Kansas City - January 17, 1993

What follows is a rough transcript of Gates McFadden at Trekon in Kansas City on 1-17-93. I have done my best to preserve the flavor of her speech and demeanor, but in some cases I simply had to paraphrase what she said in order for it to make sense. I typed a lot of this on my powerbook on the way home in the car, and was only able to do a marginal job proofreading it. I was afraid if I did not submit it soon, I would never get it done.

I will mention two things that do no appear in this transcript. First, she is incredibly good looking in person. Her makeup and clothing on the show do not do here justice. Second, she emphasized the children in the audience, so some of the questions may seem quite silly. I have tried to leave out the questions like "Do you think the Enterprise will come back to Deep Space Nine" to which she had not even a witty answer.

Before she came on stage, there was some rumor passing with the host about some things Gates had said on 1-16. One of these was the fact that Brent Spiner is currently dating Terry Farrell (probably old news).

She started with some small talk comments about the weather, and how "wild" the people in the audience were. Surprisingly, she showed up in a leather jacket with black sunglasses (inside), high-heeled black boots and jeans. Her costumes and makeup do not do her justice.

1. Q. Do you anticipate any intimate relationships with Jean-Luc?

A. Who? (laugh) Oh, you mean Jean-Luc (sultry voice). Well, we would love to do something like that, but it is not up to me.

2. Q. Is Stewart as gorgeous in person?

A. Now way (sarcasm). You mean the most bodacious man according to TV Guide? Yeah, we had to "knock him down a few pegs" after that. And now his Christmas Carol recording has been nominated for a Grammy. I can imagine if he wins...he will just be impossible. No really, of course he is, he is great. We just can't keep our hands off each other (sarcasm).

3. Q. Are we going to see Data get any emotion?

A. Well, I think we started to see Data get a beginning of emotion. It would really ruin the character if he suddenly had emotions. But hey - this is Hollywood. All things are possible on TV.

4. Q. Why don't you have an action figure?

A. I think we need a few letters. They have told me that they are going to make one. "Oh it's in the works" they say, "here are the pictures." I keep saying "Well what are you going to wait for, the Christmas that I am dead to bring it out?" I think we also need like real action (goes through Karate moves and other action poses).

5. Q. Would you like to see Captain Picard wear a wig?

A. Honey, I have seen him wear many of my wigs. Actually I wouldn't. Actually though, he did in one [episode], that one where we went back in time. Uh, I think he is sexier bald.

6. Q. Are you planning to do any more tapes?

A. Yes, I just finished up a new Carmen Carter(?) book up this week. It is great.

7. Q. Are there any other roles you would like to play?

A. Yes, many. I would love to do some Shakespeare heroines, Hedda Gabler, some more comedy. Uh, all of the roles Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino have done. (laugh). Yeah, there is a lot that I have not done that I would like to do. Uh, we could start with just getting a Bev episode this season, however.

8. Q. When did you start acting and/or dancing?

A. I began acting, er, performing as it were, as a young child. I started dancing school when I was about 2.5-3 years old. We would have a little recital. I took that very seriously. I would do that for hours every day after school. When I was eight I started taking acting lessons with the local theater, the Coachhouse Theater. I played a couple of parts. I never got the lead parts or supporting roles, but I got the comic supporting roles. It's ok if you don't get the lead gal roles, so long as you get the comedy roles. That's really what happened for me. I got a lot of those roles and did a lot of things, majored in [acting] in school, and there you are...I am still looking for a job (laugh).

9. Q. Any information on Wil....(pauses to clarify) Wheaton.

A. I know which Wil you meant.(laugh). No. Nothing concrete other than Christmas Greetings. He probably is working on something, which is probably why he is not doing an episode, although once you leave the show it is not a given fact that you will be back all the time. But who knows, we may seem him on Deep Space Nine, because as we all know we needed him to save our ship, and they may need him to save theirs. Well, let's face it, the guy is a genius. Everyone should listen to him and we would have five minute episodes.

10. Q. What would you like to see Beverly do?

A. I would like to see her used more, I don't think her character has been as well rounded as I would like. I feel she has lot a lot of the relationship she had with Picard, standing up to him as well, not just the romantic relationship. I think that she is someone who has a very high rank, and you sort of lose that. I feel that she has become completely the nurturing character, which I know was meant to be there when I spoke to Gene about the character way back when. He said she was a mother and that was really unusual and I thought that was a superb choice. But she was also meant to have humor. I had been given the choice of all three women parts in terms of auditioning, and the scene that they gave me for Crusher was - I could only do one of them because I had a plane to catch - the scene from Naked Now where I am sort of coming on to the Captain. I said "Ah, God I want to do this one. I like this sort of character," because I thought it was always going to be like that. But at any rate, I would like to see more humor, and I would like to be involved in more command decisions - where it is not just the male characters that are involved in the action. It seems to me that anyone who is up there on that kind of ship or anyone who is up on the bridge time after time would have to be able to serve in combat things. I finally got to do some physical stuff in the other episode where I went down the side of the mountain. And the director [for that episode] is a really cool guy, he is an ex-dancer, he actually showed me his tape when he was on the Ed Sullivan Show - Bob Scheer(?), and he said "You are going to be the only one who gets to do the actual punting," so I actually did get to do the actual scaling of the wall. The guys had stunt doubles. He said "I want a woman to do it."

11. Q. Did you ever get tired of the "Wil-Wheaton-saves-the-day-type" shows?

A. No, being his mother, I never got tired of it.

12. Q. Any chance of you directing a show?

A. Well, I had asked since first season since I had done some theater directing and choreography. In all of our six years we have only had one woman director on our show and that is pretty unusual. Most shows now have many women directors. L.A. Law has an enormous amount of women directors. The show I did, Dream On, is predominantly women directors. So it is very unusual that there has only been one woman director. So far I have not succeeded in getting there. I would like to, be we'll see. Life is not always fair.

13. Q. Do your contracts expire at the end of this season?

A. Yes, they will expire when we finish this season. When you sign for a television show, at least our contract was for six years, then they have to re-negotiate. They were testing the waters a year ago, they gave us all this form letter kinda thing that named different prices and wanted us to sign up for the next, possibly 10 years because they were talking about four movies and they also wanted to name the prices. That was something people weren't reacting terribly well to, because most people do not know what their life is going to be like in six months, much less ten years. Especially with things like Iraq. Check that out, it is really awful. We are back at war practically.

14. Q. Do you have a favorite episode?

A. I don't have one, really. Naked Now was a fun one to do. It was fun to do. If you are a real sci-fi person it may not be that fun. All of the comic stuff - Data's Day I enjoyed doing because I got to be more inventive. I think Ethics [later we find she meant The Host, and not Ethics] was a real interesting one. It was also very interesting because I was hugely pregnant. It was right before I gave birth, and that was like the first love episode I ever had. You really should check that one out for the way they shot it so you could not tell how huge I was. Because I was BIG. Trust me. There were a lot of scenes of me behind furniture. A lot of close-ups of me in big, big lab coats. I actually got some hate mail on that episode. We apparently have some Neo-nazi's around. None of them signed their name and address to their letters - I would have sent them an autographed picture.

15. Q. What about a Next Generation movie?

A. Yes, they had people writing test scripts for a while, but nothing that they have said "This is the script, we would like to begin it. Here is what your role is." I know that they are thinking ahead in that sort of way, but it does take a long time to get that sort of project together. I think they want to know who is going to be signed for the seventh season, how much they are going to have to pay, what's happening with Deep Space Nine, all of that. Do they need us around to help Deep Space, or are they just sort of cutting us loose or what.

16. Q. We have been hearing some rumors about a two-part episode later in the season with Worf's father.

A. We just finished filming that. It should be really good.

17. Q. Does it have any cross-over with Deep Space Nine?

A. Not that I know of.

18. Q. One of the rumors we have been hearing as far as the motion picture goes is the crossover between the two shows.

A. We've been hearing those too lately, so that might happen. All it takes is a few time warps and a few transporter glitches...and a lot of money. And I would say that the money is probably going to be the key factor, because you can always come up with good scripts. They might do that and they might not. I know that there are other people who would like to be on the show from the original cast. It was really fun having Jimmy Doohan around. I would love to work with DeForest Kelley, who is such a great guy, as is Jimmy. He really was charming.

19. Q. Did you ever help design any of the props you use in the show?

A. Yes I have. I have been consulted and "asked for input." There were somethings that were difficult to work with. I always felt it was kinda weird being on the away team and having this medical kit that if I happen to lose my grip the whole kit would fall out on the planet. So I did have some input in the design of the new one, thought it did not happen the way I had envisioned. The props are very expensive. I am usually given tremendous choice in what instrument I want to use where, like it was my choice to do the hypo-spray in the neck. I thought "Where do I least want to get a shot in my life," and that was it.

20. Q. Did you like making [the love scenes in] The Host?

A. Oh, yes, it was fun kissing Jonathan. It was really fun. I thought it brought up some interesting points.

21. Q. What were you doing while Dr. Pulaski was replacing your part?

A. REPLACING me? You mean TRYING to replace me? I was in New York City, doing a play, playing an Australian. I also did The Hunt for Red October, which then got cut. I taught at New York University, a third-year graduate seminar.

22. Q. What did they cut out of Red October?

A. (Eyes closed, arms around an invisible person, she makes heavy-duty smooching sounds).

23. Q. Do you have any children?

A. YES! I have the greatest little boy. He's fabulous. I would love to have a little girl someday. I think children are great. He's the greatest thing in our lives. His name is James Cleveland McFadden Talbert(?), we call him Jack. Don't ask why. We don't know. There is no reason. Nobody can figure it out. The kid is probably going to call himself Randolph or something. He's 19 months old. He's growing up so fast. He's talking, we had a phone talk today.

24. Q. Have you ever judged any dance competitions?

A. I can't remember. I don't think so.

25. Q. I heard a rumor that Deep Space Nine is going to take over TNG (and then the TNG people will make movies).

A. Well, that makes it sound like they are going to beam onto the ship and say "All right, out!" Actually, that would be a hot episode. That could be the movie. They all get a virus. I want to submit that as an idea... I think the transition to movies is going to boil down to economics. TNG is an expensive show to do.

(Begins a bit of a digression)

I could not believe I turned on the TV to watch the Iraq situation and there is Colm Meaney [she pronounced it "Kolum", which was new to me] on the QVC Shopping Channel. I wanted to call up. I was going to ask him how much he would sell a lock of his hair for, or like the shoes he was wearing, and how much would they cost. Colm is a great guy. He has got so many other films to do.

26. Q. Would you like to do some other movies in the near future?

A. I would love to do some movies in the near future. Do you have a script for me? Actually, I got a movie this year. And the producers, Paramount, was/were terrific. They have been great about letting me off to do other things. They let me off and it was all set and then the movie company changed the shooting date, and Paramount could not accommodate that because the was [during an] episode I was heavy in. So I lost the movie, so it was disappointing. I ended up getting Dream On later. What movie? It was the one about the boy who gets kidnapped - the taking of Gary Feldman(?), was I think the title, though they could change titles. Taking Care of Business was called "Filofax" when I shot it.

27. Q. [Some question about Taking Care of Business and John de Lancie]

A. That was very funny, because I did not know John was in the movie as my underling, until the first day of shooting. We had a great time, we are good friends. He's got a terrific family, a terrific little boy, he is a great family man. He's planning on being on the QVC show too, I hear (unsure if this was a joke).

If I go on there ever, the only way I could do it is to be wild. I think I would say things like "I WANT 20 OF THOSE PLATES, HERE IS MY CASH!" It's so weird. You are sitting in that chair talking about something serious and then you segue into the merchandise. It's like a riot to me. I mean it they are wonder things [for sale], but it is so bizarre. You say things like "Why yes, I think theater is wonderful, which reminds me of the metal in this pin..." If I ever do it, please don't make me eat crow.

28. Q. Have you seen the commercial with DeForest Kelley and Trivial Pursuit?

A. No. To be honest, I have not turned on a TV for most of recent time except for this weekend. I was in Europe for three weeks, then I was shooting before, and when you have a 19-month-old son and you work, you don't watch TV. We read books together and things like that. It is not like I think there are not great things on TV, because there are. I am sure that when I am unemployed, I will be watching lots of it.

29. Q. What was the most difficult episode for you to play in?

A. (A suggestion from the audience: Remember Me?) Well, Remember Me was difficult because I had very little time for me to learn the script, and it was only me shooting for a whole day. So that was hard for that kind of a reason, timewise. Some of the things that are more difficult are when I have operations and I have a lot of props and complicated sets. There are a couple that I can think of. The operation in Ethics was kinda difficult, because there are a lot of people in the room and it is shot in a very strange way. I think making up and operation with props and operations that do no exist today is very difficult. I make up most of the "business" on the way. That is what we call it - your "business." In a theater production you can have a week to work on props. LeVar and I have the props. He and I do the prop acting on our show. There is a lot of pressure on you and you use a lot of technical language. So it is very hard to actually play the scene sometimes.

30. Q. What are your feelings on Deep Space Nine?

A. All I have are positive things to say about it, unless it starts to affect us in a bad way. Yes it is true that the energy is very much "over there." I like all of the people I have met in the show, I think they are great. I did not get to watch the pilot. I was in Europe. I have a tape that is being sent over to my house and I am very anxious to watch it. So I cannot really tell you anything about those feelings. I think it makes a lot of sense that they wanted to have a spinoff series. If I were a producer, I would probably want to do the same thing.

31. Q. Just a comment: Gates McFadden is better looking than Beverly Crusher (and I agree wholeheartedly). And I wish they would allow Crusher to have more of G. McFadden in her character.

A. That's very funny, because that has been something that I have felt very often - being straightjacketed into. They say "Go ahead and make it more yourself," but the minute any behavior's really tried, it's like no hair can be out of place, you know (I didn't). It's hard without behavior, and you have to have lines of irony written in and I try to do that. Certainly with the tap-dancing thing I tried to get some of that in. It's just always told to me that Crusher is a mother and this is the way it is, and I always say "Wait a minute, Jane Seymour is a mother, and she is beautiful." I wish that the character could occasionally loosen up outside of the operating room. There are wonderful things about the character that I have tried to develop, and I can just hope that that part comes across. The humanism I like. Health care is very difficult. Having been in a hospital myself, in an emergency room after a skiing accident with the tubes being stuck up you and you think you are going to die and you are in horrible pain somebody who treats you nicely and compassionately makes all the difference. I have at least tried to make her do that - to be somebody that puts a hand on the patient. I tried to get away from just doing a hypo-spray, because for a while that first season it just seemed like we were just doing drugs [as remedies]. I had modeled my character after Dr. Oliver Sachs(?) the man who wrote Awakenings, he's written a lot of books. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I had read all of his books that had been published up to that point. I brought all of his material into the producer's office the first day. I said "This is the guy, he is a neurologist, he's a humanist, he's funny." I even showed them Awakenings and said this would be a really cool episode to take some of his stuff.

32. Q. Was it hard to do Cause And Effect?

A. Yes, that is another one. I was hard to do that, because the lines would be just slightly different, and you shoot all of those four scenes, one after another. We were wild by the time that poker game was done. The crew was like "What is with this cast?" we were like completely wild. There was a lot of pressure on that one, because it was a hand-held camera by the last time(?). I loved doing that episode. Jonathan is a great guy, and a great director. He is my favorite director, and I think that is true of everyone. Even though that show was a challenge, it was fun. I looked forward to going to work every day.

33. Q. Do you know what the season finale of TNG will be? Will it be a two-hour one?

A. I don't know. I don't think they know yet. We're sort of just getting the script, just before we shoot. Jerry Taylor(?) is producing this year and she is terrific, but it is hard to get story lines and she was saying people think it is so easy to write scripts just based upon personalities, but you really have to have this morality tale, and it is very hard to find that.

34. Q. What do you think of Klingons? (asked by a very small child)

A. I think they are very, very.....sweet and gently. I think they are very sensitive beings, who are just misunderstood. They need care and attention.

35. Q. Would you rather do a feature series or movies?

A. I just want to do what is good quality. I think years ago I did not want to do television, because it was impossible to do films if you were doing television. I don't think that is true now. I know that my greatest love is theater - it probably always will be. I also know that there are a million other things that I would like to study and do in my life. I feel like it just turned out this way and acting is such and extraordinary profession and craft. I would also like to study painting more, and I would love to be able to write and would love to be able to draw houses and be an architect, I would love to be a poet. My grandmother was a poet. There are a million things. I think it is important to to some service in education. I absolutely know I am going to teach again. I miss teaching very much. It is something that gave me a great deal of satisfaction. I learned everyday. My students were so good, that they taught me every single day. I feel that education is in such sad condition in our country, we really need to turn our attention to that and health care. I know being a person who is paid better than the average person, that my tax rate is going to go up. That's the way it has to be. So be it. In three years I may not be making a lot of money, but I still have to be committed to that. Because I have seen what can happen when children are given the love and attention and are excited about learning. They don't have to have high SAT scores. If they are excited about learning, they will do well in the world. And that is important and it has to come first from the home. It has to come first from the parents. (Applause) Since I am a parent now, it is amazing how much I worry about protecting my son from this and that. But children are such remarkable beings. So that is something I know I want to do again.

36. Q. Do you know why O'Brien was switched over to Deep Space Nine?

A. Yeah. Because he is a very good actor, it was a good character, and the producers said "Who could we get that is a good character coming from the other show who could give that weight to the new series?" and they said "O'Brien" and his family. And they were able to pay him what he wanted. I think it is because they wanted to bring some tie in to the new show. They did not want them all to be completely new characters. They thought that if there were a few familiar faces that people would tune in. He was not used enough on our show. He is such a good actor, and it was frustrating.

37. Q. Do you have any real medical training?

A. Yes. I am a brain surgeon on weekends. Nope. I got my red cross training and some girl scout stuff. I learned the basics - throwing the person in the water and pulling them back out. I would have LIKED to have had some medical training.

38. Q. Who's idea was it to get Data to tap dance?

A. Well, it was sorta my idea. I came up with the idea of getting some dance into the show. I told them "I can do all of these things, dance, walk a tightrope, etc." and I am just standing there all the time in my lab coat.

39. Q. Did Brent Spiner do his own tap dancing?

A. He did some of it. The other guy that did the rest is one of the best tap dancers in the U.S. His name is Chance and he is in the movie Tap. He is rather good. I guess they had to get the best to beat me. (laugh)

40. Q. Have some of you guys ever played practical jokes on each other?

A. Not really. Brent's trailer is right across from mine, so we play practical jokes across to each other, but nothing that is like - well, repeatable here. (laugh). Here is one anecdote that I wanted to mention - there was a serious moment on the bridge and they were rehearsing. They were talking to and alien, and everyone was on the bridge except Crusher and I had just arrived. My boy and I have a little accordion that I like to play with. So Picard says "And SPEAK .......[to the alien]" and started playing the accordion and no one knew where it was coming from. But that is just kinda idiocy. (Tells a LONG story about a dress for a large gala that she had that would not close in the front, that Brent and Jonathan had to sew her up in a hotel room. It would probably take 5 pages to describe. Sorry.

41. Q. If you had a chance to become a different character on Trek, which one would it be?

A. Hmm. I guess the computer. Less hair and makeup. It would be fun to be all of them for a day.

42. Q. Is it true that Brent Spiner is your child's godfather?

A. Yes.

43. Q. Why? (laughter)

A. Well, we gave him a profile check. He seemed ok. All Spiner said was "I don't want to have to send him through college."

44. Q. What's going on with Denise Crosby?

A. She is supposed to be on a new series of something on Fox(?).

45. Q. Why did you kill Tasha Yar?

A. Where were you, in the refrigerator when that episode was on? I didn't kill her. It was that blob, that thing. Honestly. I did my best to save her. Besides, I couldn't have done that good of a job killing her because she seems to have come back on a few other episodes. (She then got a several "group" photographs with all of the children in the audience at her request).

She said she likes to autograph almost anything people send her. She said she won't sign her Gates McFadden bio card, but she will sign all the other ones(?).

She will also send a picture, but you need to send a SASE.

She always likes to hear from people, and she likes to hear about the people who write to her.

Rob Dewhirst

(dewhirst@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu)