Star Trek fans were already interested when it was revealed the franchise would be skewing towards a younger audience with its upcoming animated series Prodigy, and the Paramount+ series only got more exciting when we found out that a major star from the past would appear in it. Actress Kate Mulgrew will reprise her role as Captain Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager, a bit of news that may have surprised a good number of fans.
Audiences have wanted Kate Mulgrew to return to Star Trek for some time, but the actress had shot down past questions on whether she'd do anything similar to what Patrick Stewart did with Jean-Luc Picard. Now, Mulgrew has revealed to CBR how she got involved with Star Trek: Prodigy and what ultimately swayed her into bringing Janeway to a new generation.
She's always present in my life. Not a day goes by where I don't have some reminder or request about Janeway or something to do with the future of Janeway. And when [executive producer] Alex Kurtzman approached me -- when I was doing Mr. Mercedes, that's when he called me -- I was curious about it; slightly bewildered about it being an animated series, I didn't quite understand. It was explained to me in detail and I thought to myself 'Wow, this will be terrific to bring this to young people who may be watching this with their mothers who watched me as Captain Janeway in live-action and it will bring the entire family into the orbit of Star Trek and this is something that I very much want to do.
Kate Mulgrew is really interested in the family element of Star Trek: Prodigy and how her returning as Janeway may bridge a fandom gap between children watching and their parents. Of course, it seems like it also took a good deal of conversation with the mastermind of modern Trek, Alex Kurtzman, who obviously may have revealed a few things that piqued her interest in returning.
Exposing a new generation to Star Trek was one reason Kate Mulgrew liked the idea of returning to Janeway, but not the only one. The actress confessed there is another thing which made her want to do Star Trek: Prodigy, specifically, and it involves the process.
Also, I love to use my voice, I love the solitude of the recording booth; I love the freedom of it. Star Trek truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
Compared to what many other current Star Trek actors have to do when appearing in live-action, Kate Mulgrew seems to have gotten off easy. She'll get to appease the fans who have wanted more Janeway but also get to do it from the comfort of a sound booth. It should be exciting to see the character appear in Star Trek: Prodigy, and to find out what new developments there have been for Janeway.
Star Trek: Prodigy is set to arrive on Paramount+ in 2021 and will re-air on Nickelodeon sometime after release. Those looking for more stories related to Star Trek: Voyager are in luck, because we have quite a doozy about an actor from the show and the time he nearly killed Harrison Ford.
