Posted in: Star Trek, TV | Tagged: star trek

Star Trek: Nana Visitor on "Deep Space Nine," Kira Being a Trailblazer

Nana Visitor reflects on the trailblazing impact Kira had on the Star Trek Universe and her favorite "Deep Space Nine" moments.

Before Kate Mulgrew would set a precedent as Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, the franchise's first female executive officer cast member would be Nana Visitor as Major/Colonel Kira Nerys on its preceding series, Deep Space Nine. Just as every alumnus, current cast and crew member of Star Trek actively serves as ambassadors for the brand echoing creator Gene Roddenberry's futuristic vision of equality and unity among the cosmos, Visitor was tasked to write a book to celebrate the women of the franchise to embraced that torch in Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek featuring profiles and interviews from across every series from surviving cast and crew in the franchise's 59 year history since The Original Series on NBC. Visitor spoke to Screen Rant about the reception of her book and reflected on her time as Kira, paving the way for other women to become leaders in Star Trek.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Nana Visitor Reflects on Kira's Legacy

Visitor shared that Kira walked so that Janeway, Burnham, and others could run. "I'm so proud to think that we were shoulders that these young women could stand on. I love that. There's that story, and I say it in the book, of the butterflies," she said. "We used to think that the migration of butterflies was one generation going from Canada to Mexico, and we recently found out that's simply not true. There are many generations that stop in different places, until finally the last generation gets to its intended destination. And I feel like that is true for us. You know, we got a certain distance so that the next ones could get further."

As far as her favorite memories on DS9, "There were so many. There were times that I got to depict the nuance of life, the gray of life, anytime Kira was morally [challenged], ethics mattered so much to her. Anytime her ethics were possibly questionable, those were my favorite stories, because it's so human. I mean, Kira was such a human character taken out of any cultural need to be performative in a female way at all," Vistor said. "Unless she was back with her mother, and Dukat, and the pleasure women. That was a different story. And I look like a wet cat. I look at those things where I'm all dressed up sexy, and I look like a wet cat. And I go, 'Yeah, that was the right thing. That's what Kira would have felt.' It was just, 'This ain't right.' But the moral ambiguity, the questions, the failing, being given a chance to fix her mistakes, or see herself in a new light. Those were my favorite shows. I loved the show where I was pregnant and captured by a Cardassian and confronted with what I had done. Those were amazing shows. I also love the silly ones, like, where I got to be a ridiculous Russian spy."

For more on Visitor talking about interviewing Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green and Mulgrew, DS9 castmates Colm Meaney and Rene Auberjonois, her return voicing Kira on Lower Decks, her DS9 reunion pitch, and more, you can check out the complete interview. You can also check out our interview with Visitor here.

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