic
to human nature, regarding this relationship between mother and son. We missed it. "
"I asked them to grow up way before I should have asked them. I asked them to
understand that their mother was a celebrity - a concept no 10-year-old should have to
deal with. I asked them to accept a kind of maturity and responsibility that I think was a
bit of an imposition And furthermore I asked them to applaud me: ‘Be proud of your
mother!’ I asked them to do the impossible thing. They just wanted a good meal, a
slap on the butt. A mother. This has been so heart wrenching to me."
TV Zone #112, March 1999 by David Richardson
on relationships/love: Back to Top
..."The relationship between a mother and her children is almost telepathic. They
feel what I feel and vice versa. ...It’s the only relationship in the world that
works that way. This doesn’t happen between men and women...I know because I’ve
tried. Even when you’re deeply in love you don’t feel what the other
one’s feeling. You’re so selfish when you’re in love."
Spring 1995, TV Guide by Michael Logan
"...I am in love for the first time in 43 years and I will be damned if anybody
will take that away from me."
TV Zone #112, March 1999 by David Richardson
on Star Trek fans: Back to Top
"The collective is not [a problem] but I would say the obsessive or obsessed
individual is always frightening because he [or she] has lost reason."
TV Week (Canada), February 6-12, 1999 by Robin Roberts
on Janeway and Chakotay: Back to Top
"...I think there’s more to be explored between Chakotay and
Janeway. I’m a little tired of the romance thing, but that’s just because
it’s asked about so constantly, and unanswered so constantly."
Star Trek Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 46, (11/98) Interview by Lou Anders
"We missed that dance, and I called it. I didn’t call it ultimately, of
course, I’m not the boss, I’m just the actor, but I certainly had some input and
I didn’t feel it was a good idea. I felt that it would be far, far more interesting
and far more genuine if they had a deep and intimate and wonderful relationship and
didn’t go to bed, because I think bed rocks the boat. A captain loses her nobility;
Janeway would not do this."
TV Week (Canada), February 6-12, 1999 by Robin Roberts
on the ‘hair’ issue: Back to Top
"When I joined [Voyager] at the eleventh hour, we had nothing but hair
problems. Short? Long? With a hairpiece? Without a hairpiece? All the concerns were
about my hair--the hair being the trademark of the woman, right?" She rolls her eyes
heavenward. "Finally, we got all that settled but I think there was really something
else going on. I think they were nervous about having a woman as captain but they
couldn’t be as general as to say, ‘We’re just nervous about her.’
So it’s best to pick something--like hair!..."
Spring 1995, TV Guide by Michael Logan
on the end of the series, Star Trek:
Voyager: Back to Top
"...my thoughts are introspective. They’re reflective, more than anything
else. This is the end of a remarkable chapter in my life."
Sci-Fi: The Official Magazine of the Sci Fi Channel, February 2001 by
Melissa J. Perenson
"It will be very emotional and very hard for me to say goodbye to everyone and
everything, goodbye to this role. It’s been wonderful to be the first [full-time]
female captain on at Star Trek show. ... There’s a great feeling of pride in
that. I am the first woman. What a coup. ... I’m very proud of Voyager and everyone
here. ... As this character, there will be goodbyes and make. Somebody might die, and that
will be hard to deal with. And all of that will reflect the reality that is going on
around me. I will be lucky if I can crawl through that."
Starburst #270, February 2001 by Ian Spelling
"I’m very much looking forward to the end. Because I’m very much looking
forward to the rest of my life"
Cult Times #64, January 2001 by Melissa J. Perenson |