INTERVIEW: Chase Masterson on how a $30 investment landed her a role on ‘Star Trek: DS9’
Photo: Chase Masterson’s character of Leeta was adapted for Star Trek: Online. Photo courtesy of Chase Masterson / Provided with permission.
Chase Masterson, a respected actor and singer, is determined to connect with her fans and give them comfort during these difficult days. Although convention appearances for fangirls and fanboys have been canceled or postponed in 2020, the folks at Creation Entertainment have developed a clever response to COVID-19: virtual experiences with some of their best-loved genre stars, including Masterson, perhaps best remembered as Leeta on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Masterson, who also founded the nonprofit Pop Culture Hero Coalition, has built an impressive career in front of the camera, acting in everything from the movies Yesterday Was a Lie and Manticore to the TV shows The Flash, Presidio Med and General Hospital. Her music career also includes a couple albums and live gigs, where audience members can hear her jazzy renditions of memorable standards.
Her years on DS9, acting alongside Armin Shimerman, Avery Brooks, Alexander Siddig, Nana Visitor and others, were cherished by Trekkers and Trekkies. Her character of Leeta was a Bajoran Dabo woman who went through quite an arc over several seasons, ultimately ending up married to Rom (Max Grodénchik).
Masterson will answer questions about her time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the rest of her career at two special Creation virtual experiences. The first event, which is “pay what you can,” is a Q&A panel scheduled for Saturday, May 9 at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EST). The second one is an exclusive meet and greet open to the winners of an online auction. Both are run through the StageIt platform. Click here for more information.
Some topics of conversation will undoubtedly include Masterson’s nonprofit, Pop Culture Hero Coalition, which uses the “universal appeal of comics, film and TV to create anti-bullying programs at pop culture events, and in schools and communities,” according to its official website. Also, she has a couple new film projects in the works: Manipulated, in which Masterson plays the highly ambitious ringleader of a group of women on trial for murder, and Skipping Stones, which finds the actor playing an overprotective, broken mother.
Recently Masterson spoke with Hollywood Soapbox about her passion projects and career. Here’s Part I of that conversation (click here for Part II) …
On what fans can expect at the virtual Q&A session …
Masterson: “These virtual experiences are such a great thing right now, connecting fans in a way that we’ve never been able to connect before. Conventions are great, but they’re also limited to the people who are able to afford to show up to specific geographical areas at specific times. These panels are making it possible for fans all over the world to connect with us in personal ways, and we notice what fans shows up. It really matters. It helps build the community, and it keeps us connected during this crucial time.”
On whether she’s still surprised by fan questions at cons …
Masterson: “I am surprised. It’s so important to keep our experiences fresh in Star Trek because there’s been so much Star Trek for so long, and yet because of who the fans are, we are always encountering new questions, new ideas, new stories from them, which I love to hear. And these are Q&A’s, so I often say that my favorite experiences in Star Trek, including time on the show, including being in front of the camera, including watching it on television, my favorite moments in Star Trek are hearing fans’ stories of how the show affected them.
“When someone comes up and says, ‘I was a soldier during the Gulf War, and we would receive your show on VHS. And it mattered so much that when we would come back from a mission, the first thing we would do before taking a shower or eating would be to watch this new episode because it reminded us of what we were fighting for, what’s important, peace and family and nonviolent conflict.’ Those kinds of stories mean so much. They’re … stories, too, of people who find hope in Star Trek so much so that it brings them back from the brink of suicide, or it encourages them to get through hospitalization, surgery, illness. This show means so much to so many people, and we love hearing about that. So hopefully fans will show up for that Q&A.”
On how she came to the role of Leeta …
Masterson: “The role of Leeta was actually written for me, and what an honor that was. I had first auditioned for the Star Trek casting director at a paid-to-meet showcase. I was new in town, and I found out that there were these showcases where you could go meet people. And I didn’t know anybody, so I was excited about these $30-an-hour showcases. What a bargain, right? Yet, I was too poor being new in town to even afford the $30 many times over, so I asked the people at this showcase company if they would let me make phone calls to other actors, encouraging them to take showcases and let me take these showcases for free.
“One of the showcases I got was for Ron Surma for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He brought me in for another audition … and we went back and callbacks and callbacks, and finally got down to the final two. I was one of the final two, and they cast the other girl. I felt like, oh, so close and yet so far away because I really wanted to do this show because of all that Star Trek means. Then I got called in for the role of Leeta, and then I found out that they wrote the role for me. So that was $30 well spent and an incredible honor of a lifetime.”
On the impressive arc for Leeta throughout the series …
Masterson: “I loved what they did with Leeta, bringing her from a lonely Bajoran Dabo girl part of a race that had been oppressed and someone who was an immigrant … someone who was from a marginalized society and a Dabo girl who was usually just meant for fun. To go from that to date the handsome British doctor and then to fall in love with the guy who was only pretty on the inside, what an incredible Star Trek message that was. And to be part of the storylines where Leeta stood up for justice in the Ferengi union and who refused to have a pre-nup with the man she loved because she truly believed that their relationship was to be forever and who had so much integrity and honor about her.”
On working with the DS9 cast …
Masterson: “Armin was really lovely in that he would explain things to Max and I because neither of us had worked as much as Armin, and so there were little things that he would take us aside and say: ‘This is what’s happening, and this is what’s the director doing right now. And this type of lens is on the camera’ — just little things to take us under his wing. We also had rehearsal at Armin’s house because, as you know, television moves very quickly, and we didn’t get to rehearse much on the set. Mostly that’s just for blocking. Armin would gather the cast, and we would have table reads to familiarize ourselves with the script and each other. And it was a lot of fun.”
On the hours needed for makeup and wardrobe …
Masterson: “I was in prep for the show for three-and-a-half hours each day for hair and makeup and wardrobe, and that’s because beauty makeup takes a long time, more so than creature makeup. … I would generally get to Paramount first along with my hair stylist sometimes at 3:30 or 4 o’clock in the morning, and we would be the only ones on the Paramount lot with the moon still out and just the security guard and all of that incredible history and legacy that comes with being on that lot. It was very powerful.”
On whether she believes in Gene Roddenberry’s original vision for the series …
“I absolutely bought into it, and I still live my life around it. Roddenberry’s concept of infinite diversity in infinite combinations has shaped my life so powerfully. For that reason, I founded Pop Culture Hero Coalition in 2013, which uses stories from Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Avengers, Wonder Woman, Batman, all forms of pop culture to teach mental health skills and to end bullying and racism and misogyny and homophobia and hate in all its forms. …
“We have enlisted pop culture-fluent clinical psychologists who use these stories to create lessons plans that are used in schools to teach children inclusion and mental health, and when you really think about it, inclusion is based on mental health because it’s only people who have a lack of healthy identity that practice exclusion and hate of all kinds.
“Because the world has been in lockdown in the last five weeks we have adapted our work for children, teens and adults in isolation at home because so many people need to find a way to deal with issues that are prevalent in Star Trek — issues of fear and loneliness and depression and anxiety. So in this time we are reaching out to those people with free exercises for mental health that are extremely exciting, and they’re available for a free download on our website. So my long answer is, yes, I am solid with Roddenberry’s credos.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Chase Masterson will participate in a special Q&A virtual fan experience courtesy of Creation Entertainment Saturday, May 9 at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EST), plus a meet and greet limited to 10 people, scheduled for Thursday, May 14 at 4 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. EST). Click here for more information on these virtual experiences. Click here for more information on Chase Masterson. Click here for more information on Pop Culture Hero Coalition.
