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Fans of Captain Kathryn Janeway have been excitedly awaiting her return in the upcoming series, “Star Trek: Prodigy.” On First Contact Day, showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman and Kate Mulgrew, who played Janeway in “Star Trek: Voyager,” finally revealed Janeway’s role in the new series. Though Janeway herself will not make an appearance, a holographic version of the character will play a major role in the show.
During an interview with actor Dennis Miller for his podcast Miller +1, Mulgrew revealed some new details about the Emergency Training Hologram she’ll be voicing and the plot of “Prodigy.”
Mulgrew Reveals How the Crew Will Meet Janeway
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First, Mulgrew told Miller the story of how the “Star Trek’s” new showrunner, Alex Kurtzman, convinced her to come back for “Prodigy,” which she’s told several times since taking on the role. She emphasized how excited she is to bring “Star Trek” to a new generation of fans.
Mulgrew then explained how the crew of “Prodigy” will meet her holographic character, and she dropped some very interesting plot details in the process.
“Five kids are incarcerated on a planet, on an obscure planet, in an uncharted part of the galaxy. And they escape from their imprisonment, and nd race across the planet to find a defunct starship buried in the sand of the planet’s surface. They go in and, of course, the prison guards are coming after them, and they can’t get it up, and the shields won’t run, and the thing won’t do. And suddenly, somebody hits a button and bloop, ‘Hello kids. I see you’re a little bit stuck here. Can I help you out?’ And it’s Captain Janeway, in a holographic form… So, it’s really really, I think, going to capture the imagination of little kids.”
Mulgrew went on to say she hopes that “Prodigy” will be a show for the whole family. She told Miller she envisions children sitting down with their parents who loved “Voyager” and everyone enjoying a new “Star Trek” experience.
How ‘Voyager’ Impacted Her Life
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Mulgrew and Miller also chatted about her time on “Voyager.” Mulgrew told Miller she had no idea about the “Star Trek” universe or its impact on pop culture when she was cast in the role. She said that she thinks her “ignorance” of the Trekverse actually allowed her to create Janeway from a truly authentic place.
“As for Captain Janeway and sitting in the captain’s seat as the first female to helm a starship, it changed my life. It utterly changed my life… This changed the fabric of my life, the substance of it, in fact.”
Mulgrew continued, describing the lessons she had learned from working on the show. She talked about the grueling days on set, many of them around 18 hours long. She said that she expected nothing less than “excellence” from herself at all times, which taught her to be incredibly disciplined.
The actress also shared that she was a single mother raising two children while filming the show. She acknowledged that the long days away were tough on her family, but said that she felt she owed it to her children to excel at her work.
Mulgrew ended by telling Miller how important it is to her that she got to inspire “young women in science” through her portrayal of Janeway.
Fans of Mulgrew and Janeway will be able to see the actress bring the character to life in a brand new way by the end of 2021.