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| Source: Paramount/UPN |
It’s been known in the Trek community that Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) didn’t take kindly to the addition of Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) to the cast of Voyager in the fourth season. The reasons are varied, from Mulgrew feeling Seven undermined the feminist message of Voyager to jealousy that Seven’s popularity took away from Mulgrew’s role on the show. However, while much has been said by other cast members about the feud, Ryan herself always dodged the topic…until now.
In 2013, Aisha Tyler’s podcast featured an interview with Ryan where she was willing to open up with some of her experiences on Voyager. Without naming names, Ryan discussed some problems she had with a cast member even she acknowledged could easily be guessed as Mulgrew.
RYAN: Literally I would be nauseous when I knew these scenes were coming up. When there were a lot of scenes with this person the next day, I was sick to my stomach all night, just miserable. It was so unnecessary and just so petty; things like, oh my God…[Laughs]
RYAN: We’d have scenes — because a lot of my scenes took place in this set they built for my character called the Astrometrics Lab. It was a really impressive-looking set with this huge, massive, curved green-screen and this giant window. So there’s only one entrance to the set, because all the cameras were built up on platforms and stuff to shoot the window — there was just one set of doors.
RYAN: I remember this one time in particular, I had this one scene with this person, just the two of us. We do their coverage first, and shoot their side of this really dramatic scene, and then it was time for my coverage. Before every close-up, the hair and makeup and wardrobe teams come in and do touch-ups and everything to make sure everything’s right… [Laughs wildly]
RYAN: [The co-star] shut the door to the set, and said, “She’s fine. LET’S GO.” Wouldn’t let them in. Just stupid, stupid stuff like that.
TYLER: And by the way, out of their job description.
RYAN: Exactly. Let people do their jobs.
TYLER: Not your call!
RYAN: Right, things like that. Another time, I don’t even think it was the same day, but a different scene with that person on the same set — we do their side first, and then it’s my coverage on close-up for this really intense scene. The literally sat off-camera picking their nails, thumbing through a book, and just haphazardly saying their lines off camera without even making eye contact.
[Via Trekcore.com]
What do you think of the Mulgrew-Ryan feud? Did you think Mulgrew was right about Seven?
Related Posts:
5 Horrifying Facts About Seven of Nine’s Costume
See Who Almost Played Star Trek: Voyager’s Janeway
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="33868 ">3 Comments
Yeah, sounds petty to me too. She sounds nice in the interview. I couldn't imagine that much stress at work.
Although ironically it gave the necessary edge to the scenes they shared in-character. Sounds like Mulgrew had a case of the Shatners. But the best episode of this particular version of Janeway didn't involve Seven at all, but The Doctor, "Latent Image," in which we learn how ambivalent she really is to his rights, a marked contrast from Picard defending Data's life in "The Measure of a Man." That closing scene is one for the ages.
"It's really petty…", "This all sounds really petty to me." — to hell with all of you unoriginal thought peopless! All you can do is repeat words and act like you know anything. Seems like Jeri might be bitching about this a bit too much. Put yourselves and Mulgrew shoes, or better yet – find out what Kate says about all this. Jeri had to start dating that manchild Braga to sort things out, cuz she couldn't find it within herself to do it. This all sounds like a big baby Jeri crying about things she couldn't handle back then.