TV Guide Transcript

Gates TV Guide Chat

November 30, 1998

Jen's note: I want to thank the Nanite for sending me this transcript! :o)

Star Trek: Insurrection's Gates McFadden,

November 30, 1998

TVGEN: Welcome! Tonight's chat is with Star Trek: Insurrection's Gates McFadden. She's also Star Trek: TNG's Dr. Beverly Crusher. Ms.McFadden, do you have any opening comments for your audience?

Gates McFadden: How was your Thanksgiving?

mikesay98: How were you cast as Dr. Beverly Crusher?

McFadden: I was out in L.A. for a movie, an audition for a movie, and I was on my way back to the airport to New York, where I was doing a play. I called my agent, and my agent said "Go see someone at Paramount, they're doing the new Star Trek series." I didn't really think I was interested, but my agent was a huge Trekker, and I had three hours before the plane. SoI went to the audition. I was the first person they saw for the female roles. They told me to pick any role I wanted. So I picked the role that I thought would be the funniest. And boy, was I wrong, but that was Dr. Crusher.

hansonsoccervolleyballgirl: I love the show. How long does it usually take to make a normal episode? Thanks.

McFadden: Of course, we are no longer filming the series. But at the time it would take usually seven, sometimes eight days. And many of those nights were very long. A lot of hours.

Scarab73: Can someone give me a little info about Insurrection?

McFadden: Yes. I can give you a little information about Insurrection. There are llamas in it. Is that enough info? Oh, and there's a space ship or two. I play a doctor.

mikesay98: Do you get along with the rest of the cast?

McFadden: Hopefully, yes! We laugh a lot. In our spacesuits.

J_L_Picard_: Are you and Jean-Luc gonna get together on the show?

McFadden: Not this movie; we don't get together in this movie. That's the question I'm asked more than any other question, and I have no idea. That's a question you need to ask the writers and producers. I am VERY fond of my captain, of course.

Spk321A: What is the funniest story that happened while filming Insurrection?

McFadden: Boy, that's always a tough question. Marina and I running up the hills in our 3 1/2 inch heeled boots, carrying a million props and leading the llamas was rather comical to those who observed us!

J_L_Picard_: I read in a book that you worked with the Jim Henson stuff. Did you do the voices for puppets?

McFadden: No, I did not do voices. I was the choreographer and coordinator of all the puppet movement in a couple of his

films, Labyrinth and Dream Child.

FirstContact21: What's Jonathan Frakes like as a director? His career has taken an amazing turn — how does he feel about it and his next project with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Total Recall 2? Did he talk about that at all?

McFadden: He was excited about his next project, Total Recall 2, and he's very at home directing, loves doing it, and is very good at it.

Yasniknikov: Did you enjoy casting in Star Trek: Insurrection as much as you did in Star Trek: First Contact?

McFadden: Oh, yes I did. Donna Murphy is a wonderful actress. I only got to say hello to F. Murray, and wished I had been able to work with him. But the guest actors were extremely personable and very talented. They tend to cast very well on our movies, I think, "they" being the producers and directors.

Pvt_Hudson_USCM: Gates, I love your character in the series but I was disappointed to see you have very few lines in both Generations and First Contact. Does Insurrection hold more for Dr. Crusher?

McFadden: Not particularly.

xPhile: I saw Voices in the Dark this past April and really enjoyed it. Are there plans to take the show to New York in the near future?

McFadden: Plans are on hold. The playright has been working on rewrites, and believe me, I will be the first to tell people when the next production is planned. I am still hoping for a production either Off Broadway or on Broadway in the next year.

Civilian_Marq: Is it true that in the episode of TNG with the Trill Diplomat you requested a different ending? If so, what was it and why?

McFadden: Seems to me I might have requested something, actually, but I can't remember what it was. I think there was something slightly different that I requested, but I can't, in all honesty, remember what it was. It was something slightly different. I know I was fascinated with the Trill. I thought it was a very provocative episode, and had hoped to have another episode about the Trill and Beverly Crusher. I think they decided to save the revisitation of the Trill for DS9.

ashadow1: You have directed a ST:TNG episode. Will you do any directing on Voyager or DS9?

McFadden: I have definitely expressed interest, but so far Paramount has not asked me to direct.

debca: Do you have any say in the scripts as far as story line goes?

McFadden: Sometimes we have say in the script. It really depends on the situation, how much time we have before we have to shoot something. But yes, we all have given input into the episodes at various times.

RedAura: Ms. McFadden: Beverly Crusher has in many people's eyes become opposite in number to Leonard Nimoy of the original series. Did you have any problems or doubts about being able to live up to that when you originally accepted the part?

McFadden: No, not really. I was not familiar, quite honestly, with Star Trek. I knew of the icons of the Captain, the Doctor and Spock. But I actually had never seen an episode of the show. It was many months into shooting Star Trek: The Next Generation when I finally had a chance to watch episodes from the original series. I felt it was wonderful, but quite different from the tone of our show. Thus, I didn't feel that I had a particular character to live up to. And I knew I could never be as manly as Bones. Because I was a woman.

p_francoeurpaf_1999: If you had been given the opportunity to write the new movie what would you have done?

McFadden: Called my agent!

FirstContact21: Finally a new Trek movie. From what I've heard it looks great! After more than 11 years of playing the same character, how do you feel you've grown as an actor? Has this character changed your life?

McFadden: First of all, I haven't only been playing that character for 11 years. So I don't feel that Dr. Crusher is the only character I'm playing. It's changed my life more in terms of where I live and having a new body of knowledge, I've learned a lot working in front of a camera as opposed to working on stage. And I now have some financial freedom. It also allowed me to have a child more easily. I could stay in one city and go down to the studio instead of changing jobs every couple of months.

ashadow1: Love you on The Marker, too. Do you have any new TV roles?

McFadden: Not right now, I don't. I put my energies into the play last spring before the movie. And this fall I have been dedicating myself to my family.

Jedi_Thunder: Are you going to be making any films besides the Trek series? You were great in Taking Care of Business.

McFadden: Thank you. I loved working on that movie. Not in the immediate future, but I would love to.

annie3393: I have never been a "Trekkie", but find The Next Generation to be an intelligent and believable representation of what the future may include. What are your thoughts?

McFadden: One of the best things about my involvement with the series has been the chance to meet people all over the world whose lives have been changed through their involvement with the series. Initially, I was not a huge fan of science fiction. Nor was I aware of how much a futurist I really am. But more and more I find comfort in Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. Perhaps that is influenced by my being a mother, perhaps not. But I, for one, would like to go up in space, and believe there must be something out there that will captivate me.

_Illusive_: Where did you learn your dancing and acting skills? I really enjoyed your acting.

McFadden: Thank you very much. I grew up in Ohio and had some wonderful teachers within the Akron and Cleveland area. They were a great influence in my life, and without a doubt I knew by the time I was eight years old what I wanted to pursue in my life, and that was the arts. Acting, dancing, the performing arts AND the visual arts. I also love teaching and I have taught various theater and acting courses, and find teaching a real joy. Mainly because my students teach me more than I teach them.

Cucumber_Jones_98: Any interesting bloopers over the years?

McFadden: There was one time around the Observation Lounge table, and I was the only woman in the scene. And Patrick had long speeches, and he kept saying , it was some word that kept coming out as the wrong word, and it was hilariously funny, but once again, you had to be there.

MvRojo: How would you like Dr. Crusher to develop in any future movies?

McFadden: Got any good ideas?

TVGEN: We'd like to thank Ms. Gates McFadden for being here. Do you have anything for your fans in closing?

McFadden: I just want to say that I so much appreciate the support over the past 11 years from the fans of the show. It has meant a great deal to me. And I thank you very much for the exchange, because I feel that the actor and spectator always have some sort of exchange, even if it's through a television. So thank you very much, I owe you a lot.

TVGEN: No, no, Ms. McFadden, thank you!

Date Created: December 5, 1998

Date Updated: December 27, 1999