Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Kate Mulgrew.

Kate Mulgrew: Good afternoon. Can you hear me?

Audience: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: Is it working?

Audience: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: I mean the mike. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I know that some of you are disappointed that another captain is not here. But I want you – I want you to consider me a younger, thinner, and much saner version than William Shatner. Mad as a hatter, but personally I adore the man. However, he’s very busy with his series, his horses, and his very young wife! I have noted, as perhaps some of the rest of you have, the male captains seem to marry younger and younger. I however, represent my sex, and honor it by marrying older and older. I have a guy who likes to lay in bed eating chips and talking about death. 

I think my three favorite words - aside from perhaps – ‘I love you’, are ‘welcome to England’. Because I just know that when I come here it’s going to be ineffably charming. You cannot have a conversation with an English person that is less than engaging. It’s perhaps because you are hundreds of years steeped in good language and culture, but it’s always great. And... there’s a great difference, as you know, in my culture. We don’t really fancy the crack as much as we do fighting old age, which is what we spend our pensions on. Under this current administration we’re lucky to have any pensions at all. We’re not going to go there! I am American born and bred and proud of it. Things are a little tough now but I am absolutely delighted to be here in Bournemouth. It is gorgeous. I don’t want to waste a lot of time - I want your questions. I will answer them... selectively and honestly, and we’ll have a good time. Does anybody have a question for me? And you’re supposed to go over there so the video thing gets you and we can all hear you and ... we couldn’t miss you! Hmmm...Yes?

Q 1: I read recently in a magazine that you’re doing your one-woman show in London.

Kate Mulgrew: Hmmmm....

Q 1: I then heard from someone else - no she’s not doing her one-woman show at all.

Kate Mulgrew: Well, what magazine? And how do I reach them?

Q 1: A Star Trek magazine. And I was wondering, are you doing any shows in London?

Kate Mulgrew: I am. I am doing “The Exonerated” in April - at the Riverside Studios. Which is...I’m really looking forward to it. But I think there has been a movement to bring my play “Tea at Five”, which is the life of Katharine Hepburn, to the West End. And if there’s any place I want to take it, it’s the West End of London. So...

Q 1: So you’ll... you’re performing at the Riverside...

Kate Mulgrew: Yes.

Q 1: And hopefully....

Kate Mulgrew: And hopefully bringing “Tea at Five” later on. You will be notified, sir. 

Q 1: Right. I look forward to that.

Kate Mulgrew: You and the rest of your crew. 

Q 1: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: Have a good day. Yes, anybody else? Ah, I love to look at people.

Q 2: Hi Kate. Just two questions. Were you given a slight free hand of how to play Janeway or...?

Kate Mulgrew: (laughs) I’m sorry. I’m watching you crouch and I... I’m going with you, pal. I think you have to go right into the mike and get.... What is it now?

Q2: Were you given a slight free hand of how to play Janeway, or were you... was there some of your suggestions...?

Kate Mulgrew: Was I given a free hand?

Q2: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: Once they exhausted them with my hairdos? No! You have no idea. They didn’t leave my - and I’m using this word - bleeding hair alone for four years. And I’m going to tell you why. Unless of course one of you gentlemen would like to shoot for the truth. No, no. The first female captain of course is a dilemma... presents a dilemma to the world because you’re used to male captains, and the demographic for Star Trek is young men, twenty to thirty-five. That’s who we’re selling it to, right? Problem. Woman of child-bearing years. Could be their mother. Has bosoms. Oh God. How do we keep their eyes off the bosom and keep them remembering that she’s a captain? Let’s screw around with her hair until the cows come home. And of course can you imagine what kind of captain of this starship? We’re lost in the Delta Quadrant but let me do my hair for the fifty-fifth time. I finally said at the end of season two, “Enough. I will sleep with no one. I hate to let Captain Kirk and Picard down, but I will sleep with no one. If you stop sleeping with my hair.” So that’s when I first exercised my free hand, as you put it. And then they left my voice alone. Because as you all know, which is why you’re sitting here, you love Star Trek because each member of the crew, and probably in particular the captain, has to bring his or her personal stamp to it. And once they relaxed and said, ‘It’s true, in the testicular regard she is... lacking. But she is a captain, and a good captain, and the men will go with her if they just trust her. And the way to trust her is to leave her alone.’ So they did. And that was the end of that story.

Q 2: Did you also ...

Kate Mulgrew: What?

Q 2: Did you also have a fave episode?

Kate Mulgrew: Did I have to what?

Q2: Did you also have a fave episode?

Kate Mulgrew: Favorite episode. Such as this question is so hard for me. Because how many episodes did I do? Does anybody know how many episodes we did?

Audience: A lot.

Kate Mulgrew: I do have a favorite that I remember. There are many of them. The split-screen stuff I always loved. It was challenging on so many levels. What was it called - “Deadlock” I think? “Death Wish”. There was always ‘death’ in the title. I loved “Counterpoint”, because for me that was a play within a play within a play. And you saw Janeway for the first time in a ... in a prism sort of way. Did I love the guy? Was it subterfuge? Who was playing off whom? The stakes were very high. Marvelous actor - wonderful time. Yeah. Thank you for that question.

Audience member: This time you kissed someone as well I think.

Kate Mulgrew: Oh, there’s a man piping up down there! You see, you can’t go to space... No no, forget it. Forget it that you’re a captain, you have 165 in crew, and you’re lost at the gas station at the Delta Quadrant...He wants to know about the kiss. It is correct it was the first time. And it was a good one, wasn’t it? I kept saying, “I’m sorry, we have to do another take!” Yeah, it was good. But you know, I look back on it. I made a lot of mistakes. I know that. But one that I think I really didn’t make was the sex part. I think I will just confuse them, and it’s not appropriate. ‘Red alert. Commander, in my Ready Room, please.’ I mean, every time you see Captain Kirk he’s saying ‘Over here, down here, up here, whatever you want. Oh, I forgot, you’re an alien species and my enemy – hmm, let’s get this over.’ No. I just thought I can’t compete - I’ll go the straight and narrow. But I did enjoy that kiss, I did very much. Yes...What are you fooling around with in your hands?

Man in audience: Camera.

Kate Mulgrew: Oh, camera... Oh.  Just testing... Yes?

Q 3: Yes. Welcome Miss Mulgrew to Poll Base City, the capital of the Cosmos. They all say that, don’t they, wherever you go? Listen, my questions are boring, so...

Kate Mulgrew: Are you sure they’re boring?

Q 3: Yeah, I think so – they’re really boring.

Kate Mulgrew: I’ll be the judge of that.

Q 3: Okay, thank you. We may as well get them over at the start. You can answer a different one if you think so and one you made up that you heard on TV a lot. Listen, when you were children did you a lot of... like to pretend, and has it... and you know, did it have any bearing on the acting profession later - does it help or what?

Kate Mulgrew: As children we pretend. And as a child did I pretend? And did it have any bearing later on, on my craft? 

Q 3: Yeah, I said the same thing. Quite different, nothing to do with it.

Kate Mulgrew: Well, I reckon I pretended. I was one of eight children - I pretended I belonged to a different family! We grew up in the bowels of the countryside, the agrarian countryside of Iowa, which is the heartland of America. I have a very dramatic Irish Catholic family. Yes, I did exercise my imagination. But not unduly, because my mother was an artist. So I learned very young to put the creative energy somewhere, and I would say it went to the acting very, very soon. I’m all for the imagination, but I would say this to anyone, especially this child, in a coma (referring to an audience member) – start reading. We read when we were very young, and that opens up the imagination like nothing else. But what a wonderful question. Not remotely boring, was it? Very smart, wasn’t it?

Q 3: Thank you very much. Is there a couple more I can get in, or have I got to go now?

Kate Mulgrew: I don’t know, it’s up to the authorities. Go ahead, shoot.

Q3: They didn’t drag me away, so okay, cheers. In Dubuque, Iowa...

Kate Mulgrew: (laughs) He gave it the French pronunciation. Not since it was founded by Julien Dubuque has it been called Dubuque. We call it Debyook. Born on a bluff...Yes, yes, what about it?

Q 3: I looked on the web and it has a – named the Five Flags Theater. What was these five flags? The theater they’ve got - it’s a Five Flags Theater.

Kate Mulgrew: I haven’t a clue. 

Q 3: Okay.

Kate Mulgrew: I’m surprised they have five flags in Iowa. Yes? 

Q 3: Listen, there’s that saying ‘Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach’. Does that apply to critics? What do you think of critics?

Kate Mulgrew: Critics? How do you spell ‘critic? (pours a glass of water) Is this vodka? Don’t get me started on critics. But I’m a long way from home, aren’t I? Those who can’t, criticize. No, I don’t... you know... Critics are tough. Especially when you’re an actor - you can’t win with them. And anyway, all criticism, construct... constructive or otherwise, I think is not nearly as interesting as simply engaging, completely.

Q 3: Finally, do you support the real space program, NASA and stuff?

Kate Mulgrew: Of course I do. 

Q 3: Deep down? Excellent. Thank you very much. 

Kate Mulgrew: Why wouldn’t I? Yes. I thank you - it’s very hard to part! Those were very interesting questions, weren’t they? (to an audience member) Weren’t they, captain? Why did you choose those colors? You’re not talking to me today? 
Yes? 

Q 4: Hello.

Kate Mulgrew: Hello, how are you? 

Q 4: Very well thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: You’re looking nice. Were you up very, very late last night?

Q 4: Yes I was, and I had a lot of difficulty falling asleep. So just, you know...

Kate Mulgrew: Try to stay awake for the next thirty seconds. Okay. Yes, go, go. But I think you too have to bend down a little bit. 

Q 4: Oh, yeah.

Kate Mulgrew: Duck down a bit. 

Q 4: Down a bit. Is that better? Does it sound better?

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, what is it, darling... I can’t...

Q4: Well Star Trek: Voyager... 

Kate Mulgrew: Star Trek: Voyager...

Q 4: ...is my favorite ... is my favorite Star Trek installment... so it’s...

Kate Mulgrew: It’s your favorite series.

Q 4:  Star Trek installment, yeah...it’s a pretty exciting series

Kate Mulgrew: It’s the best thing you’ve ever seen.

Q 4: For a long time, yeah . Anyway, I have a...

Kate Mulgrew: When I’m finished with him...!! Go on. Come on!

Q 4: I have a technical question. 

Kate Mulgrew: A technical question? That’s what they all say. Yeah, go on.

Q 4: Let’s say for the sake of argument, right...

Kate Mulgrew: For the sake of what?

Q 4: Argument. I’m talking hypothetically...

Kate Mulgrew: I think he’s still drinking! For the sake of argument... yes, yes?

Q 4: You’re a world famous writer, and everyone thinks you’re great, you’re amazing, and it’s a great honor if you ever write an episode of Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: Enterprise. 

Kate Mulgrew: Okay.

Q 4: You’re great, yeah, that’s amazing –everyone watches the show, just because you’ve written an episode. But...

Kate Mulgrew: He’s a writer...

Q 4: ... if, like me, you’re a completely unknown writer that no one’s ever heard of, but you want to write a Star Trek story, how do you convince the people that you’ve got what it takes to do just as well as a well-known writer? 

Kate Mulgrew: (in response to someone coughing in the audience) I think she wants to answer your question. That’s hard. That’s hard. Because I have no doubt that you are very talented. I can see it in the way you’re standing. In the piercing gaze of your beautiful blue eyes, and in the intelligence of your remarks. Pray. Write it. Edit it. Have your friends and people who you think are a little smarter than perhaps even you are critique it. I know I just said that - I’m refuting that. And try to find somebody in the United States at Paramount or one of the main studios who could get you at least... could get the script into a reader’s room. This is diabolical. I cannot give you any guidance in this regard because in a funny kind of way I’m... I’m in your same position. I’m writing something now myself, and I’m a complete novice at it, and I ... I don’t know the business aspects of it. But send it to Paramount and write on the outside, right - “Kate Mulgrew wishes you to produce this a.s.a.p. Because I am a genius.” All right?

Q 4: Thank you very much, I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Kate Mulgrew: Bye. Bye bye. Sweetheart, huh? Oh, you’re back!

Q 5: (this person also asked Q 1)I’m up front. Anyway... ummm...

Kate Mulgrew: No (laughs)...No, your front is fine - but you yourself are back! 

Q 5: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: Okay, what’s your question?

Q 51: In an effort ...in an effort to boost the ratings Paramount decided they were going to introduce Seven of Nine, basically taking the titillation...

Kate Mulgrew: (drinking her water) Vodka, vodka! Uh huh...

Q 5: ... basically took the titillation route to boosting ratings whereas Deep Space Nine they took the dramatic route - they introduced another TNG character, they introduced the Defiant. Now, how did you feel about that, using tits and ass to increase ratings rather than dramatic... 

Kate Mulgrew: Well, I mean if a man speaks the truth he speaks the truth.

Q 5: I mean, I personally as a viewer I find it quite insulting, just, you know, trying to titillate me to get me to watch a program. I’m watching it for the drama and the stories. I want... I want some dramatic reason to be watching it.

Kate Mulgrew: Methinks thou dost protest too much!

Q 5: Well, I was just wondering what you thought?

Kate Mulgrew:  I will tell you how I felt, and I will tell you the truth. Uh...I was hurt. Uh...Stunned a little bit. A - I didn’t want to see Jennifer Lien go. I’d really developed quite a friendship with that splendid young actress. But B - and equally importantly -based on my... I guess you could say my dictate to the authorities that I was not going to have sex - I wasn’t going to do all that stuff - I really thought Paramount in its forward-reaching philosophy, putting a female in the captain’s seat, would give it a shot, right? Based on the female owning the captaincy. And they gave it a few seasons, but I guess they felt terribly frightened that the young men, who they believe are run by your you-know-what, but I do not... would not stay alert enough without the excitement of a sexual figure. The girl herself acquitted herself very well. Beautifully written part, housed in a beautiful body. She did a damn good job, Jeri Ryan. But I resented the philosophical implications that we couldn’t simply succeed, right? That we had to do it this way. I grew accustomed to it over time, but there’s no point in...in deceiving you. That’s...that’s how I felt. Don’t you think that anybody in my position would feel that way?

Audience: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: It wasn’t personal. And I think it’s been misinterpreted as a personal thing. It wasn’t at all. It was just a sorrow, and I thought, oh, you know, they’re trying here, but they’re pulling back here, and it’s still too soon. I am not a feminist, politically, but I’m a woman – who’s been on her own all my life. And we have to understand that the day must come when the men will understand completely and embrace that, and they do if we would just let them. So I thought it was once again Hollywood ... uh...appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Q 5: My thoughts too. Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: You know... it’s very hard for me. It’s hard for me to address this because she was so popular, and so beautiful, and it was such a successful ploy, but I would be less than honest if I told you that in the moment I didn’t feel ‘Oh shit’. Do you know? If only we’d been given that extra chance, because I say - you exalt the audience, the audience rises with you. You take them down, and they’re happy to sink. I mean, look at American television. It’s appalling. One more reality... “Date My Mom”. What’s next? “Shoot Myself”. Yes? Yes? Yes, dear?

Q 6: I just wanted to make one little comment about what you said a few seconds ago. 

Kate Mulgrew: Yeah.

Q 6: I had the good fortune to meet Jennifer Lien here a number of years ago.

Kate Mulgrew: Sweetheart, isn’t she?

Q6: I thought she was lovely. 

Kate Mulgrew: Lovely.

Q 6: I sat down and had a chat with her for a number of... you know, quite a few minutes – I thought she was terrific and I was really sorry to see her go. Well, my question is - I saw “Endgame” on television a few days ago...

Kate Mulgrew: Yeah...

Q 6: ... and I was watching it on high-definition telly, and I couldn’t tell where the joins were with regards to Admiral Janeway and Captain Janeway when they were working together. 

Kate Mulgrew: Ah.

Q 6: I couldn’t tell. 

Kate Mulgrew: You couldn’t.

Q 6: Two questions, little ones – one - how much of a pain in the butt was it to film, and two - were you happy with how they made you age gracefully? Was that... did they age you gracefully or were you like, oh God, what is that?

Kate Mulgrew: (in response to the audience reaction to the question) Wait a minute...

Q 6: I thought you looked distinguished, but...

Kate Mulgrew: He should quit while he’s ahead, right?! That’s right! Again...

Q 6: Yes?

Kate Mulgrew: ... my love of the split screen. You understand that I’m acting to nothing when I’m acting - when the Captain’s acting to the Admiral, and vice versa. Absolutely nothing! I get this much movement, and so the challenge was, can I bring that to life, playing against nothing and having no room for error? Split screen is absolutely diabolical. So I thank you for that apparent seamlessness which you’ve remarked on, and secondly, I had everything to do with “Endgame”. Talk about letting me get my hands dirty. I did everything in that particular episode. And the aging I chose. I chose the hair, I chose the make-up - I think I even chose the latex. I chose the uniform, and I thought “This is exactly how she would look at the age of 70. And this is exactly how I’d like to go out.” And that’s what we did. I know that a lot of people sort of resented it, found it not perfunctory but perhaps too fast, that ending, right? And things wrapped up in a nice little bow, and what happened to the agony and the ecstasy, right? The Iliad and the Odyssey of Voyager. Well it has to end. So what’s really happening inside the audience is - ‘oh, it has to end’. And it has to be snipped. And I said "Out. Fast. And let’s say good-bye to the Admiral, because in fact that is Janeway, and that’s what she would do." And I was very, very proud of “Endgame”. And I like you very, very much. 

Q 6: Thank you. And if I could just say - congratulations on your promotion during Nemesis.

Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. Yes?

Q 7: I have a two-part question.

Kate Mulgrew: Oh, but he has a very good voice. He’s not bending at all, can you see? Yes, what’s your two-part question?

Q 7: The first part of the question is - in a straight fight between Kirk and Janeway, who would win? And secondly, what would the winning tactic be?

Kate Mulgrew: I would seduce him. Just as he was about to plunge himself into me I would pull out my phaser. (pretends to fire a phaser) Can you imagine that fight? Can you imagine it? 

Q 7: Yeah!

Kate Mulgrew: Gross! Shatner is a scream. Have you all met him?

Audience: (mixed response)

Kate Mulgrew: You’re nodding as if... it’s awful. He’s a fabulous guy. Completely irreverent. You do know that, don’t you? Yes. It would be a joke-off, as opposed to a... Yes, what’s next? 

Q7: No, that’s it. Thank you very much.

Kate Mulgrew: Good, good. Very good. But they ask the questions and then they do this...(waves her hands and laughs) Yes sir?

Q 8: Hello Kate.

Kate Mulgrew: Hello.

Q 8: Just very quickly one question in a little bit...

Kate Mulgrew: Just very quickly one question in a little bit! 

Q 8: Reverting back to what someone mentioned about Jeri Ryan, I just wanted to mention, I’m sure we all agree, there’s only one true queen of Voyager and that is you.

Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. 

Q 8: But the question... the question is...

Kate Mulgrew: Well, that was never in dispute!

Q 8: Agreed. Your career’s been varied, you’ve done stage plays and a lot of things. Voyager, do you think that was the fruition of your career? Do you think there’s more, better of you to come? I suppose what I’m trying to say is, outside the Star Trek genre a lot of people probably haven’t heard of you, and I mean that with no disrespect. But does it matter...

Kate Mulgrew: What do you mean it with?

Q 8: Well... I’ve spoken to a lot of actors you've worked with – Robert Beltran, Garrett Wang – and they’ve said that you can be quite frustrating to work with because you’re so good and you very rarely make mistakes. So obviously you’re a very good professional actress. Do you feel that maybe looking back on your career, you’d have liked to have done a bit more with it, or are you happy with what you’ve achieved so far? 

Kate Mulgrew: I hate to interrupt you... Are you married?

Q 8: No. Not yet.

Kate Mulgrew: I just wonder how you proposed!

Q 8: If you speak to Anna lately...later, she's got a question for you about that.

Kate Mulgrew: Okay. All right. My turn? Okay. 

Q 8: Yes, certainly, yes.

Kate Mulgrew: That’s a very odd, and not by any means a little question that you just asked me. 

Q 8: Well... You’re...

Kate Mulgrew: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I understand the question! Do I wish I could have done more? Of course I do. I’ve regretted certain things terribly in... in my career. Voyager was not one of them. It’s never been about fame for me, but it certainly has been about the challenge of becoming a finer and finer actress. People know about me, people don’t know about me... I mean, what can I tell you that would be honest enough but not too honest? It’s very hard to be an actor - and I am now getting older, and that’s not easier... that’s harder. So the challenge is to deepen, right? But I look at somebody like Dame Judi Dench. God, have you got the actors in this country. She didn’t kick in until she was my age. So hope springs eternal, and you...you stay on the straight and narrow! Keep your eye on the sparrow! Every cloud has a silver lining... I’m beginning to bore myself! That’s it.

Q 8: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: All right. Thank you. Yes?

Q 9: Hello.

Kate Mulgrew: Hello. How are you?

Q 9: Fine, thanks. 

Kate Mulgrew: Very good.

Q 9: There was quite a few Borg episodes, and I was just wondering if you could tell us what it was like interacting with them.

Kate Mulgrew: The Borg?

Q 9: Like in “Dark Frontier” and “Endgame”. Especially the Borg Queen. What was it like...

Kate Mulgrew: Alice Krige. Alice Krige... wasn’t it played by Alice Krige?

Audience: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: Beautifully played. Well you don’t remember that it was played by Alice Krige? What an actress she is. And a wonderful Borg Queen, wasn’t she? Uhhh... always exciting. Once again it’s so technical. You’re seeing all of the Borg network, but I’m seeing none of it. So I’m just playing to a camera and some lines. It’s only in the one-to-one in those scenes, interpersonal scenes that it can come to life. Wonderful. And I think the Borg was a ... just a brilliant invention, wasn’t it? Terror beyond terror. You cannot win. You cannot beat them because there’s nothing to beat.

Audience: You did.

Kate Mulgrew: I was not quite finished! (referring to the audience’ interruption) Because they have no spirit. What a wonderful idea that was, right? Until the bitter end. When they found out about the human species, right?

Q 9: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: I thank you. I’m having a hard time hearing. Yes madam?

Q 10: Hi Kate.

Kate Mulgrew: Hi. How are you?

Q 10: I’m very well, thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: Good.

Q 10: You’ve spoken about being on Voyager and you’ve spoken about being on stage. Which is your preferred medium for interacting with your audience?

Kate Mulgrew: I think I’m better on the stage. I’ll go back to the fact that I’m from such a big family. And we took stage early on, and it became the natural place to... to own it. I mean, I had to really fight. My brothers were all very smart and very funny. And so I... I had to fight for that kind of possession. I feel more comfortable on the stage. I love this dynamic. I trust it. It’s wonderfully alive. The stakes are higher on the stage, much higher. The camera is clinical, isn’t it? And unless you’re a great beauty it can be... troublesome. The camera has its bad days and its good days, and so do you. So I always used to go up to it first thing in the morning, which was 4:30 in the morning, and say, “Are we going to get along today?” So I would say I prefer the stage.

Q 10: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: I thank you. Oh, he’s back. 

Q 11: (same person who asked Q 4) Hello.

Kate Mulgrew: You see, they must come back. Yes?

Q 11: I’ve got a hypothetical question.

Kate Mulgrew: This was... If I were to, say, give you the script, would it then find its way... What’s your hypothetical? What’s your hypothetical?

Q 11: I’m currently working on some stories for the Star Trek: Enterprise series. That’s ...

Kate Mulgrew: But that’s... that’s been cancelled, darling.

Q 11: And I have some other ideas on the shelf... you know...

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, but the series has been cancelled. Do you know that?

Q11: Well, I could reinstall it then, I don’t know. Anyway, that’s... I’m sliding from the point. I was working on another ...

Kate Mulgrew: You see that I’m sitting down? Yes, what... what...

Q 11: I’m working on another idea for a story for Star Trek: Voyager - The Movie. 

Kate Mulgrew: Star Trek: Voyager – The Movie.

Q 11: Yeah. Because that’s my favorite TV film and I thought why not have a film version of it as well.

Kate Mulgrew: I think you better get right to the punch line here. Because... Yes... What is your question?

Q 11: I thought to myself, well, is there any point? Does the original cast want to do a movie? So I thought, if...if 

Kate Mulgrew: If... Boom! Yeah! (laughing and making a rather indescribable motion as if clapping her hands together!) Yes?

Q 11: ... if it was a one-of, would you like to do a movie?

Kate Mulgrew: Would I like to do the movie of Star Trek: Voyager if I could? Is that your question?

Q 11: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: Of course I would. Thank you very much.

Q 11: Thanks a lot. Thank you. Yes?

Q 12: Hello Kate. It’s lovely to see you.

Kate Mulgrew: You’re going to ask me about motherhood, aren’t you?

Q12: I am sort of, yes. You must have read my mind. 

Kate Mulgrew: Yeah...

Q 12: Because when you were talking about not being able to sleep with the crew, you did have what must have been... (Kate begins to laugh) Wait!

Kate Mulgrew: No no! But did you hear her inflection? She came to the podium and she was so lovely. She said “Oh yes I do want to talk about motherhood. But when you were talking about sleeping with the crew...” 

Q 12: It must have been...

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, yes, yes... all right, go on!

Q 12: It must have been quite memorable because of “Threshold” when you did actually get together with Tom Paris.

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, and what did I have? Baby lizards! 

Q 12: Mutants!

Kate Mulgrew: Meet me in the elevator and we’re going to have a lot of lizards. Can you imagine? And with Tom Paris! Who was driving the ship? Twice they let me have sex. With the pilot - that was smart. And we had lizards. They all died of course, it was so sad. And then with a hologram who was 5’ 2’’. I mean, I don’t understand it at all. I think at the end I should have been allowed...

Q 12: Do you ever get....did you ever wake up in the morning, read your script and think ‘Whatever are they going to ask me to do next? And I don’t want to do this.’

Kate Mulgrew: Did I ever wake up in the morning? First of all, I always did it the night before. (realizing what she’s said and laughing). I’m just not a morning gal! Every day! It was unbelievable! I could deal with the aliens. I could deal with any kind of physical challenge they wanted to present. In the first season they gave me a lot of physical stuff, right? With the guns and the running and the fires and the mountains and the... It was the technobabble. And, what looks easy is inexpressibly difficult because the camera’s on you and the camera’s on a crane. And it is in fact 5 o’clock in the morning. And I’ve got to take that camera to each crewman on the bridge one by one, right? And I’m to deliver page after page of technobabble as I am walking, right? Issuing instructions about the quadrant and the watcha... and getting to one of them at a time and their response, inevitably, at the end of ten pages from Captain Janeway is, “Aye Captain”. So - I’m not saying anybody’s right or wrong or up or down, but I would take the camera and I’d have to hit the mark within one – you know - inch, and I would get to Commander Chakotay. “What do you say, Commander?” (imitates a snore). You’re kidding! They’d all be asleep. Because of course it was so unspeakably dull. ‘Here she comes again’ (exaggerated yawn). Of course this happened a lot. So it was the terror of the technobabble, how to bring the technobabble to life, right? It’s truly – and this is the only comparison that I can draw that would be I think accurate – it’s as if you handed me, and I could do it, but if you handed me thirty pages of Japanese and said to me “You’ve got five hours”. It must be done. Ohhhhh....Scary.

Q 12: It’s frustrating too, when you learned all yours and a few of them didn’t bother learning theirs either, so you have to do it all over again.

Kate Mulgrew: Yeah, frustrating. But I understood it from their point of view. If you don’t have anything to do, it’s lethargic. I always had so much to do. Not to take them off the hook...

Q 12: You did it well.

Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. 

Q 12: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: Thank you very much. She didn’t ask me anything about motherhood, did she? No. ‘Cause we all know about motherhood, don’t we? I have children. And what do we know about motherhood... Next question, right? Yes?

Q 13: Kate, have you a dream job?

Kate Mulgrew: Do I have a dream job? As an actress or...

Q 13: Yes, as an actress. Is there something out there that you’ve always said I want to do...

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, and it looks like I’m going to get a shot at it. 

Q 13: Oh, great.

Kate Mulgrew: If God is good. Which by reputation He is. “Antony and Cleopatra”. And I’ve got to jump on it because she cannot be played long in the tooth. There’s nothing worse than watching a seventy-five-year-old Cleopatra running around. I want to rip (makes a tearing motion at her blouse) that open and put that asp to my breast and I want the audience to gasp with delight. I want to play it now. I’m at an age... you notice that I never quite... never quite say the figure, do I? And I think it’s a wonderful story. Of great love, right?

Q 13: Yeah.

Kate Mulgrew: Don’t you?

Q 13: Oh, yeah. It’s Great.

Kate Mulgrew: So, “Antony and Cleopatra”.

Q 13: And one more question - is there anyone that you haven’t worked with yet that you would really die to work with?

Kate Mulgrew: Ah, well, of course. 

Q 13: Who’s that?

Kate Mulgrew: Well, I just mentioned her name, Dame Judi Dench would be one of them. You could take any English actor off the stage at the RSC and I’d give my right hand. Because what the English have, and the Americans do not have, is that they are to the manner born. An English actor is honored as an actor, he is encouraged as an actor, and he is absolutely embraced by his community as an actor. He is not exalted, you know, and then plunged into a vat of criticism and despair. He is a citizen. And he is there to bring enlightenment and illumination to your lives. And it’s the culture. So... yes, any number of actors that would be... Well, come to think of it, there is a young... Never mind! Thank you. He’s back again! Yes?

Q 14: (this person also asked Q 1 & Q 5) There was a lot of technology involved with making Star Trek.

Kate Mulgrew: There was a little technology?

Q 14: A lot of... 

Kate Mulgrew: Yeah...

Q 14: ... technology. With today’s state-of-the-art equipment. Did that make it a lot harder to work than when you were on Mrs. Columbo? Obviously that was made back... many years ago... less technology available. Does technology make your job harder?

Kate Mulgrew: Oh yes. Sure it does. If you have a state-of-the-art kitchen, right? And six ranges as opposed to two, and two ovens as opposed to one, and four cuts of beef as opposed to three, you’re going to complicate and exaggerate the process of the meal. But undoubtedly, if you use all of your expertise the meal will be by degree better than it would have been otherwise. So it’s a double-edged sword. For my money back in the day was better and more fun. When we filmed with one camera on Mrs. Columbo, I mean it was just...there was far more forgiveness than there is now. Voyager was exacting, and when I say they didn’t want any nonsense, they wanted no nonsense at all, sir. If I... if you inverted a line, or if you injected something that had a slight modern taste to it, it didn’t matter if you'd just gone through ten pages of brutal dialogue with John DeLancie, in a bathtub. You had to go back and shoot it again, right? Not to mention the split screens and all of the special effects. Yeah. But that was a very good question.

Q 14: So does that mean that you found acting back in Mrs. Columbo’s days a little bit... (in response to Kate’s laughter) ... for want of a better term! 

Kate Mulgrew: What do you mean back in the day?!

Q 14: Back in the day, Yeah! Was acting more pleasurable then than you find it now?

Kate Mulgrew: Well, I was young. Full of spit and vinegar. Full you know... Yes. Probably yes. 

Q 14: Okay. Thank you very much.

Kate Mulgrew: Yes. The more you do it... What’s your name?

Q 14: Philip.

Kate Mulgrew: We might as well get to know each other.

Q 14: And you are...? 

Kate Mulgrew: The more you do it ...what did he say? What did he say? (Much laughter from Kate and the audience as she reacts to his question) Finished! Thank you.

Q 14: Thank you very much.

Kate Mulgrew: Ahhh...he’s a devil. Yes? 

Q 15: Hi Kate. Most of us know you as a dramatic actress. 

Kate Mulgrew: Do you?

Q 15: But you did appear in a three-part Cheers episode. What are your memories of working with that cast? And is comedy something you’d like to pursue further?

Kate: That’s a good question. Comedy’s tough. And the reason that they are paid ungodly amounts of money is because it is doubly tough to recapture it take after take after take. I had a wonderful time on Cheers because she wasn’t a fall down character. I mean, she was a politician - Janet Eldridge. And I got to play with a comedian, who was Ted Danson. Do I wish I could have sharpened that skill? Absolutely. Do I think it will come again? Yes. But it’s all about letting go. And for some reason in that period of my life it was ... it was... it was right. Yeah. That was funny, Cheers. Funny, till you stand next to Ted Danson in the wings, right? Two minutes before you have to go out and tape, and he says “Ah, what a way to make a living. Ten hours of work, $450,000.” I said “Whooo...” I mean, it’s just amazing what they can make.

Q 15: Thank you very much.

Kate: Thank you. Now we’re all going to go. Actors are overpaid in America. Don’t you think? Television is an interesting thing in the United States. ... And I’m not sure how I feel about it, because of course I owe so much of my livelihood to it. But I hope it is not the death of the imagination and literature. And I fear sometimes that the wave is going the wrong way. Yes, sweetheart? May I call you sweetheart?

Q 16: Whatever you like.

Kate: Yes?

Q 16: Were there any practical jokes played on Voyager...

Kate Mulgrew: What?! 

Q 16: ...and were you a part of any of them? Did you start any of them?

Kate: I should be canonized. Oh yeah. You think? You try it! It’s three a.m. on a Saturday. No turnaround because it’s Saturday, right? So there are no laws, we can work twenty-four hours, and often left at 6 a.m. So I’m going on eighteen, nineteen hours of work, right? But I’ve got these five guys that I’m working with, right? And they have lost it. Captain Janeway of course has to do her twenty page monologue about the Borg or Species 8472, right? But these guys are sitting in their chairs or, more dangerously, standing behind their consoles, just waiting for me to arrive with the camera. Because guess what? Close up, right? Unbearable to do it again. I can’t do it again. I’m too tired. It’s too hard. But who doesn’t have any clothes on? Who? Whose little fellow is standing right in front of you? “Lieutenant!” “Yes Captain?” Tim Russ. Robbie McNeill at the wheel. “Yes Captain?” And of course Commander Chakotay. Always ready to give me a helping hand. They did it to me all the time. And they thought it was funny. Constant with the jokes. Yes?

Q 16: Did you ever get them back? 

Kate Mulgrew: I did. I did! You heard about the Tim Russ thing? Don’t cross me too many times, right? Again it’s very late. In the first season it was - late. And you cross over from sanity to insanity after about the twenty-second hour. Because there’s nowhere else to go, right? However I would hang on to what vestige of professionalism I had, right? And kindness. And Christianity. Born and raised in the Roman Catholic Church. And when it was somebody else’s close up, I would deliver the off stage lines nicely, right? Poor sod. I’ll help him through this. We’re together on the same ship. Lost. What happened when the camera turned around, and it was my close-up? What happened? I don’t know. But I had to talk about the death of the commander of the other ship, and I had to say how fond I was of him, how much I admired his courage, his virtue, his passion....Phewt! A spitball! Right in the head. I said, “What? What’s it...” I looked at Tim Russ, I said... He said, “I didn’t”. In fact he stood up and he said “Whoever is responsible for that...” I said, “We will roll again, one more time. It’s now four o’clock. Do you see me? I’m on the edge, kids. Roll!” ‘He was a wonderful commander. Very fond of him. Courageous, passionate...’ And now I’m really getting into it, right? I can still act at four a.m. “And when I said to him...” Phewt! (indicates another spitball hitting)  I looked and there he was. Tuvok. The man of no expression - and zero heart! I said, “You did it...” (imitating Tim Russ) ‘I don’t blah, blah...” I said, “You did it, and you’re going to pay. Don’t say another word to me. Love ya. We’ve got another six years together. Don’t say a bleeping thing, because you are dead.” Laughing, just like that, right (again as Tim Russ)? “Oh, yeah, kill me, I’m dead, yeah... I’m shaking in my boots.” Uh huh. We finished it, finally. ‘Released, that’s a wrap.’ I went over to the wardrobe lady, and I said, “Do you have the keys to Tim Russ’s trailer?” She said, “Of course”. I said, “Listen to me... and listen to me carefully. We’re going to be together for a looonng, long time and you’re going to do something for me right now, while he’s in the back having a beer with the guys. You go into his dressing room, his trailer. You take all of his clothing. Leave one sock and one shoe. Take the keys to his car, take his wallet, and take the keys to his house. Give them to me.” I said, “First let me see the call sheet”, right?” For Monday. Tim Russ is up - five a.m. I said, “Oh God is so good sometimes...” She brings everything to me. She’s panicked. I said, “Worry not. Worry not... I’ve just finished my living trust and you’re in it.” I took all of his stuff. I left. I got in my car, and I drove home. I walked into work Monday morning. He didn’t say one word to me. All dressed, right? Not one word. And I still had all the loot. I said, “Well, I see you’ve got your pants on. And your little spitball straw is out of your hand. And if you ever screw with me again...” And he just looked at me and he said, “I have doubles to everything.” You could never win with them! You see? Bad. Ten what? You’re holding up the flag. Ten minutes. Yes? Thanks, darling.

Q 16: That’s all, thanks.

Kate Mulgrew: That’s all. Yes?

Q 17: (this person also asked Q 6) Hello again.

Kate Mulgrew: Hi.

Q 17: I’ll make this one a brief one ...

Kate Mulgrew: No, I... No, you were very quick! Yes?

Q 17: I’ll be nice this time.

Kate Mulgrew: Well, you were nice last time.

Q 17: Oh thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: Don’t mention it.

Q 17: I won’t.

Kate Mulgrew: What is your question?

Q 17: I’m getting there. I’m getting there.

Kate Mulgrew: You don’t really have a question, do you?

Q 17: I do. Honestly, I do. Right. Okay!

Kate Mulgrew: Okay, What is it? Ask me ...an unusual question.

Q 17: Okay. It was going to be an unusual one anyway. Right. It may not happen very often... I can’t count how many episodes where you put on a different kind of costume. But... Hide and...

Kate Mulgrew: Hide and Q?

Q 17: Oh, no... “The Q and the Grey”. Is that the right one?

Kate Mulgrew: Yes. I put on some different costumes sometimes.

Q 17: Patrick Stewart once maintained that the outfit he had to wear in the first season on Next Gen basically almost crippled his back, and so they changed them. So was it nice to be able to take the jumpsuit off and actually wear a costume, for want of a better word, that was different?

Kate Mulgrew: Yes, but I have to tell you something. I loved that spacesuit. I loved it. How easy was that, right? None of that nonsense. Poor Seven of Nine. It would take her hours to get dressed. I mean, that suit was... I’d jump into my spacesuit (claps her hands), on the bridge, let’s go. So, you know... yes. Did I like getting out of it sometimes? Yes. But I loved that spacesuit. Which I still have in my closet. Thank you. Thank you. 

Q 17: Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: I thank you. Yes?

Q 18: Hi Kate.

Kate Mulgrew: Hi.

Q 18: A few years back we saw Garrett at a con, and one of the questions asked him was, “On the last day of filming for Voyager, what did you nick from the set?” And he actually told us an amusing story that Tim Russ practically off-hinged everything - the set, the furniture, the lot... One, is that true, and two, what did you pinch from the set on your last day?

Kate Mulgrew: What a nice word that is, isn’t it? It makes theft look so reasonable. Tim Russ did indeed walk away with the entire bridge. I remember that. I was telling somebody the saddest story. And you’re all going to say, “Oh isn’t that so tragic?” It’s not. It’s life. They let everybody go. John Ethan was the first to go. Then we finished another two weeks, and everybody had a scene with everybody else, and we wrapped them. The entire crew. But they held on to me for a week. An additional week, to do all the pick-ups from the season that we may have missed, right? Very important to get the close-ups and the.... So, last shot, last day, I’m all alone on the bridge, in my chair, and the director said “Well - print. That’s it. We’re done. Congratulations.” And I stood up from the chair... I’m not exaggerating... the lights went out, right? The drills went on, and a man came over and started to take my chair apart. I said, “Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute, now. One second.” He said, “We’re on a clock.” I said, “You’ll give me one second.” And I looked in the doorway...now I’m going to cry...and Bob Picardo was standing there. And he said “Forget the chair, forget the drill - life goes on. Come here Captain.” Wonderful friend so, to answer part two of your question...He went into the Doctor’s office, stole many little articles, and I think we were having wine, and we strolled out into the wardrobe, and I just said, “I’m taking my suit, I’m taking my boots, I’m taking my badge, I’m taking my pips. So long!” And I did that. I’ve got my uniform and everything else. I tried to auction it off when my husband ran for governor, but everybody thought he would look sort of funny working in it. Yes, thank you? Thank you. See how that gets you? That’s what it is to spend seven years with somebody you really love. Yes?

Q 19: Good afternoon Kate.

Kate Mulgrew: Good afternoon.

Q 19: I was just wondering, in Voyager you actually got assimilated by the Borg. I was just wondering which you actually preferred, being Borg or being sort of human?

Kate Mulgrew: Which did I actually prefer, being Borg or being assimilated by the Borg?

Q 19: No, playing a Borg or playing a human. Like playing...which one did you prefer?

Kate Mulgrew: Are you asking me that in seriousness? Wait, wait... now this is a very interesting point, ladies and gentlemen... those of you who are still with us. He’s a young man, isn’t he? Isn’t he a young man? How old are you, darling?

Q 19: Twenty-one.

Kate Mulgrew: Bingo. What’s my point? What’s my point? He really thinks I’m torn. Do I want to be assimilated by the Borg or do I want to stay in this frail human frame? I like being a human being. Do you understand that?

Q 19: Yes. Thank you.

Kate Mulgrew: You see, that’s why they had Seven of Nine. For a young man like that to grasp two theories at once! Yes? Yes?

Q 20: Hello Kate, it’s nice to see you again.

Kate Mulgrew: Hello, how are you?

Q 20: Very well. We met at Blackpool five years ago. I’ve got the season...

Kate Mulgrew: Yes. That’s where I signed every autograph.

Q 20: That’s right, you did. Do you remember that...? (in response to the audience’ applause) No... listen... Credit where credit is due...you made a commitment and you stuck to it. So, very well done to you.

Kate Mulgrew: Yes it was very well done to me! Yes?

Q 20: I’ve got the Season One DVD box set of Voyager and on the...

Kate Mulgrew: I just saw it. It’s nice, isn’t it? Yes?

Q 20: Yes, and on the special features, you know, it talks about your audition and everything and the first actor. Obviously you talked about the auditions and everything. Could you tell us a bit more about the auditions? How many times did you have to come back for the audition, and how did you feel when you got the part?

Kate Mulgrew: Well, I was thrilled of course when I got the part. I think I went in twice. 

Q 20: Okay.

Kate Mulgrew: First time I went in it was a fait accompli - they’d already offered it to Genevieve Bujold. And I think they had brought about four of us in to have a good look-see. There were men in the wings as well - male actors, I know that. Then they offered it to Genevieve Bujold, who, as you may or may not know, is an absolutely splendid French Canadian actress. But Star Trek... you know, you either kind of get it, (in an exaggerated French accent) or you really do not get it at all. It has nothing to do with talent, it’s just a sort of understanding of how you walk on the bridge, greet everybody, sit in the captain’s chair and say “Engage”. But if you’re French Canadian, your understanding of that instruction is as follows - (with French accent) “Bonjour Monsieur Kim, I hope everything is all right with you today, and Monsieur Paris how are you? Alors, engage.” And intrinsically, inherently she was not in it. But to her infinite credit she understood that way before they did, and she quit after a day. She said “I can’t do this, it’s not for me.” And merci beaucoup, because I was waiting in the wings. They brought me back in with about four other actresses, and we had to do a knockout., which you may or may not be familiar with, which is...yeah... five of you go back in... in... in...and out of the room and somebody’s left standing, right? The true captain is left standing. 

Q 21: Hello Kate.

Kate Mulgrew: How are you?

Q 21: I’m very well, thank you. How are you?

Kate Mulgrew: I’m good. Were you up late?

Q 21: Ummm.... sort of.

Kate Mulgrew: What’s sort of? Yes, what’s your question?

Q 21: How do you feel about being a gay icon?

Kate Mulgrew: A gay icon?

Q 21: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: My husband doesn’t know I’m gay! I’m thrilled. I find the gay community...Oh, somebody’s really... I’m going to get in such trouble with you people... Smart, compassionate, wise, precocious, generally sexy, and always present. So if I am attractive to lesbians, that is attractive to me. And if I’m attractive to gay men, that is exalting to me. Because we are talking about minorities, aren’t we?

Q 21: Yes.

Kate Mulgrew: The gay community is still a minority, and so are women. So it’s the linking of hands and the crossing of vast oceans, and it’s wonderful. That’s my honest, honest opinion of that.

Q 21: Thank you. 

Kate Mulgrew: (To off stage) Hi. Are you coming out to... good, good... come on...

From Off Stage: That’s it. Time’s up. Time to go.

Kate Mulgrew: That’s it? No more? 

From Off Stage: No!

Kate Mulgrew: I’m having a good time. 

From Off Stage: Well, you know, we’ve got to feed these people dinner!

Kate Mulgrew: She’s very smart, this lady. Can you tell? Yes, she’s very smart.

From Off Stage: All right, fifty quid’s yours!

Kate Mulgrew: (laughing) All right, that’s it, my time’s up. Who’s coming to the banquet tonight? (Positive response from the audience). Let’s all have a drink and we’ll carry on this conversation. And you are - true to your culture and your land - wonderful English people. Thank you.