Were you concerned at all when you took the role? because Star Trek is such a, a... hit.
I wasn't concerned, I was delirious with joy.
Of course what preceded my coming was a little chaotic and dramatic.
What was that?
Well, there was another woman actually in this role.
Oh no.
She was only in I think for about, what was it guys?
Smokey Robinson.
What?
Ah about 5 seconds haha.
Eh so there was eh, you know, some pressure.
Finrish Kolbe that's how you say it.
Finrish Kolbe.
German.
Eh yes, we became involved, uhm which you really shouldn't do
and he gave me the first great push.
One of the interesting casting situations had to do with eh
French actress named Geneviève Bujold.
Eh she had been an Academy Award winning movie star. French-Canadian
and she came and read for us, and Michael and Jeri adored her.
Let's read her the riot act,
let's tell her h, how awful it can be to be a regular on a television series.
That she's going to be working with directors she doesn't know,
she's going to be working 15 hours a day.
Painted a very dark picture of what it was like.
Of course the studio was in love with the idea of an Academy Award winning movie star,
and we told her everything, we told her everything about what how horrible
being on a television show would be, and she said let me go home and talk to my children
and she called me the next day, and she said I've spoken with my children
and the answer is oui, oui, I will do it,
and I just went.
She refused, well earlier she refused to dye her hair.
She had completely grey hair and we wanted her to dye it, she refused to dye it.
She finally agreed to dye it and she'd be told to do it again because somebody
didn't like her hair, her hair do.
And she finally went to her trailer in tears.
She quit on the first day and as... maybe it was the second day,
and I went down to her trailer with the director, and I, I was very calm.
I looked at her, and I just said look just eh pack up your stuff and go home.
But we finally ended up getting it worked out.
And at that point I called the, the studio people, called the chairmen of television division
and told him the story.
We just said let's shut down, and shutting down is very expensive because you have to
carry a lot of people, and let's start the casting procedure again, and luckily we had
a ssecond and third choisss, and the ssecond choisss, eh was Kate Mulgrew.
But somewhere the the dailies of that first day or two days with Geneviève Bujold exist.
The Cardassians gave us the last known heading of the Maquis ship and we...
I think Kate's a very interesting actor.
She managed to be a woman.
Without it looking like boasting she was my first choice from the beginning.
I had the Paramount brass standing on the lip of my bridge every day for at least 6 months,
arms crossed, in their double breasted suits, glaring at me.
Greeted ensign Kim, she looked around the coms, she said hello to Roxanne in science,
she said hello to mister Paris at the helm, and she sat down in her chair
and she says...
Ungaj.
*Laughter and claps*
I'm not being derisive it's what she says
*Laughter* Now this is an American series right, and
it was going to be very difficult, and everything would have to be rouge alert.
*Laughter*
So after, and I am not exaggerating 47 takes of ungaj.
*Laughter* Right, and of course she's now becoming completely frustrated UNGAJ UNGAJ
*Laughter* She finally said I am fini, ce fini.
de montre. This is crazy.
*Laughter*
I am going to my trailer bring the producers, bring the President I'm done.
*Laughter* They came to her trailer, and she said "You are absurd, you people are insane.
You call this working?
this is slavery.
You want me to work like this for 18 hours a day?, for seven years,
for 7 years? for money?"
POOF she quit.
I am leaving I have a son, and I have a lover, au revoir
*Laughter and claps*
She left
and the call came to me.
It's unfair, that's all.
Everybody's on my back about this.
I mean there's whining about how I can't make a commitment, and I'm cold.
I'm afraid of intimacy, and then everybody jumps on my back and acts like I'm neurotic
or something, and I'm not doing my job.
Were you concerned at all when you took the role? because Star Trek is such a, a... hit.
I wasn't concerned, I was delirious with joy.
Of course what preceded my coming was a little chaotic and dramatic.
What was that?
Well, there was another woman actually in this role.
Oh no.
She was only in I think for about, what was it guys?
Smokey Robinson.
What?
Ah about 5 seconds haha.
Eh so there was eh, you know, some pressure.