Kate Mulgrew says Captain Janeway has never left her

Kate Mulgrew is thrilled to return to her character

Kate Mulgrew spent seven seasons playing Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, an iconic role that paved the way for more women in higher positions in the Star Trek franchise. It was the first time a woman had ever helmed a starship as the lead in one of the series, and Mulgrew didn’t take the honor lightly as she gave her everything to the character, becoming a role model for women worldwide.

Mulgrew is returning to the role in the animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy which will debut on Paramount + sometime this fall, but the actress told Den of Geek that the character had never really left her. Unsurprisingly, as she put it, “Janeway defined an era for me.”

And Kate Mulgrew defined an era for fans

For fans, Voyager changed the face of sci-fi television, ushering in a time when women were more than just background characters in a predominantly male-led genre. And Captain Janeway gave girls and young adults someone to look up to. Here was a woman in charge of a spaceship stuck in the middle of nowhere 75 years away from home, and even though she had the support of her crew, ultimately, the responsibility of getting everyone safely home fell on her shoulders.

"“Star Trek is never far from me. Janeway defined an era for me, and as it turns out, the rest of my life … I love her. She has never left me and I am thrilled to be back and to be introducing this to children.”"

Mulgrew has every reason to be proud of the character she inhabited, and it’s no wonder Captain Janeway hasn’t left her behind. Janeway was an important role in Star Trek, one that has echoed down through the years. And fans are thrilled that she’ll be returning to our screens as there still a lot to be learned from the captain, and we have missed her.