Starts  with a short clip from “Scorpion Part I”.

Bill O'Reilly: In our second “Back of the Book” segment today the continuing phenomenon that is “Star Trek” . Fox facts: there have been 7 Star Trek movies and 4 TV shows.  “Star Trek” merchandise is an $800 million industry. And the first “Star Trek” program aired in 1966, the series continues in various forms to this day. With us now is the star of the UPN program “Star Trek: Voyager” Kate Mulgrew.

Kate Mulgrew: You’re so much better informed than I am.

Bill O’Reilly: I know, we have the facts, boy.

KM: (laughing) how incredibly humbling.

BO’R: Not that they mean anything. Hey, listen, you have the best deal on the show because you don’t have to dress up like a tree stump, or something.

KM: And I thank god in all his glory for it every day of my life.

BO’R: So you can be glamorous and all that.

KM: I don’t think I could do it.  You take Ethan Phillips who plays Neelix. How familiar are you ? You can be comfortable with me.

BO’R: Now I’ve got to ask you that for a minute but they’re all dressed up in different costumes. We had Levar Burton on and he had the little iron thing.

KM: But he only had the visor but I’m talking about the actors that have to wear prosthesis. Ethan, who plays Neelix,  has to come in at 2:30 in the morning for a 7:00 set call. That’s how long it takes to put that head on. He can’t breath, he gets headaches. It’s very trying but that’s part of the job.

BO’R: Look, I’ve seen these Star Trek deals but I’m not a Trekkie.....

KM: Er.

BO’R: Isn’t it Trekkie?

KM:Trekker
 
BO’R: Trekker, but I could  never understand, they’re good dramas, you follow the story  and get scared and whatever, but boy these people live and die this thing. Can you figure it out?

KM: You bet they do. I have my own theory about it, if you’re curious about it....

BO’R: Let’s hear it.

KM:  .. and it’s developed over the last 3 years. I myself was not a Trekker and was most unfamiliar with Star Trek, lore and mythology, before I got this job. Which I think has stood me in good stead. But the theory I’ve developed is that it’s all rooted  in science. You know that, don’t you?

BO’R: Star Trek?

KM: Yes, truly. It isn’t some bizarre flight of the imagination. It’s rooted in science and most of these people are physicist , right? So it’s a perfect way for them to marry their morality with their scientific imagination.

BO’R: And this is why these Trekkies, these people who are running wild, like the show?
 I don’t know. That sounds a little intellectual to me.

KM: So you know what else it. Ok, it’s a little intellectual. So I’ll make it more primitive for you. I think it’s about hope. And hope springs eternal in this particular show.

BO’R: But  there’s a certain segment of the population that loves this space stuff. They can’t get enough of it.

KM: Yes, lost in space, just like people use to love the wild west.

BO’R: “Independence Day”, I mean they’re blowing things up like crazy and people can’t get enough.

KM: The unknown ,it’s extremely provocative.

BO’R: I think the unknown is what it is. So you’ve got this new .. you’re here because you’re plugging this last episode of the season.

KM: I like to say promoting.

BO’R: Right, well,  fine.

KM: <laughing>  I’m plugging.

BO’R: We want to get this plug in because I have other things to ask. So this big, last episode...

 KM: Scorpion Part I. January is caught in the Borg hive.

BO’R: Yeah, but you get out alive. You’ll be back next year, right?

KM: Do I know that I’m getting out alive?

BO’R: I think you’re gonna be back next year.

KM: All I know is that  I’m sitting  here having a nice chat with you.

BO’R: So that’s on this week.

KM: Yes, Wednesday night.

BO’R: Good, so I did a good job of that.

Kate laughs.

BO’R: What I always wanted to know is, you’re a trained actress, who went to classes...

KM: allegedly...

BO’R: you developed your craft. How does it come down that you are a television actress and others went to movies? I’ve never figured that out, because I don’t see a big difference in talent.

KM: What  a fascinating question. A  tough question to ask me, because it’s a double edged sword. It’s a roll of the dice, in large part, right? My first break was on television.  And then I just sort of  had a venue, it happened quite naturally. It evolved naturally.

BO’R: But you’ve crossed over into films. You’ve done some films.

KM: I’ve done 6 or 7 features. But I also think it’s a personality thing. The more I observe perhaps I think there’s  a personality that lends itself to television more easily  than to films. There’s a mystery in film. There’s a secret in film. You watch Robert De Niro, it’s hard to imagine Robert De Niro doing a television series, isn’t it?

BO’R: Yeah, because by the time he gets his dialogue out 22 minutes are up.

Kate laughing. Interviewer does De Niro impression.

BO’R: But I was talking to a guy, I’m going to drop a name here, Ed Harris.

KM: A wonderful actor.

BO’R: I was talking to him about something I’m working on, and he says “I’d never do television.. I never do television”.

KM: Categorically?

BO’R: Yeah, it’s like there’s a cast system, or there’s a system....

KM: Well, there is.

BO’R: And I could never get that.

KM: There is an arrogance at play here.

BO’R: So the film people, they don’t want to do TV?

KM: No, they don’t want to reduce themselves in their own opinions.

BO’R: But the biggest stars, with the exception of maybe  5, are on television. Oprah Winfrey makes more money than any of these guys.

KM: You know what think? It’s all arguable. The actors that I like, the actor with the greatest cachet in my book, is every man’s actor. He does the theater, he does television, he does film, in equal measure. He does it with the same commitment...

BO’R: It’s hard to do that.

KM: It’s hard. But I think once you start to say “I’m not going to do TV. TV’s beneath me, I’m a movie actor.....”.

BO’R: But a guy like Tom Hanks. Starts in TV with “Bossom Buddies”. He’s now a huge star. If they came to Tom Hanks with a series there’s no way he’s going to do that.

KM: No

BO’R: Because that diminishes his value as a movie actor in his mind.

KM: Yeah and also I think movie stars... shall  I say movies stars or movie actors...have a nicer schedule than television actors . And they make a lot more money.

BO’R: Do they?

KM: Well they work 4 months, 5 months out of the year. And they make how much? 50 times what  we make? Don’t ask me what I make. <laughing>

BO’R: No I wouldn’t ask. You make a lot money I’m sure but that’s ok. You deserve to make a lot of money.  It’s a very competitive field.  But how much time do you put in on this broadcast?

KM: Lots of time.

BO’R: Eleven months out of the year?

KM: Yeah, it takes about 8 days...

BO’R: So you work 11 months on the “Star Trek” thing. And you work  8 hours per day?

KM: Eight hours a day? I’ve never had an 8 hour day... at most I’ve put in an 80 hour week. I work a minimum of a 12 hour day.

BO’R: So you’re really in a timeline with the professor over here. (The previous interview was with Arlie Hochschild, author of the book “The Time Bind” which deals with how people are spending more and more time at work instead of at home). You have two kids...

KM: I have two sons.

BO’R: Two teenagers.  So you work 80 hour weeks....
 
KM: That’s why I found what she said so provocative.

BO’R:...eleven months out of the year.

KM: Well, is is it 11 months? I get 8 weeks off so ...

BO’R: it’s 10 months of the year. So are you worried your kids don’t get enough attention?

KM: You bet I am. This is a very diabolical thing and I’m deeply conflicted about it. And I know that I’m not alone in this. I’m a working mother. I’m a working, single mother with two boys who I would die for. Really would I die for them? Then what are you doing on the set  16 hours a day ? That’s why I want to talk to this professor. Where did she go?

BO’R: Can you bring them into the set?

KM: No, but what  I can, and what I do do is, and she’s talking about downsizing at home...I don’t downsize at home. I make the effort to get there. I make the ultimate effort to be present to them and with them. That’s down on the floor. That’s dinner every night which I cook, whether I like it or not.

BO’R: So you mean you don’t have a cook to do that for you?

KM: I have a housekeeper , whom I’ve had for 15 years. She’s gotta be there. She’s got to ride shotgun for me while I’m working. But if I can be there I’ll cook the meal, I’ll take them to school,  I’ll pick them up.

BO’R: So what you’re telling me is that this whole deal isn’t very glamorous., this acting...

KM: It’s not  remotely glamorous.

BO’R: Sounds like you have a pretty rough schedule. We’ve only got 30 seconds but I have one more  question. You must have a lot of nuts coming up to you with this Star Trek thing....

KM: <smiling> I don’t have a lot of nuts.

BO’R: You don’t get those crazy people? Sign my antenna or something like that?

KM: Every now and then but all things being equal Bill who’s to say who’s the nut and who isn’t?

BO’R: <laughing> Who’s to say I am? I say who’s the nut all the time, every day. That’s a nut, that’s ok.  Listen, nice to talk to you. Thanks for coming in.

KM: My pleasure.

BO’R: We appreciate it and good luck  and we admire your lifestyle. You’re doing it all, pretty much.

KM: Thank you, I’m trying.