Nana Visitor didn’t expect to be asked to return as Kira Nerys

Star Trek: Lower Decks saw the return of Nana Visitor as Colonel Kira Nerys.

Nana Visitor returned to the characted she played so admirably for seven seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the most recent episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks. It’s the first time Visitor has played the role since Deep Space Nine ended on June 2, 1999, and she hadn’t been expecting to be asked to come aboard one of the newer Star Trek series.

Speaking to Trekmovie, Visitor said Major Kira was a difficult character to some people. So when shows start talking about legacy characters returning, she always thought “probably not Major Kira.” But she got the call for Lower Decks.

"I mean, Major Kira is a difficult character to some people. So I always go, “Probably not Major Kira.” But that they called and that they drew her so beautifully—not just in terms of the lines, but also the dialogue. That she was so alive and vibrant 30 years later, it was thrilling. It was wonderful. And working with that team was the way collaboration should be: easy, fun, and everyone supporting each other. It was great."

Major Kira was a nuanced character who had both a heart of gold and a mean right hook. She wasn’t the typical Starfleet officer, but she wasn’t in Starfleet. She’d spent much of her life fighting against Cardassian tyranny, and for some, that made her harder, especially than the other women on Deep Space Nine. With Lower Decks being a comedy, one certainly wouldn’t picture Kira as a first choice to return. But she did, and as Visitor said “she was so alive and vibrant 30 years later.”

Nana Visitor says Kira still remains in her heart.

During the interview, the subject of whether Visitor could imagine returning to live action again, and her response was bittersweet to many of us fans who have been longing to see the return of more characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"I think it would be—look, Kira still lives right here [points to her heart]. They say when you get older, you lose certain things. It just hasn’t been true for me. So certain things have grown like wisdom and certain things like that. But the rest is still there. It doesn’t go away. So I extrapolate that that’s happened for Kira too. She’s still all there."

Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we hear from Kira. If Star Trek series are going to return more legacy characters to the screen, the characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine should be included, especially Colonel Kira.