Dawson - We're An Extraordinary Cast

Now that the Easter holidays are coming to an end, the Trek Galaxy has resumed its Voyager Retrospective with part six of a ten-segment report by Gregory L. Norris and Laura A. Van Vleet from behind the scenes of 'Renaissance Man'. This week the two return to their Voyager roots, speaking with the subject of their very first celebrity interview- Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres).

Like fellow cast member Ethan Phillips (Neelix), who the pair spoke to in the proceeding interview, Dawson says she finds the makeup the hardest aspect of her role to bear. "The makeup is the only thing I don't like about my job," she sighed. "It has not gotten easier over the seven years, and in fact it's become more difficult."

Aside from the sheer discomfort of two and a half hours of application time, not to mention the mever-ending touch ups, there are other hazards to be encountered with the prosthetics. "The damage to my skin is terrible," comments the actress who has had allergic reactions to different components of her makeup. "B'Elanna's prosthetics are really an awful thing to wear. In the seven years, it's definitely taken its toll on me. It's the only thing that I really do not like."

If that's the aspect of working on Voyager she dislikes most, what then are some of her favourite things about the job? The answer can be summed up in two words: the cast. "... we have an extraordinary cast," she says. "I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but I mean - extraordinary. I've done other series before. I can say with a matter of experience and authority that I feel that not only is this a cast of really good, decent people, but they're really good actors!"

"In the beginning" she continues, "we've all come to work with a great deal of respect for each other's work. I know we'll leave with that same respect, if not more. Another thing is, having directed, I love working with them as actors. I love that they give me their respect as a director, to listen to what I say, to take direction, to take it to the next step. I think whenever our cast has directed - Robbie McNeill has directed, Bob Picardo, Tim Russ, Robert Beltran - we as a cast treat them with a great deal of respect because we respect each other as artists. That's really rare. Not to be a pessimist, but it's highly unusual, and I probably won't find that again."

Having said that, does she have any further plans for working behind the camera rather than in front of it? "I hope so," she said. "It's something that's very, very important to me. It's something that I'd like to be part of my future, and it's something that I'm working towards."

For the rest of the interview with Dawson, where she talks about her favourite moments, her feelings on the science fiction genre and, of course, what prop she'd love to take from the set to decorate her living room with, click here and visit the Trek Galaxy for part six of their Voyager Retrospective.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!