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Carrington House Hotel Bournemouth, England February 10th to 12th, 2006 |
| Many Thanks! to my transcriber. Please do not repost or reproduce. |
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| From the Transcriber: As always, please note
that a transcript can never convey the true animation, great humor and
obvious enjoyment which Kate projects during her appearances.
Kate Mulgrew: I can’t believe I’m still standing! I haven’t been two days on English soil. I’ve had more to eat, more to drink, and more to say than I have in the last year in New York. And it looks like I’m staying! New York is buried under twenty-one inches of snow. So, whereas I’ve always been an Anglophile, it looks like I’m going to have to change my citizenship. And I’m delighted. I have had the time of my life. So at risk of negligence, I want to thank certain people right now. Bea - where ever she is? Bea: I’m here. Kate Mulgrew: In that wonderful lemon jacket.
And she was eating a banana earlier! It was calculated, but effective!
I want to thank Anna who’s taken care of us for the two days. She’s devine.
Where are you Anna? She's not here. I want to thank Anne, without whom
none of this would have been possible. Please, let’s have a… a hand
for Anne. I want to thank James, what an extraordinary person he is. Have
you all met James? I mean, it’s amazing. And of course, Brian Cooney. I
wouldn't be here if it were not for Brian Cooney. Who’s so busy reproducing,
I’m glad that he contacted me. How many children do you have now? (laughing
in response to an unheard response) You liar! He’s devine! That’s Brian
Cooney back there. And a hand for him. And his beautiful children.
I mean it. I came over thinking, ‘Well this will be interesting.
Bob Picardo said Bournemouth is charming and the people are great.
They’re more than great. I really feel that I’ve made some enduring
friendships. And when you can walk away from something like this
with that, it’s a remarkable thing. So I’m delighted. And I find
the English unsurpassed - in their gentility, in their graciousness, in
their charm and in their naughtiness! You are all deliciously naughty,
and that’s okay in my book.
Q 1: (And what fun) it is… Kate Mulgrew: Hello! Q 1: In a parallel universe, if you was really a Captain and not an actress, and you were trapped seventy thousand light years away, would you… would you bother to make the journey, or would you just try and find the nearest habitable planet… Kate Mulgrew: Gas station! If I were really trapped? Q: Yeah. Kate Mulgrew: I'd make the most out of it, just like Janeway. Q: Would you try and get back to Earth or... Kate Mulgrew: Slowly. Could I have some of these people with me? Very slowly! Thank you. Q 1: Okay. Kate Mulgrew: Everybody’s a little… it’s been a long weekend, huh? Have we had a little fun in this room? We saw some Buccaneers last night, all right! Yes, madam? Q 2: Hello Kate! Kate Mulgrew: Oh, I love this lady, can you all see her? She's extravagant! Look at that hair. Yes, what’s up? Q 2: Yes. As you may have gathered, “Bride of Chaotica” is one of my favorite episodes of Voyager... Kate Mulgrew: Which was? Q 2: It was a sci fi show - You were in it, remember! (much laughter) Kate Mulgrew: How about yesterday – ‘And you are?’ “Bride of Chaotica”, yes. Q 2: I particularly love the way you portrayed Janeway … Kate Mulgrew: Yes… Q 2: … playing Queen Arachnia. As sort of ‘Oh, I can’t believe I’m doing this…’ Kate Mulgrew: Yeah… Q 2: Did you have as much fun making that episode as I had watching it? Kate Mulgrew: And now I’m going to tell you a little secret about that episode - not only was it fun, ‘cause Janeway never gets to laugh, or be funny, right? But I had just fallen in love with my husband. And I was free of the shackles of human burden! It was a laugh riot! The guy …who played Chaotica… Q 2: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: Right? That actor… Q 2: Yes. Audience: Martin Raynor. Kate Mulgrew: Very bad! Martin Raynor. I mean I could not get that thing in the can! Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I was wetting my pants! The things he was doing in that room! That you’ll never see! It was outrageous! I kept begging him, “Martin, please, one take!” Yes, I loved it. Thank you. Q 2: And how did you get on with that dress?! Kate Mulgrew: That dress. Q 2: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: It was a good dress, wasn’t it? She never gets to be in a dress - Janeway. I liked it. Q 2: Well, I mean I had problems with people bashing into my collar all night, so I wondered how you got on with it … Kate Mulgrew: They do it intentionally in your case, madam! Never doubt that! Q 2: They’re that desperate for my attention! Kate Mulgrew: Good! They are, yes. Q 2: Well, thank you very much. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you, thank you very much. Q 2: And a belated welcome to Britain. Kate Mulgrew: Ah. How nice. Q 2: I’m going to beep a bit now as I go backwards. I hope you don’t mind. Kate Mulgrew: You’re going to go backwards? Q 3: Well my scooter is. But I’ll be on it! The scooter will be beeping! Kate Mulgrew: You know when I had those lizards, with Tom Paris?! I’m having a flashback! Is she going backwards, or forwards!? She’s going backwards! That’s good. Thank you! Hello! Q 3: Hello Kate. Kate Mulgrew: I like this lady, she’s very nice. Yes? Q 3: Thank you very much. As you know I’m looking very much forward to coming to see 'The Exonerated'… Kate Mulgrew: That’s so nice… Q 3: And I wondered if you could tell us a little bit more about the play and also what it’s like to sort of come in to a role for a couple of weeks and… Kate Mulgrew: I’ve never done that. I’ve never been dropped in that quickly – a play usually has a nice run of four or five months, you know, and a rehearsal process of about four or five weeks. So this is a cyclical thing. And the idea is that they anchor it with - I hate this word, but for lack of a better one – a celebrity. And each of us will come in for two weeks. And it’s based on the true life experiences of ten people who were sentenced to death in the United States, nine of whom were executed and one of whom was exonerated. And that is me. And it just points to the fact the… system in the United States is lacking a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’. I am passionately and fiercely opposed to the death penalty and I suspect as English people, you are the same. Is that correct? (audience responds affirmatively) I just don’t think it’s ever justified. Who are we… who are we to pull the trigger on anybody else? Right? No. Life in prison without parole is sufficient for the most heinous crime, in my opinion. But I hope that answers your question. Q 3: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: Take care. Q 3: Would it be most inappropriate if I said, could you say British now and again, rather than just English? Kate Mulgrew: British? I say English. I was taught to say English. I was taught to say English. From the Audience: Quite Right! Kate Mulgrew: Right? Q 3: But if you're Welsh it’s sort of … Kate Mulgrew: I thought she was a nice
lady!
Q 4: Hi Kate. Kate Mulgrew: Hi. How are you? Q 4: Fine, and yourself? Kate Mulgrew: Are you having a good time? Q 4: Yes. Wonderful. Kate Mulgrew: You've been very bad, haven’t you? Q 4: Me? Kate Mulgrew: Yeah. Q 4: Bad? Kate Mulgrew: Uh huh. (imitating him) Me? Q 4: Have you heard stories? Kate Mulgrew: What's your question? Q 4: Of all Janeway’s numerous victories over her numerous enemies, which was your favorite? Kate Mulgrew: (laughing) That was tough, to
string that one together, wasn’t it!? You know, I loved Species 8472.
Do you remember Species 8472? Couldn't see them, couldn’t feel them, right?
Nebulous, amorphous kind of terror. I liked that.
Q 4: Yes it does. Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: Go back to your (place?).
Thank you. Thank you!
Q 5: I recognize you! Kate Mulgrew: (laughs) What is your question? Q 5: I noticed part-way through the run of Voyager, they changed the style of the spacesuit from a jumpsuit to the jacket and the sort of T-shirt type top. What was the reasoning behind that? Kate Mulgrew: They did? They did? Q 5: Well, it became a sort of jacket part-way through, didn’t it? Kate Mulgrew: I didn’t have a jacket.
I never had a jacket. Did I have a jacket? No, no, I don’t think I did?
Well, if anybody knows its you! (laughter and applause) I think just to
mix it up, right? A little bit. Right, yeah? I bet 7of
9 didn’t have a jacket!
Q 6: Hi Kate.
Q 6: I’m very loud, I’m going to lower the tone a bit. Kate Mulgrew: You’re going to lower the tone. Q 6: Yes. You said yesterday that Janeway was only allowed to have sex twice. Once was with Tom Paris, and the other with the hologram. Now if she had had her choice, or if you had had your choice, who would it have been? Kate Mulgrew: Of those two? Q 6: No, of the entire crew! Kate Mulgrew: Or I can take my pick? Q 6: Anyone she came across. Kate Mulgrew: I think… Well, everybody
thinks Chakotay. Right? Big, strapping Indian, who has a wonderful… right?
Kate Mulgrew: You want to know who I should have had an affair with? I should have had an affair with the Doctor. At least you could carry on an interesting conversation with the Doctor, do you know? The others were all, “Aye, Captain”. That’s the way it is in life, I guess… Q 6: Thank you very much. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. And good luck to you. You’re a nice man. And that other chap – he’s your friend, isn’t he? Yeah! Hallo! Q 6: So you know how I suffer! Kate Mulgrew: Yes… Q 7: Hi Kate. Yesterday you touched … Kate Mulgrew: Oh, you’re the one who married that nice tall guy. Q 7: Yeah, that’s right. Kate Mulgrew: With the deep voice. I know everything about everybody in the room! And you love him very much, don’t you? Q 7: Pardon? Kate Mulgrew: You love him very much. Q 7: Very, very much. I’m a very lucky lady… Kate Mulgrew: And you got married in a castle. Q 7: That’s right! Kate Mulgrew: (obviously pleased with herself for remembering) Next! All right! What’s your question? Q 7: Yesterday during your talk, you obviously dislike the way the media’s going with reality TV. Kate Mulgrew: Yeah. Q 7: Which I do as well – very much
so. Do you think that the television dumbing down syndrome that’s happening
at the moment is, one, purely driven by financial reasons, or do you think
it might be driven by reasons to keep everybody busy with things that are
not that much to be thought about – to stop us asking questions about what’s
happening around us.
Q7: Questions about the way our lives are going. The way politicians are making decisions that appear to be consulting us, but they’re not. Kate Mulgrew: See, this is my point about people who go to conventions. This is my…exactly my point about science fiction fans. Smart. You’re smart, right? Q 7: Yeah…yeah, I like to think I am! I’m not sure everybody who knows me would agree with … Kate Mulgrew: If people like you were
running the major studios, it would be a different thing entirely.
I suspect that is correct. If we can be preoccupied with mediocrity, why
do we have to rise above anything in life? Very astute on your part.
You should write this. You should write it and submit it – honestly.
To the New York Times. And I’ll sign it!
Q 8: Hi Kate. Couple of questions. First one – going back quite a few years you appeared in a film – I believe it was titled “Remo -Unarmed and Dangerous”. When you first saw the script, did you think ‘God, dodging bullets’, and then a few years later when “The Matrix” came out, did you think, ‘no, you know, damn, they’ve done it now, they’ve copied us’? What was your sort of thoughts on the script of Remo itself… Kate Mulgrew: I had neither thought – at any
time. No, I never made that connection. That movie was just a ... sort
of flash in the pan. No. And I never saw “The Matrix”. (Responding to the
rather negative audience reaction) I mean I saw it! Wonderful
movie! Thank you. Thank you.
Kate Mulgrew: Oh, there’s two! Q 8: Yup! Claudia Christian actually does a really good impersonation of you. Kate Mulgrew: Who does? Q 8: Claudia Christian. Claudia Christensen. From Babylon … She was in Babylon 5. Kate Mulgrew: She does? Q 8: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: She thinks she does! Q 8: She thinks she does. Kate Mulgrew: Yes Q 8: Is there anybody you do? Or you think you do a good impersonation of? Kate Mulgrew: (In Katharine Hepburn’s voice) ‘Oh, some people say…’ Hepburn’s about the only one I think I’ve got nailed. But Garrett Wang thinks he does me beautifully. Have you ever seen him do me? Audience: Yes… Kate Mulgrew: It’s pathetic, isn’t it?! Yes… thank you. (laughing) Why don’t you just come up!? Yes? Q 9: I forgot the question. Oh yes! Kate Mulgrew: (laughs) What? Q 9: Have you found that working in science fiction has given you the flexibility to take your character in lots of different directions then working on something like Mrs. Columbo couldn’t because it’s set in reality, whereas science fiction or fantasy you can do… Kate Mulgrew: No. To the contrary. I was talking to somebody earlier about this. There are inherent constraints in a character like Janeway. She is the captain. So I have to find within very strict parameters a way to deepen and color her. And that’s why I concentrated on her humanity, her empathy, her compassion, her levity. Because to go out in any kind of an extravagant way, just wouldn’t do. The captain must maintain control. And you know, before I took the job, and certainly during the first season, I visited a lot of captains. They’re an austere and Spartan group. Do you know. They’re very controlled. And I realized that of course that wouldn’t sell. So I tried to endow Janeway with all the qualities that I admire without being too histrionic. Q 9: I was thinking about the premises of various shows that maybe put you in a situation where you weren’t quite the normal Janeway we would know. Like the black and white episode we were just talking… Kate Mulgrew: Oh yes. Yes. Well I got to do it then. Yes. Q 9: So premises like that – the odd show – doesn’t that give you a little more flexibility to … Kate Mulgrew: Well of course it does. Of course. Because I’m essentially out of character. Right? But make no mistake about Mrs. Columbo. I mean she was a lot of things that Kathryn Janeway couldn’t be. Children are amazing. I can’t keep my eyes off that child. She’s done very well. She was painted up last night – she’s waving. You were a little buccaneer last night, weren’t you? In a little carriage, weren’t you? Yes. Is that your dad? Is that your mum? Are you happy? Are you happy they’re your parents? No?! She’s a doll! Yes? Yes? Q 10: Hello there. Kate Mulgrew: Hello. Q 10: Okay. My question is… Kate Mulgrew: Lots of energy for a Sunday afternoon this one! Yes? Q 10: I’m not quite edgy after the party! Okay come back to your earlier point about Chakotay being the obvious choice… Kate Mulgrew: Yeah…
Kate Mulgrew: Chakotay and Janeway? In what way? Q 10: Ummm… closer than they were. Kate Mulgrew: What? Q 10: A couple. Kate Mulgrew: Well we had that wonderful
episode where we stranded together, right?
Q 10: Just about, yeah. Kate Mulgrew: What are you doing with your hands?! (Q 10 looks down and audience laughs) No – I didn’t mean that! (Points to someone in the audience.) You! Bad! No, because it takes the eye off the ball. (Audience laughs again, and Kate slaps her forehead, realizing what she’s said) Oh, never mind! Thank you for your question. Yes? Q 11: Hi, I have two quick questions for you. Kate Mulgrew: You have two good questions? Q 11: No, quick! Kate Mulgrew: Oh, quick. Q 11: The first one is about the friendship between Tuvok and Janeway in the series – obviously it was portrayed as being quite profound. Kate Mulgrew: It was. Q 11: Did they ever give you more back history than we ever saw for that particular friendship? Kate Mulgrew: Did…was there more back history to it? Q 11: That we ever get to see. Kate Mulgrew: Oh yes. Oh yes. I wouldn’t have been on that ship were it not for Tuvok. And there is something about his Vulkon sensibility that both… challenges and inspires somebody like Janeway. I was always trying to shake him up. And then of course, to find Tim Russ. So divine. Just was the icing on the cake. So I hope you got that sense, that it was a great friendship. Q 11: And the second question is… Kate Mulgrew: Yes? Q 11: If you could have the opportunity to do any character from stage or screen, what character would you pick in what genre, and why? Kate Mulgrew: From…? Q 11: If you could play any character from stage or screen, past or present, who would you pick, and why? Kate Mulgrew: Oh, I don’t know. I’d have to think about that. A long time. You know… thank you. That’s a broad question. From a… broad… Yes ma’am? Q 12: Hi. First of all, happy birthday for the 29th of April. Kate Mulgrew: Oh, thanks. Q 12: And second, how was… how hard was it to do a story line like “Roots” with LaVar and the others… Kate Mulgrew: How hard was it? Q 12: Yeah. Kate Mulgrew: It was great! I played the bounty hunter. I love playing the bad person sometimes. She was great. She was utterly without feeling. A sociopath. Heaven. I had a nice scene with Avery Brooks, too. Long before we were captains together. Q 12: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: I had his head! It was great. Thank you. Q 12: LaVar was in it as well. Kate Mulgrew: Yes. I don’t know – she’s bringing up the fact that I have a birthday coming in April. (shakes her head slightly) Must be done though. Right? I’m fine. Yes? Yes?! Hi! Q 13: (Questioner Q 10) My hands are here! I’m resting them here! Kate Mulgrew: (laughs) Q 13: I read a lot about syndicated TV and network TV in America. Could you please explain the difference? Kate Mulgrew: Between syndicated TV and… Q 13: Yeah. Apparently Deep Space Nine is a syndicated program whereas I think The Next Gen wasn’t, it was a network program. I just don’t understand what the difference is. Kate Mulgrew: Money. Money. And a greater… you know, the ratings are higher and the viewing public is much greater on a network show. More expensive to produce than it is a syndicated show. To put it in a nutshell. So… Q 13: So doesn’t a syndicated show go out over a network anyway? Kate Mulgrew: Doesn’t it what? Q 13: Doesn’t it go out over a TV network anyway? Kate Mulgrew: Yes. It does… (puts her hand to her forehead) Oh… God… I don’t really know, to tell you the truth. But I do know that network television is much more expensive. Syndication has its date. It’s got a window, that’s it. You shoot it, you produce and you sell it. But I think network television has a possibility – an opportunity – to go on that syndicated television does not. Q 13: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. Thank you. Very quiet in here. Yes ma’am? Q 14: Hello. Kate Mulgrew: Hi. Q 14: I understand from your talk yesterday that you would like to do Shakespeare’s “Anthony and Cleopatra”. Kate Mulgrew: I would. Q 14: It’s come to my knowledge that Patrick Stewart is actually appearing in “Anthony and Cleopatra” later this year. Kate Mulgrew: Who? Patrick Stewart? Q 14: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: (Stands up) It was my idea! Absolutely unfair! Q 14: I know. Kate Mulgrew: Who’s his Cleopatra? Q 14: I’m not aware of who is actually playing but what I wanted to ask was – if you had the opportunity to play Cleopatra opposite Patrick Stewart as Marc Anthony… Kate Mulgrew: An awful lot of ‘red alerts’ in there… No… I don’t think so. Q 14: No? Kate Mulgrew: He’s a wonderful actor. But I don’t… no… Q 14: No? Kate Mulgrew: Anyway, I’m way to old for him! (Kate and the audience laugh) (Pointing to someone in the audience) This mother just keeps shaking her head at me! Does that answer your question? Q 14: Well I hope you get the opportunity to do it. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you very much. Q 14: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: I can’t believe it!
Did all of you know he was doing “Anthony and Cleopatra”? When I
poured my heart out yesterday?! Like an idiot?! Did you all know?!
Q 15: Yesterday you were talking about that you were writing a book and trying to get it published. What kind of book is it? Kate Mulgrew: Well, I’m starting to write it. Q 15: Okay. Kate Mulgrew: I’m taking a wonderful workshop. I’ve been putting this off for years. I’ve always written. And it’s always been a secret. Because I didn’t have the confidence to state it. And now I’m writing it, and it’s my memoirs. But as is true of any kind of memoir, when I started to write it, it took me very much by surprise – it will be about my relationship with my mother. I didn’t think it would be about that, but it is. My mother has Alzheimer’s, and I’m sure that many of you are afflicted by this… (realizing what she has said, and in reaction to the audience laughter) What was I saying?! It’s about my love affair with my mother. I see now that it’s formed and shaped just about every major decision of my life. And I… miss her in so palpable a way. She’s really dead now… I mean she just lies there… that I must remember when I can, as well as I can, what a great woman she was. So that’s what it’s going to be about. Thank you. Q 15: Great. I have another question if I may? Kate Mulgrew: You may. Q 15: There’s a lot of talk about Hilary Clinton running for president… Kate Mulgrew: Talk. Q 15: Do you think that your country would ever be ready for a female president, and if so, who’s your favorite? ‘Cause mine is Madeleine Albright, actually. Kate Mulgrew: Who? Madeleine Albright? Q 15: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: Too old! Q 15: They’re all old! Kate Mulgrew: Is my country ready for a female president? Of course. That’s not the question. My country is ready for anybody after this idiot! (Much applause and laughter by Kate and the audience) It’s the qualifications, isn’t it? Can Hilary do it? My problem with Senator Clinton, to put it in a nutshell, is … I don’t dispute her political acumen. I think it’s… you know… very real and very wide. But I think that her legacy has been colored by her husband’s tenure, and that she would have just an up-hill battle. That we’re still sort of gossiping about the Clintons, and there is now so much work to be done by whoever takes this office next, that I think it would be too much for her, given what one can only call, or refer to, as a bit of a checkered past with President Clinton, right? So that’s my answer to that question. Q 15: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: And I don’t… I don’t know who else we’ve got. I mean I don’t know… Q 15: You, maybe! Kate Mulgrew: I love Barack Obama but they say he’s too young. Do you know who he is? Young senator from Illinois? Yeah. Wonderful guy. I like Bill Richardson from New Mexico. But if a Republican goes in there again, that’s… where is my best friend? Did you all meet my best friend? She’s back there. There. She’s a sweetie. She came all this way with me. Don’t you agree? One more Republican and we’re out of the country! We’ll move here! There you are! Q 15: Thank you. Kate Mulgrew: It’s an awful thing, to talk this way about one’s administration, right? I’m happy to be an American. I’m spoiled and privileged as an American, and for many years I was proud to be an American. I am really not proud of this administration. And that’s a difficult thing to articulate, particularly to this kind of a crowd. But this too shall pass. It’s a great country, and has a wonderful spirit. And once one of those spirits has moved… it will improve. Yes? Q 16: Hi Kate. Kate Mulgrew: Hi. Q 16: I just wanted to say I think you’re an amazing actress, and … Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. Q 16: And…you are my role model and inspiration… Kate Mulgrew: Thank you darling. Q 16: And I just wondered, how did you get the role of Sonny Jacobs in the London … Kate Mulgrew: In which one? Q 16: “The Exonerated”. How did you get it? Kate Mulgrew: They just offered it to me. They offered it to me and I said yes. I think they know that I’m very active in the anti-death penalty thing – Mike Farrell’s group in California – and so I’m sure that they have a list of actors who want to get involved, so that’s how. Q 16: Thank you very much. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. Such a great smile. Did you see her smile? So beaming. Q 17: At the risk of lowering the tone again, I’m sorry… Kate Mulgrew: You’re not a bit sorry! What’s your question? Q 17: Have you ever read the Mistress Janeway Chronicles? Kate Mulgrew: Oh. That’s smut. Q 17: And have you met Nova D? Kate Mulgrew: Right? That’s pornography in space, isn’t it? (Kate, obviously annoyed, wags her finger negatively) Q 17: Have you ever met Nova D? Kate Mulgrew: Have I ever what? Q 17: Met Nova D. She’s the… Kate Mulgrew: Why would I meet her? Q 17: She’s the author… I just… Kate Mulgrew: Why would I? Q 17: Thought she might… Kate Mulgrew: Why would I waste my time? Smut. I hate pornography. Do you know that every serial murderer is addicted to pornography? It’s crap. No. And especially for Janeway. Leave me to my lizards, and I’m fine! No. I get riled up about that. Pornography. It leads to no good. I’m not going to let… growl, growl, growl, growl! Do you people think that that’s good stuff? Audience: No. From the Audience: There’s a difference between porn and erotica? Kate Mulgrew: (To Q 17) Just a minute! What would that difference be, sir? Stand up. Or can you?! From the Audience: The difference between porn and erotica is erotica is meant to stimulate the mind – porn is meant to stimulate the body. Kate Mulgrew: Whoever believed that can have a drink on me. Erotica is meant to stimulate the mind? Anais Nin wrote erotica. Do you know who I’m talking about? Audience: Yes. Kate Mulgrew: It was meant to stimulate… something else. (to Q 17) I’m sorry to be a little fierce about this. Q 17: That’s all right. Kate Mulgrew: But I feel passionately about it. From the Audience: Kill him, Kate! Kate Mulgrew: All right! Scaring me! Yes, do you have another question? Q 17: No, I just wish to apologize for lowering the tone. Kate Mulgrew: Oh, that’s fine. Thank you. You know he loves pornography! Yes? Yes? Q 18: Hello Kate. Kate Mulgrew: How are you? Q 18: I’m fine, thank you. Kate Mulgrew: Good, darling. Q 18: A complete change of subject. Kate Mulgrew: We’re going to change the subject? Q 18: Yes, we are. Kate Mulgrew: Gonna talk about straight sex, are we?! What is your question? Q 18: You… Kate Mulgrew: (Laughs) Q 18: You’ve thrown me now! It’s a bit of a personal question, you may not want to answer. Kate Mulgrew: It’s a personal question. Q 18: You’re a cradle Catholic, so am I – probably half the audience is. After all the experiences you’ve now had in your life… Kate Mulgrew: Yeah… Q 18: …how do you now see God and spirituality in your life? Kate Mulgrew: Well now that’s what I call a proper question! It’s a wonderful question. I’ll be fifty-one in April. This question has preyed on my mind as long as I’ve been a thinking, reasoning human being – about three months! Catholicism has allowed me to be romantic about the idea of God. Which I think is anything but romantic. God is, however, a leap of faith. If my husband were here he’d say it’s falderal, because he’s an agnostic – it’s ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Love as well as you can while you can, because it’s over once this ride is over. But there’s something in my girlish heart that says the very mystery of love defies that it ends here, in my opinion. I would take the mystical approach – God is ‘everythingness’ – you could not possibly articulate it if you… you know, in a million years. But it is a conversation, and the only conversation worth having, while one is alive. And I thank you very much for asking that question. I’ll bet there aren’t a lot of Catholics in this room? Aren’t you all Protestants? Aren’t you mostly Protestants? Audience: (varied responses) Kate Mulgrew: (in response to someone in the audience) Jewish. Well… that’s like Catholic. Yes? Q 19: Hello Kate. Kate Mulgrew: Hello. Q 19: If my memory serves me right, at the time of the casting of Janeway, Lindsay Wagner was put up as the favorite for the role. Were you aware of that at the time? Kate Mulgrew: Lindsay Wagner was up for it? Q 19: Yeah. Bionic Woman. Kate Mulgrew: Who was she? Q 19: The Bionic Woman. Kate Mulgrew: Yeah. Q 19: Were you aware of that at the time? Or was that just rumors that the public heard? Kate Mulgrew: I think a lot of actresses were up for this role. And she would be an obvious… Q 19: How did you come across the role, then? Kate Mulgrew: Sorry? Q 19: Did you have to audition for the role? Kate Mulgrew: I did, twice. Q 19: Were there many others? Kate Mulgrew: Yes. So I told this story at the… yes… I did, twice. Q 19: But she wasn’t one of them? She wasn’t one of them at the time. You weren’t aware of her… Kate Mulgrew: I was sort of aware, but there was a list of six hundred. Six hundred women were considered. (leans back and pretends to gloat) Yes ladies and gentlemen … six oh oh! Well, it makes sense, because wasn’t she the Bionic Woman? Q 19: Yeah. Kate Mulgrew: Well. Q 19: It’s just that to us she was… Kate Mulgrew: She does mattress things now. Q 19: …well known. You weren’t at the time. We’re glad you got the role, of course. Kate Mulgrew: Oh, that’s nice of you. Q 19: Fantastic. But… I just wondered, having not been known to us, what was it like … did you feel that her having a hit series might have made her a favorite for the role, or… Kate Mulgrew: No. To the contrary. Q 19: Do think it’s against her? Kate Mulgrew: Well I think that’s exactly how they cast it. They don’t want a familiar face. Q 19: That’s right… Kate Mulgrew: They want you to walk… come on to this ship… that’s why this experience is so great. It’s a shared experience with the audience. They want the captain to be new. They want the story to unfold in a very fresh way. So, as good an actress as she is, and she’s a fine actress, I doubt that she was in serious contention, but if you know me at all you know I really don’t know what I’m talking about!! Q 19: Thank you very much. Kate Mulgrew: Thank you. Thank you. (recognizes the next questioner and looks at him in askance) Q 20: Yes, guess who? Kate Mulgrew: Hello. Yes, guess who. Q 20: You have just displayed some very strong beliefs about pornography, politics and what have you. Kate Mulgrew: Yeah. Q 20: I was wondering – if you were offered a role which you thought was extremely well written, but it really ran counter to your really strong beliefs, could you see yourself taking it… Kate Mulgrew: No. Q 20: … cause it’s really well written. Kate Mulgrew: No. I know very well that I wouldn’t – I haven’t. I’ve turned down some of the best roles. I don’t do nudity. I don’t perform abortions. And I will not subscribe, on any level, to pornography. I’m sorry. I’ve got kids. I mean I just can’t do that, you know? I almost had a role once, it was so lovely. And of course then they call you back in and they say, ‘Well, you just have to walk out of the ocean twice, nude.’ And I said, ‘Well, why? Why do I have to? Meryl Streep never did it. Can’t I walk out in a bathing suit?’ ‘No, no, no. You get off the ship, your clothes fall off, you have to – it’s absolutely …’ I said, ‘You’ve gone from bad to worse.’ No. But it sounds a little square. It’s not square. Right? Anyway, who wants to see all that stuff! (to someone in the audience) Sorry, you! Q 20: Thanks very much. Kate Mulgrew: Well. Good questions here today, though. Nudity. God. Yes? Q 21: Okay, a bit of a serious question. Picking up on what you said earlier … Kate Mulgrew: (whispering instructions for him to lean closer to the mic) Come down… come down!) Q 21: about how close you was to … how close you was to the Alzheimer’s Disease… Kate Mulgrew: Mum… Q 21: …as a mental health nurse myself, who works with elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer’s, the thing that really, really does grate me is, I find that there’s a lack of research. One, do you agree with that, and what would you like to see more done. Kate Mulgrew: I know all about that because I’m on the board … I’m the national spokesperson for Alzheimer’s in the United States. There is a lack of research because we’re just getting the funding now, to found our individual chapters – it’s so slow going. And then of course, there was the double blow of the clinical trial – the FDA had the vaccine – this close to approval – this close – and two people died from the study. And they had to pull it – start all over again. So all those dead mice were for naught. It’s going to take a long, long time. It’s a very complicated and dubious disease, and I believe this is true of cancer as well. I’m strangely a proponent of the emotional component of this disease. You forget when you have Alzheimer’s. And in my mother’s case, I think she has a lot to forget. And I think that one must never underestimate how sorrow weighs upon the mind. So I think when they start to understand that it’s not just scientific slash medical research – that we have to go deeper in a more psychological and emotional way, we’ll make some headway then. Q 21: … Cause the other thing as well what sort of grates me about it as well is with the research there… and there are things like one of the drugs on the market in Britain at the moment is a wonderful drug called Aricept, and… Kate Mulgrew: Yes, my mother couldn’t tolerate it. Q 21: Yeah…. Kate Mulgrew: It’s not for everybody. Q 21: No, but for some people it’s very good. But they’re now actually putting out a notice to the doctors that unless people are in the mid stages of Alzheimer’s, you’re not to give the drug out… Kate Mulgrew: No… Q 21: Which is really sort of… Kate Mulgrew: It can only be in the beginning stage, yes. And you know that it can’t be diagnosed before autopsy… Q 21: Yeah. Kate Mulgrew: So you have to die to be told… that you couldn’t remember anything for thirty years. Thank you. Thank you. How many people here are afflicted by somebody or … (in response to a show of hands) Look at that. Terrible thing, isn’t it? Yes? Yes? Q 22: My hand up was for your question. Kate Mulgrew: Yes, I see. Q 22: I read a while back you threw your support behind the campaign for a gay character in Star Trek. Kate Mulgrew: Yes. Q 22: Do you think, if ever the series is resurrected in any form, that we’ll ever get a strong, stable gay character? Kate Mulgrew: I don’t think there’s any question about it. Come on. Awake and sing. It’s time. This does not reflect well on our culture. Q 22: No, I know it doesn’t but… Kate Mulgrew: The next series of its kind will have to have a gay character. Absolutely. Q 22: I agree. Kate Mulgrew: The changes that are being made and the voice of the gay community is now absolutely crucial to our growth. So if I had my druthers and I could go back, I’d put my foot down about that. You know, I would. So forward and onward, right? Q 22: Thank you for your support on that. Kate Mulgrew: I thank you. Q 22: You really do see what I have to put up with his previous question? Kate Mulgrew: Well, I think it works both ways! (laughs) Q 22: Thank you! Kate Mulgrew: Listen, I mean it. What
a great group you are. Charming, fun, gracious and generous.
I’ve had the time of my life. I will see you again! I will come to
Bournemouth any time, and I hope you all come to London to see “The Exonerated”.
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