Kate Mulgrew on bringing the beauty of imagination to kids in Star Trek: Prodigy

Pictured: Art for Star Trek: Prodigy . Photo Cr: Nickelodeon/Paramount+ ©2021, All Rights Reserved.

OCTOBER 27, 2021 - In a roundtable interview to promote the release of Star Trek: Prodigy, returning veteran Kate Mulgrew shared her thoughts on her return as Kathryn Janeway, albeit in hologram form, in Star Trek’s first program for kids since the 1970’s. In the course of the conversation, as reported by CBR.com, Mulgrew called Prodigy “an entirely new way of looking at Star Trek,” and offered reflections on Hologram Janeway’s role as a mentor, calling it “an innate part of her character.”

Mulgrew was hopeful as she spoke to the opportunity inherent in doing a Star Trek show for children, an audience she feels has been overlooked by the franchise until now. “I love bringing this to this demographic, we missed the young people, kids,” said. “In doing so, we've missed the essence of Star Trek which is the beauty of the imagination, what it can, in fact, foster and develop. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this lands on their little ears and eyes.”

Hologram Janeway may be the adult on the bridge in Prodigy, but that doesn’t mean she won’t also have a character arc of growth and expansion, Mulgrew points out. She says the character may start the show “stripped of emotion,” but she is very hopeful that Prodigy will “get into the subtleties” of Janeway’s persona, much as Star Trek: Voyager did for its own holographic doctor.

You can read more of Mulgrew’s thoughts on the new show, as well as her larger career as a voice actor, at CBR.com, and you can meet Hologram Janeway yourself by watching Star Trek: Prodigy, streaming now on Paramount+.