Mulgrew: The Arrival of Seven of Nine

[Vic 17]

Although Kate Mulgrew had no problem with Jeri Ryan, Ryan’s character and why that character was added to Star Trek: Voyager was a problem for Mulgrew.

 

 

From a woman’s viewpoint, having a character that she knew was added as “eye candy” was tough for Mulgrew to accept. “I found that that was hard, Jeri notwithstanding,” said Mulgrew. “Certainly, I could see with my own eyes that she was a va-va-va-voom and beautiful-beautiful bombshell of a girl. Sexuality was brought into Voyager, and that’s what I resented. I chose not to use sexuality.”

 

 

According to Mulgrew, it would have been better (and different on TV) to have the character without the need to have her be a sex symbol. “I thought that if Paramount and UPN and Rick (Berman) were being exceptionally prescient and brave, they would give a woman a shot at commanding without sex,” said Mulgrew. “‘Can we do this without sex?’ There are always other ways. So I resented that and I was hurt by the immediate, extraordinary attention given to this character.”

 

 

Unfortunately for Mulgrew, she saw that sex did indeed sell. “The numbers went up,” she said. “And I thought, ‘Ah, you can’t argue with a business decision and you can’t argue with sex.’ That’s just part of life, but all of that is very difficult for a woman, particularly an actress like me. But it had nothing to do with Jeri.”

 

 

Mulgrew is currently working on a project that she is developing that is based on the life of Stella Adler.

 

 

 

 

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[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Just about every main female Trek character has been a sex symbol of some kind. Did Mulgrew really think Paramount would choose someone ugly?

[Bethlehem 7]

Everyone has their own idea about sexy. I thought Tes, hands down was sexier than 7 of 9.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Tess? That 1979 Roman Polanski movie with Nastassja Kinski? Polanski is even pervier than I am. Oh yeah, he was boinking her when she was 16.

Edited January 20, 2011 by Lt. Van Roy

[Bethlehem 7]

Whoops!! I meant Kes, see it has been way to long since I last saw her.

[trekz 7]

I can understand how Mulgrew would be irked over the decision to bring in a younger, very sexy character onto Voyager. At least she does recognize it as a business decision. It would be interesting to see how many more male fans were attracted to the show, versus female viewers that may have been irked and tuned out. I have a female friend who definitely thought it was cheap ploy to get higher ratings.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

A bunch of us in our college dorm were watching Scorpion in our day room when we got a preview of how 7 of 9 would eventually look. All the guys were hooting and hollering and all the girls were rolling their eyes.

[Bethlehem 7]

Even before 7 of 9, I do not think girls made up a large part of the people watching the show.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Our school had one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the country, so we did have a larger share of female Trekkies than the public at large.