THIS WOMAN’S WORK

KATE MULGREWPLAYED KATHRYN JANEWAY

KATE MULGREW ARRIVED ON THE VOYAGER set under chaotic circumstances, but she steadied the ship and never looked back. Genevieve Bujold played Captain Elizabeth Janeway for about a day, before realising weekly television was not for her. The show’s producers turned to Mulgrew, who’d also auditioned, and she seized the captain’s chair, creating a character for the ages: badass, caring, shrewd, dedicated to her crew, unafraid to make unpopular decisions, and, yes, a coffee fiend.

“Janeway was a full meal, and I liked the way that meal was laid out,” Mulgrew observes. “She never fell in love, never had a baby. That was as it should be. Hence, the loneliness and beauty of the captain. Her solitude was examined. I asked for that. Brannon Braga was really good at understanding the loneliness of a female captain. Our collective decision to not allow Janeway to have a lover, or a romance, was a wise one.

“I’ve said it a million times, but the demographic we most longed to capture was men, 20-35, and I was still of childbearing age, but it wouldn’t have worked for me, at any rate,” she says. “Brannon, Rick Berman, everyone seemed to agree, and I was proud of that.”

The equation changed significantly when Jeri Ryan joined the show as Seven of Nine. The character was as sexy as she was effective story-wise, testing and the ratings rose. Ask Mulgrew now about her reaction to Seven’s addition and she succinctly notes, “That sex was necessary to that demographic.”