Masterson Does Orion Slave Dance

Chase Masterson (Leeta) spoke about her work since Deep Space Nine went off the air and her role in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, though she said that her work for charity is closest to her heart.

"I was, as all recurring characters were, just thankful to keep getting to play," Masterson told Associated Content. "We never knew how many more there would be or wouldn't be. That's part of the joy that they kept us on for so long. Having the story line of getting with Rom was so much fun."

When Leeta and Rom got married, she added, producer Ira Behr "told me that he thought Leeta and Rom would be the only truly happy married couple on television" so part of the fun for her was "finding things I absolutely craved about my husband Rom. Things that threw me smack in the middle of the throes of love with him again. Thankfully, the writers made that easy."

Masterson recently appeared in and produced the film Yesterday Was A Lie, in which she plays a singer. She said that her dance background "has been invaluable" with confidence and that she approached Leeta visually, as someone whose movements were snakelike, because "she didn't want to give more information away than necessary...that's just one of those things from a Bajoran's childhood that doesn't go away." She plays an Orion Slave Girl in Of Gods and Men, which also allowed her to use her dance background and said that apart from the makeup woes, she was delighted with the role.

As for Yesterday Was A Lie, Masterson called it "one of the best scripts I've ever read" and said that the movie "deals with theories of quantum physics explored in the 1930's and 40's by Feynman, Wheeler, and Schroedinger, as well as other experiments...it raises questions about the nature of reality and time. So it has elements of sci fi, which might also be sci fact, as we're beginning to understand." But it appealed to her because "it also contemplates the issue of social responsibility, which is a core issue of mine, and one, which a lot of people don't ever address."

Masterson is working on a CD that includes some of the songs from Yesterday Was A Lie and some Golden Era standards, a portion of whose proceeds will go to children's charities in Africa. She said she regretted having been born too late to sing or dance with Gene Kelly, but said that it had been a dream to sing with Jimmy Darren (Vic Fontaine) in Las Vegas.

Asked whether she believed it was a good idea to do a Star Trek prequel film, Masterson said, "the visual images and acting styles of the cast of TOS are definitely synonymous with the Trek legacy" and said she hoped that Paramount was committed to making a film that would "speak to faithful fans of the show, and not solely try to bring in a new audience. It'll be a huge challenge to satisfy both, but I hope it happens."

The full interview is here.

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!