INTERVIEW: Nana Visitor looks back after 25 years of ‘DS9’

Because the many iterations of Star Trek continue to live on in reruns for fans to enjoy, it’s sometimes hard to believe how much time has passed since the episodes originally aired on television. Case in point: This year, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine celebrates 25 years.

To mark the special occasion, many of the key cast members are heading to Las Vegas for Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek Convention. The party runs from Wednesday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 5, with many of the DS9 actors and creatives taking the stage, signing autographs and posing for photos on Sunday.

DS9 is one of the most beloved series in the Star Trek canon, and among its many characters, colonel-turned-commander Kira Nerys is at the top of most people’s lists. The memorable role was brought to life by accomplished actor Nana Visitor, and her portrayal is still remembered for its strength and fortitude.

Visitor will be on hand at Creation’s big event, and she’ll take part in a special panel celebrating DS9’s beloved episode “Far Beyond the Stars,” set for Sunday at 5 p.m.

“Don’t forget, they come to see me, but they also come to see friends,” Visitor said in a recent phone interview. “I just got a text from one that said, ‘I’m on my way. I’ll be seeing you Saturday. Are we going to get together for lunch or dinner or what?’ These are long-term relationships I have with fans and my castmates, so it’s like belonging to this incredibly cool worldwide club. And I go into these cities, and I know people right away.”

This year, because of the special anniversary and a new DS9 documentary called What We Left Behind, Visitor believes it will be an even more memorable time in Vegas. “It is important, and I wish all of us were going to be able to be there,” she said of her fellow cast members. “It does feel really special. When I think of it, I can’t imagine 25 years ago going, ‘I’ll be doing these conventions in 25 years.’ I would have been like, ‘What? That can’t possibly be right.’ It’s an important anniversary.”

As far as her fellow castmates, there will be many in attendance in Vegas, including Cirroc Lofton, Jeffrey Combs, Aron Eisenberg, JG Hertzler, Terry Farrell, Marc Alaimo, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimeran, Colm Meaney, Hana Hatae, James Darren, Nicole de Boer, Chase Masterson and many more. Executive producer Ira Steven Behr, the creative force behind the new DS9 documentary, will also stop by.

“We’re very tight,” Visitor said of her TV family. “I take acting classes with Terry once a week. I talk to Rene on a regular basis. Of course, [Alexander] Siddig. Armin, we see for dinner. We remain close friends. … We knew what we were doing was risky and maybe not working as well as everyone might hope, but I remember Armin. I remember sitting in our chairs, watching a setup happen and Armin saying, ‘Just you watch. In 20 years, they’re going to get what we’re doing here.’”

The seven years that DS9 ran on television offered Visitor a lot of material to sink her acting teeth into. Whether it was the multi-episode arc of the Dominion War or her militaristic upbringing on Bajor during a difficult occupation, Kira and her many stories fascinated audience members throughout the 1990s — and continue to do so today.

“The whole seven years gave me a lot to work with,” the actor said. “Certainly when we meet her, she’s suffering. Even though the term wasn’t common then, or even a term, she had post-traumatic stress, and in the seven years, we see her recover and flourish and become a part of the team and part of an emotional village.”

When Visitor first read the role during the audition process, she thought the writers of the series had made a mistake. Remember, this followed after Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, which broke barriers for many people, but the television landscape was still restrictive, especially for women.

“I’ll tell you honestly, I thought it was a mistake that it was sent to me and that it was a man’s character,” she said. “Even though it was a name that ended with an ‘a,’ I thought, oh, this is for a man. They made a mistake because really back in the day, I was either a wife, or a girlfriend, a victim, or a bad girl or a good girl. I wasn’t fully realized as a human.”

Kira stuck out because of the cookie-cutter roles women were offered at the time.

Visitor, for example, doesn’t have the fondest memories of every acting gig she has been a part of. Here’s one that stands in stark contrast to her power and strength as Kira: “I remember I did a guest star on Downtown — it was a series called Downtown — when it really hit me. I was in 5-inch heels and a tight skirt, and I had been kidnapped. And I had ropes tying my hands and my legs, but I still had my high heels on. I went, ‘This is violence as pornography. It’s pornographic violence. It’s disgusting. I will never do violence and look pretty as I’m doing it again.’ And that was really, really common back in the day. That didn’t happen on Star Trek. When it was violent, it wasn’t pretty.”

Because of Visitor’s portrayal, which continued Star Trek’s evolution and breaking of barriers, Kira was not only a household name but also a role model for many — women and men, young and old.

“She represented a lot of different things for a lot of different people,” Visitor said. “For some people, it was OK to be angry. For some, it was OK to be different. For others, it was ‘you can survive.’ I’ll never forget one of the first conventions I went to, a very old woman just silently came up to me and pulled up her sleeve, and on her arm, there were tattoo numbers. She was a Holocaust survivor, and she grabbed my hand and let me know that Kira meant something to her because of that. That’s unbelievably powerful.”

To that end, Visitor has promoted inclusiveness professionally and personally. She is a frequent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, appearing at events hosted by Gaaays in Spaaace and talking about important issues at conventions and with her fans. For her, inclusiveness is at the heart of Star Trek.

“I think Star Trek is a vision of where we’re going, sometimes where we are right now,” she said. “I can’t imagine anything more important than being inclusive, especially for Star Trek, and I’m so glad that that’s happening and that that’s a movement. And don’t forget, I grew up in New York City doing Broadway, and all my friends were in the dance world. And they were gay, straight, whatever they wanted to be, didn’t matter. We shared a love of dance and theater, and here we share a love of Star Trek and a positive future. And also with Deep Space Nine, we share a vision of being accepting that we’re not where we want to be, but we’re still going forward to try to get to something better.”

She added: “I just posted on Twitter a graffiti in L.A. that says, ‘Love Me Anyways,’ and I think that’s what we all want, just acceptance.”

Her dance background is an important part of Visitor’s résumé and life. She has acted and danced on Broadway, and continues the art form to this day. In fact, recently she and fellow Star Trek actor Gates McFadden (Star Trek: The Next Generation) performed a soft shoe routine in Fort Lauderale, Florida.

“It was so much fun,” Visitor said of hanging out with McFadden. “That it took us all these years to go, ‘Hey, we both dance. Let’s do this,’ is kind of ridiculous.”

One of Visitor’s favorite stage roles was her turn as Roxie Hart in Chicago. She performed the memorable role on Broadway and on tour. It was a full-circle moment for the dancer because she had seen the original version, which was choreographed by Bob Fosse.

“I saw the original one that Bob Fosse did, which actually was way more intricate, and complicated and actually not as powerful as the stripped-down version that Ann Reinking finally choreographed, and I had seen the show in L.A.,” she said. “It was a dream to do that role, an absolute dream. Gwen Verdon, the original, used to be in my mother’s dance class, and I used to dance behind her as a little girl. Of course, as a young dancer, I idolized Gwen Verdon. There was no one better, and to do the role that she originated on Broadway, it was huge for me.”

All of these memories and stories will likely be shared with fans at Creation’s Las Vegas convention. Visitor seems to relish the chance to talk with Trekkers and Trekkies, always respecting their admiration with a show of gratitude. Of course, when meeting the devotees, more than a few will share personal stories of how the character of Kira impacted them so greatly.

“It’s very humbling, and what’s funny is at the time of filming, it was humbling because she wasn’t understood or liked,” she said. “And I went, I’ve got to put my head down and do what I think with this role anyway. I can’t pander and try to make her sweeter or more likable or any of the things that women were expected to do at that time on television. I really felt a need, especially after I went to some of the earlier conventions, I felt a need to stay true to what I was trying to be and to the people that that character represented.”

Now in 2018, amidst an age of TV reboots and rumors circulating about future Star Trek projects beyond the current Star Trek: Discovery, Visitor had a surprising answer on whether or not she would be open to a DS9 revival. Perhaps there is hope to see the space station again.

“I told Ira Steven Behr, ‘Any time, anywhere.’ If our writers were behind it, I’d say, ‘Don’t send me the script. I’ll show up for the first day.’ I have complete faith in what they would do,” Visitor said. “And Kira, the thing is I wouldn’t be going back to a character that was 25 years old. I’d be going to a character that was 25 years advanced, so it’s all new fodder and all new interests as far as I’m concerned. … What I love as an actor is guerrilla acting, and what I mean by that is it’s not easy. It’s not pretty. It’s fast and furious, and you have to be at the top of your game to keep up. It’s really challenging, and that’s my favorite kind of acting. So Star Trek was my favorite kind of project.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Nana Visitor and more than 130 Star Trek guests will be in attendance at Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas. Events at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino run from Wednesday, Aug. 1 to Sunday, Aug. 5. Click here for more information.