Nichols Reflects on Great Bird and 'Gods'

Nichelle Nichols is happy to be returning to the role of Uhura in the fan-produced Star Trek: Of Gods And Men, though she says she can't guess exactly what Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry would say about the series.

"He was a very particular man, and very particular about the image of Star Trek and how it would have been portrayed," Nichols told Starburst (via Sci Fi Pulse). She does believe that however he felt about the character development, however, he would have enjoyed the fact that fans continued to produce Star Trek after the studio cancelled the most recent professional spinoff.

"I think he is sitting [up] there laughing his head off going, 'Right on, kids, right on', that writers and producers and people who loved it are carrying on in the tradition that he created the original," added Nichols, who was pleased to learn that in Of Gods and Men, Uhura has become a central character. "I liked the script and what [producer Sky Conway] was doing," she noted, explaining that she has worked with Conway on events he has put together for Star Trek fans.

"Uhura being married to a Vulcan and she is living on that planet," the actress revealed. "She has long retired, but not really." Though Uhura is working with Spock, neither he nor the Federation are as fans have come to expect, and Uhura is the only person who seems aware that something is amiss. "We are battling the Federation that has gone bad...we're the tough guys now, we're the rulers of the universe."

"As things unfold, she is the one who pulls things together," continued Nichols. "When she comes upon Chekov...she knows that she knows him, but he says that he’s somebody else. It was a challenge of great proportions, and it could be confusing if you don’t understand what happened to cause all this."

The complete interview with Nichols is in the new issue of Starburst. Thanks to Sci Fi Pulse for the excerpts.

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