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Kate Mulgrew on the Challenge of Being a Female Star Trek Captain

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By GustavoLeao / 14:28, 6 November 2008 / Voyager

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The Women & Hollywood blog posted some quotes from Star Trek Voyager star Kate Mulgrew at the recent "Women in Hollywood" panel event. Here is an excerpt.

"I learned something about the male demographic when I played Captain Janeway." Mulgrew said at the event "They were quaking in their boots to put a woman in the (captain's) seat. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's about sex. I didn't want her to look like someone they wanted to have sex with. I argued the fact that I didn't want her to have any sex as the first female captain because I was not going to run the risk of walking down the path that leading ladies have taken before -- to become a sexual object. I said I'm not going to do that because if I can't win them with my command, then I'm not the actress I think I am. But they allowed it. But the first question I am asked at every event is why didn't you have a love affair with Chakotay."

More from Mulgrew can be found here.

Photos from the event can be found at BroadwayWorld.com



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With all due respect to Mulgrew... | Report this post to moderator
By: rassmguy (Odo's file, contact) @ 13:58:28 on Nov 07, 2008

...I think it's safe to say she didn't have to much to worry about in becoming a sex symbol. She has a smoker's voice, she's annoying, she's not that attractive, and Jeri Ryan was onscreen with her. Mulgrew a sex symbol on Voyager? I think not.


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Rich Handley
Author, Timeline of the Planet of the Apes: The Definitive Chronology
Available now from Hasslein Books
www.hassleinbooks.com


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  • Mulgrew Versus Ryan ??? | Report this post to moderator
    By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 16:54:22 on Nov 07, 2008

    I agree. I wonder if those comments were an attack on Jeri Ryan and the character of Seven of Nine. It is well know that Mulgrew and Ryan were not best buddies on the set.

    Gustavo

    --------

    TrekWeb.com Supervising Editor

    gl2000@uol.com.br


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    • RE: Mulgrew Versus Ryan ??? | Report this post to moderator
      By: YodaOldBoy (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 05:27:45 on Nov 08, 2008

      Quote:
      It is well know that Mulgrew and Ryan were not best buddies on the set.

      Really? Well then, they're really great professionals because they had a great on-screen chemistry nonetheless.

      And about Janeway not being a sex symbol, I think people are being a bit harsh on her... sure, she's older in the first place, not as shapely as Jeri Ryan, looks severe and stuff like that but, had they wanted to, they definitely could have given her a more 'loose' haircut, more visible make-up and showed her more often in something other than a Starfleet uniform and I'm sure she could have become a sex symbol, she definitely wasn't ugly as Janeway. And a lot about sexiness has to do with personality and, given that Janeway was nowhere near written as such, if the writting had called for her character to be more easy-going, smile-flashing and suave, Mulgrew would have played it and pulled it off. I also agree that Janeway shouldn't have been a sex symbol... did she have to remain 'cold' through the seven years, no, but it's way better than 'slutty Janeway', that's for sure. (and my post intends no disrespect towards Ryan who played one sexy Borg drone!)

      --------

      Lincoln Six-Echo: Who is 'God'?
      McCord: You know when you really want something, you close your eyes and wish for it really hard? God is the guy that ignores you!

      - The Island


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Never had sex? | Report this post to moderator
By: Locutus (Odo's file, contact) @ 20:59:47 on Nov 06, 2008 | Edit History (1)

"I argued the fact that I didn't want her to have any sex as the first female captain ..."

What a push-over! If only she had argued a bit more strenuously, then this would never have happened ...

Image

The horror, the horror!

--------

"What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived."
~Picard


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Sexual object | Report this post to moderator
By: DixonHill (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:11:33 on Nov 06, 2008 | Edit History (1)

"I argued the fact that I didn't want her to have any sex as the first female captain because I was not going to run the risk of walking down the path that leading ladies have taken before -- to become a sexual object."

I don't get it why some women insist on NOT being seen as sexual beings among many other qualities. There are male lead characters who are almost defined by their sexuality.
Can you imagine James Bond or even Kirk without their muliple love affairs? If women want gender equality they have to embrace these things equally IMHO.


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  • RE: Sexual object | Report this post to moderator
    By: Starbrelz (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:16:59 on Nov 06, 2008

    How'd she get to be Admiral before Picard? She must have slept her way up Starfleet Command.

    --------

    In the battle between "good" and "evil," "evil" usually wins, unless "good" is very, very careful."
    Dr. Leonard McCoy.


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