Star Trek: Nemesis had a “strange” cameo from Kate Mulgrew as Voyager’s Captain Janeway.
Star Trek: Nemesis remains a black eye on the franchise that fans still to this day have not softened on. They say time heals old wounds, but this is a wound that won’t heal. Even shows like Voyager and Enterprise, once considered the black sheep of the Trek fandom, have now become very well-liked, respected, and celebrated.
Yet, movies like Nemesis remain very maligned. The movie was supposed to be more than it was, with Jeri Ryan reprising her role as Seven of Nine for the film, but they ended up only getting Kate Mulgrew on the film for a brief, minor cameo.
The timeline of the movie took place a year or so after the Voyager returned to the Delta Quadrant, with the then-Captain Janeway being promoted to Admiral. While her appearance in Nemesis was brief and cool, Janeway’s actress, Mulgrew, has gone on to comment about the cameo being strange and also revealed that it was done during the filming of Voyager’s last week.
Mulgrew told Den of Geek;
"Yeah, that was a strange cameo. I was just alone in the studio on the sound stage. It was done very fast. I think it was immediately after Voyager, if not in the final week of Voyager."
Star Trek’s Voyager and Deep Space Nine should have had a bigger role in Nemesis
Bringing in Mulgrew for a minor cameo, and not being able to get Ryan for a larger role hurt Nemesis for sure. Well, so did have a terrible script, sure. Yet, had Nemesis brought in two or three Voyager characters, and a few Deep Space Nine characters as well, the film may have had enough in the way of fan support to continue that era of Star Trek films.
Even if it wasn’t The Next Generation crew anymore. Imagine an “All-Star” Trek film series that featured the likes of Mulgrew, Ryan, Alexander Siddig, Nana Visitor, LeVar Burton, and others taking up a new ship, going on new adventures, all spun out of Nemesis?
The short-sightedness of Hollywood execs will never cease to amaze me.