Kate Mulgrew pushed for Kathryn Janeway to embrace her femininity as captain

Kate Mulgrew wanted Kathryn Janeway to embrace her femininity on Star Trek: Voyager.

When Kate Mulgrew took over the role of Kathryn Janeway from Geneviève Bujold, she faced a daunting task. Not only was she starting the project weeks after everyone else, and having to play catchup, but she was playing the first ever female Star Trek captain, and doing it on a national network for the first time ever.

It was daunting, to say the least.

Yet, when Mulgrew came into the show it was clear she embraced the character and the show. She dove in both feet first and took on any and all obstacles. Yet, one of the things she wanted to do while proving she had every right to sit in the captain’s chair, was also to show that a captain could be entirely feminine.

Speaking to the crowd at the 56-Year Mission Star Trek in Las Vegas, (via TrekMovie.com), Mulgrew spoke about wanting Janeway to embrace her womanhood.

"“Night” was so good. A deep dive into the loneliness of being a female captain of childbearing years, whose fiancé had just said goodbye to her and is taking the dog. I’ve got a complement of 165 and I missed the gas station. What could be worse? So she’s profoundly alone. I loved that. And I loved the thing with Mark Harelik, “Counterpoint,” where I got to show the possibility, however subtle and very nuanced, that Janeway could fall in love. That Janeway missed that. Janeway really missed all those things. I used to beg Rick Berman, over many martinis, “Please show her femininity in the right ways.” Her loneliness, her vulnerability, her longing. Give me something every now and then to refresh the memory of the audience. This is a woman all alone at the helm of this starship."

Star Trek: Voyager did a very good job balancing her womanhood and captainship

It’s a hard balance, admittedly to show a  captain with genuine emotions. It’s not always easy as most of the Starfleet captains are a bit more stoic than most. So Janeway had that same pressure, though despite their lives seemingly being over the minute they landed in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway never dispaired and was arguably the most upbeat of all the captains that Star Trek ever had.

One of her most iconic lines is cheesy but so relatable “…there’s coffee in that nebula.” Stranded decades away from home, and yet the simple joys of life still bring her peace. It’s a very relatable moment.