What a long, strange trip it's been. "Five years ago," Kate Mulgrew tells our Jeanne
Wolf, "I needed this job. Badly." But Capt.Janeway is looking at life beyond Star Trek
these days. Is there such a thing? Mulgrew is eager to find out. "I felt very privileged
from the get-go about this role," she says. And now? "I'm a little less naive, perhaps."


Your fans are so devoted, both to the show and to you. What accounts for that? 

The essence of all success is collective, particularly in the entertainment industry. At
least that's when I've seen it fly. It's that chemistry that happens in a room among
four or five people. 
Gene Roddenberry was the spearhead, of course. But it took [executive producer]
Rick Berman. It took his business acumen, which is considerable. It took a writing staff
that was edgy, very bright and well educated. They were pioneers in a way in
science fiction. It took all these people coming together in a kind of orgy of
understanding. 
And, of course, one's individual success has to be a nod from a great many people,
a character that is well suited to the person, and then the whole thing takes flight. 


Capt. Janeway began this season in a very dark, introspective mood. How did
you feel about exploring that part of her? 

I thought it was a very provocative kickoff. This is [head writer] Brannon Braga at his
best, and I think his edgiest. I very much enjoy the darker currents of life, the interior
passages. I think the loneliness of command is at the forefront of those dark
currents in Voyager. This captain has been alone for five years. And she's suffered
tremendously [from what] could be construed as this mistake that she made
initially, which got the ship lost in the delta quadrant. And she is responsible for this
crew of 145, many of whom she believes will never see their families again. And it
suddenly overwhelms her that they're lost in this abyss, this darkness outside. They've
suddenly bypassed all star systems, and it affects her clinically. And I love that. I loved
going there. The audience, I think, was very mixed about it. People always want some
spectacular beginning to a season. I don't really know why that is. But I thought it was
very daring, and I love the fact that Brannon was willing to take Janeway into those
nooks and crannies of her being.
But of course, Janeway being Janeway, she can't just sit there for too long. 
You see immediately that what galvanizes her is a problem, and what she loves to do
is find the solution. And she is at her very best when she is active in solving any kind
of a Rubik's Cube, and this is really crucial to her nature. Above all things she is a
scientist. And I would say the nature of every great scientist, quite aside from this
wild and daring and unusual imagination, is an intelligence beyond the norm. So when
she can exercise these two things at the same time, she is in heaven. 


Being a TV star, do you have a particular understanding of Janeway's loneliness? 

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. You really want to get into this? Yes, I do, but let me make
no mistake about this here: I am not a star. I am an actress. There's no question about
that in my mind. I may be a celebrity to this fan base, but in the world at large, I think, all
things considered, I've been spared all of that. And I couldn't imagine being
somebody like Julia Roberts, because my anonymity has been so precious to me. I
find that my life has become increasingly more insular, and my defense of my private
life has been rather fierce, and I am now quite protective of who I am.
      

How has the job affected your family life? 

This position does not help at all. I'll be very frank with you. There isn't any kid in his
right mind who wants a celebrity for a mother. It's a trade-off and it's a choice.
And I'm not going to make any excuses. I made that choice. My kids have not
enjoyed this. One of my sons in particular has departed from me in a very significant
way as a result of this choice. He will not be seen with me in public, which means that I
can't go out to dinner with him, and I can't go to soccer games, and we can't travel.
And I've tried very hard. 
The impact on young children - boys especially, I think - is so serious when the
mother is the celebrity and not the father. When the mother, who by all rights and by
all primitive imprints and maps should be there guiding them in a deeply nurturing
way, is taking the limo to Pasadena, is going to the studio, is doing her press and
doing her work, and they really just want Oreo cookies and milk. And so we have to
be aware, those of us who have made this choice, that there will be repercussions,
there will be serious repercussions to this in the way that our sons grow into men. 


What about marriage? 

No, my marriage did not survive. And that's the other part of it. It's a double-edged
sword. When it's the woman who is off to the races, the guy is discombobulated. This
is a terribly difficult transition in the history of our culture, I think, for men. And we have
not been forgiving. We have not been compassionate about it in our mad
eagerness to - I would say, to surpass them.
But I am very blessed on this point now, in that I have found a wonderful man [since the
divorce]. But I'm 43 years old! That's how long it has taken me to find somebody. I
don't know, it's a fascinating thing. One day I'll write about this.                                              

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