Developing T'Pol Was Fun, Blalock Says

Fun isn't a word you would normally associate with Vulcans, but actress Jolene Blalock has been having a ball getting a handle on the character of T'Pol.

"She's been a lot of fun to develop," Blalock told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena (via StarTrek.com). "She's been constantly changing. The thing that I love - and this has to do with the writers and namely Brannon Braga - each episode has had an arc, where she begins somewhere and ends somewhere else. And I love that. So it always gives her a place to go and a place to experience change."

The actress would be interested in exploring T'Pol's past experiences in the series, but doesn't want that to stall the character's growth. "The backstory exists whether it's addressed or not - the backstory I've created myself, along with what's been established. In my opinion, I think the story should always go forward. It can always touch on what's been, it can always flashback to what's been, but I think the story should continue to go forward. But as far as backstory, it does exist and affects everything that goes forward."

But how does Blalock feel about being the party pooper all the time? "I think it's a love-hate relationship with me," she said. "I think everybody is beginning to become a little more comfortable with me and my presence. And I think, what started to happen is it started to get really predictable. Of course I'm going to pipe up. Of course I'm going to suck the air out of the situation and say, 'Oh, I'm sorry. There's protocol to follow.' But they've started to mix it up a bit so it's not so predictable. So she's going indirectly to get her way rather than so directly. Because obviously she found out that it doesn't work, that he's [Archer] not going to listen anyway."

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the series for Blalock is watching the characters bonding with one another. "I see relationships between each character forming, and yet, I'm still the odd one out," she said. "But yet, there's building. There's a beginning of that loyalty that was in the original Star Trek between Bones and Kirk and Spock. And that's one thing that I love that they're doing is that they're not coming in with that loyalty. They're showing that loyalty progress and how that came to be."

The full transcript of Blalock's appearance at the press event, during which the actress also talked about watching 'Broken Bow' for the first time and the theme song, can be found here at StarTrek.com.

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