Star Trek Host: Welcome to STARTREK.COM's live chat with the original Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols!

Question: I saw "Snow Dogs" and liked it immensely. Do you plan on doing any other films in the future?
spndapny

Nichelle Nichols: Oh, I'm so glad you asked that! It so happens that "Snow Dogs" was such a big hit that Disney is considering right now the sequel to it which will be shot in New York City. The writers are busy rewriting the new script and working on it which they liked very much. If you liked "Snow Dogs" you'll love "Snow Dogs 2." I can't tell you the plot or I'd have to kill you. (laughs) But it's hysterically funny and wonderful, and again a wonderful part for Amelia, the role I play.

The exciting thing about it that I think is cool, not only will it take place in New York next winter but it's going to come out approximately the same time — same time next year ... I think that's kind of exciting and this time the dogs will talk I'm told! I don't know if the dogs are going to speak only in Cuba's — Teddy's — mind, or the dogs really talk. Either way I think it's hysterical ... but talk about adventure.

Q: Hi Nichelle, I loved "Saturn's Child" and am really looking forward to reading "Saturna's Quest," and when I find a copy of "Beyond Uhura" I'm planning on reading it too. I was wondering if there are any plans to turn "Saturn's Child" into a film or TV movie? If there aren't, would you be willing to have it made into a movie?
sean_369

NN: How many times can I say, I'm so glad you asked that question!! (laughs) Yes, I've always seen it from the first time I began writing "Saturn's Child," I thought the adventures of Saturna — which is what it's all predicated on — from the first time I started and got into it I knew it'd make a great movie. I also knew that "Saturn's Child" had to be expository to set the story up ... to establish the characters and set the story up. I knew it also had to be exciting. Then once that happened and I began to write "Saturna's Quest" I knew that the two books would make a tremendous movie.

Q: Who did you most admire while growing up?
shuttlepod1

NN: Oh, probably my mother and my father, they were my heroes. They instilled in me all the values that I hold dear and I think the determination and whatever dignity and sense of ethics that I have ... they instilled that in me.

Q: What do you think of the newer Star Trek series? Do you think that they carry Gene's idea well?

NN: I'm sorry to say I have not seen it. I've been travelling, writing — of course I just sent off "Saturna's Quest" and of course, it will be out for the Grand Slam in Pasadena. The Grand Slam Creation Convention next weekend I think ... The 22nd to the 24th. So, it will be out then and I just got the first copy — it just looks wonderful, I'm very excited about it. You can keep up with what's happening with "Saturna's Quest," in case you won't be at the convention dates that I have, through my Web site which is www.uhura.com.

Q: What was your most memorable moment when you were in Star Trek?
spock123

NN: Oh! There were so many memorable moments, you're asking me to compress thirty-some years. The first was being selected by Gene and being called back from Europe — from Paris — I just finished a singing engagement in London and had flown to Paris to meet some friends and have a good time and so I didn't want to be coming back home for an interview that might not happen.

My agent convinced me to come home and it was only when I came back that I realized it was for Gene Roddenberry. He'd given me my first guest-star role in TV three years before Star Trek on The Lieutenant starring Gary Lockwood. So when I came back and saw him, that it was his show and that it was a show we'd talked about that was originally called "Wagon Train to the Stars" (laughs) and that got turned into Star Trek.

Getting that job was the first really incredible memorable moment, and then there were many more including meeting Dr. Martin Luther King who told me I must stay on the show when I was considering leaving the show, and then many memorable moments after that. Many with my co-stars and many after the show was over even, with moments with the fans who kept the philosophy and Gene's dream alive through conventions and who continue to keep the dream alive.

Q: Ms. Nichols, it has truly been a shame that you haven't appeared in any episode of TNG, DS9, Voyager, or any of the Star Trek films since Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. Is there perhaps talk of a cameo role for you in a future Star Trek film, perhaps Admiral Uhura or Diplomatic Representative of the Federation?
leeledbetter

NN: Well, I wouldn't be interested in a cameo! (laughs) I would be interested in a very, very good role that would truly be meaningful about the character Uhura. Or any way they wanted to do that, whatever that would be. Even playing a role that was not Uhura, but I really would actually like to do Uhura really well.

Q: Sometimes actors are similar to characters that they play. Do you think that you are similar to Uhura in any way?
lt_ro_laren

NN: In many ways, yes, except I think I am crazier than Uhura! (laughs) I laugh a lot more than she does. I think I'm more free, less conservative. I think we have the same passion and compassion and many of the same traits, I hope. At least all that my parents taught me to be I tried to instill in Uhura considering what her line of expertise and career was. I have more freedom as an entertainer than her going out where no man has gone before. Although in the past thirty-five years I've probably gone more places than no woman or man has gone before.

Q: I am only 19 and I have enjoyed your work in Star Trek the original series, and in the movies. You set a standard for women everywhere, and I want you to know what a huge inspiration you've been to myself and many others. I remember in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren," you kissed William Shatner, making it the first multiracial kiss on television. Naturally I only saw it in a rerun, and I was wondering, what were things like for you after that episode?
ncrawford82

NN: Oh, that was very interesting. It almost didn't happen because they suddenly realized it was an interracial kiss and that Bill was going to take me in his arms and kiss me. Bill was determined that this kiss was going to happen and at the time I really didn't care! (laughs) I just thought the scene was so terrific it didn't matter to me whether we actually kissed or not. But after that we got the largest amount of fan mail than we had gotten before or since out of all the episodes, and it was all very positive and marvelous and exciting so I really was happy with it.

Q: When you met Dr. Martin Luther King at an NAACP rally just after telling Gene Roddenberry you were leaving the show and Dr. King told you "YOU CAN NOT," what was Mr. Roddenberry's reaction after you told him the reason behind your decision to stay on the show?
matttrek

NN: You have to understand that Gene is 6'3", was very strong and I'd never seen him cry before, and a large tear rolled down his face and he said, "God bless that man. Someone understands what I'm trying to achieve."

Q: Ms. Nichols, what was it like to wear those ear pieces all the time?
chandler

NN: Very comfortable. It had a little earpiece in it just like hard-of-hearing people have. It was fitted to my ear – the passage – and it fit very comfortably. I just stuck it in there, twisted it and it stayed ... and I picked up the most interesting communications throughout the galaxy.

Q: Did you think the uniforms that you wore in TOS were revealing?
commanderchrisrussell

NN: I thought they were marvelous, I loved them!

Q: I've been watching the Original Series since I was little and I was wondering if you ever got annoyed at the fact that they never installed safety belts on the seats of the Enterprise when it went through all that shaking, and that Kirk had a nice big comfortable safe seat LOL?
geordi_laforge

NN: I think he fell off his big comfortable seat sometimes! (laughs) That was considered and the reason was that there was very little shaking coming into danger and it was a decision, an artistic decision to be made so that we had the freedom to move about naturally without having to buckle, unbuckle, remember where we were and so forth ...

Q: Are you still involved with NASA's program to recruit women and minorities? I know that several of the woman Space Shuttle astronauts have mentioned you as an inspiration to follow their dreams. How does that make you feel? PS: I have had a crush on you for over 30 years now.
akeBIuesX

NN: Oh, isn't that wonderful? Thank you so much! It makes me feel, to have been involved on that level, on a national effort of our country that changed the face of the astronaut corps forever, made me feel at once ten feet tall and an inch tall in humility. It was at once humble and grand.

Q: Hey Nichelle, I find that I get confused with the sci-fi language that they use on the shows. So I was wondering, did you understand any of the sci-fi language that you had to recite?
shuttlepod1

NN: Yes, we had tutors and consultants and people who knew science — science consultants and technical consultants. A lot of this I was very interested ... I was interested in the space program so long before I got involved with NASA. So a great deal of anything I didn't know I'd write down and look it up or call someone to find out what it meant. I always wanted to know exactly what I was saying and what it really referenced — where things came from, their origins and what was in it for me in terms of how did it effect me and mine — me meaning the whole human race — and beyond.

Q: What was it that got you interested in acting?
scifieuropop

NN: I was born. From my earliest memory which is as a very, very small child I was always singing, memorizing poetry and songs and reciting them and singing them for anyone who came in the house. I sat them down and asked if they'd like to hear me sing. I studied dance — ballet and modern and African — since I was nine years old. So I'm a lucky person, I always knew what I wanted to be.

Q: If the chance came for you to venture into space "for real" would you take the chance?
michael_captain_of_the_enterprise

NN: In a New York minute!

Q: Mrs. Nichols, how has September 11 changed you in any way?
scifieuropop

NN: I think it has had the effect that it's had on so many people. That what might have seemed the most important things in the world prior to 9/11 took on a new aspect. I looked deeper into myself and I have a higher regard and respect for others even more than I had before. I discovered that I had in-grown biases just as many other people have and I began a self-examination and I knew I would never take myself or life for granted again.

Q: Do you really speak Swahili?
geordi_laforge

NN: No, but Uhura does.

Q: Did you get to keep your Star Trek uniform?
trex

NN: No, and at that time I didn't want it! How dumb! I could have gotten it! (laughs)

Q: What do you enjoy doing for fun?
visser59

NN: I have fun with my life and more relaxation with my life. My work is my life and my life is my work. I no longer feel that one is taking away from the other. I fully enjoy who I am and what I'm doing and they are no longer separate entities and I think that really changed ... was one of the major gifts, if I can say that, from 9/11. I really realized how very, very lucky I am to be able to do my work, to love my work and for my work to be my life.

Q: Do you have any pets?
natfromvenus

NN: I grew up with cats, I grew up with different kinds of cats. At one point in my life I had three Siamese cats for twelve, thirteen and sixteen years ... they all died within one year of each other. I then had Tiger cats and when the last one passed I have been so busy, I've always felt so guilty about having to leave them because I travel so much and so I have not replaced them ... as if you can replace them ... I do have two familiars that I created in Saturna's Quest and they are like human to me — Catlyke and Mushii. They're a combination of Earth animals and Fazisians.

Q: Of course I must say that I love your work. I was re-reading your autobiography a week or two ago and was wondering if any of your feelings have changed in the past few years? Also what's your son doing now?"
maryRocksCanada2

NN: Thank you for asking that ... many of my feelings have changed. I've changed tremendously. My autobiography was a wonderful catharsis, setting out the things of my life to look at — I was able to release a lot of pent-up emotions, both positive and negative. It was a tremendous relief for me and my wonderful son, Kyle (who) is in New Mexico and married to a beautiful lady named Monica and he is the manager of the local television station ... the community station there in Silver City, New Mexico, called CATS.

Q: How long have you been working on Saturna's Quest? Do you plan to do a sequel?
JCoker

NN: Yes, Saturna's Quest is the sequel to Saturn's Child. It's available on my Web site www.uhura.com and you can order it there or at the conventions. I'm doing an exclusive book tour at Star Trek conventions in the U.S. with Creation Entertainment.

I just finished Sacramento and Seattle and looking forward to next weekend at the Pasadena Grand Slam, and with Creation I'm going to San Francisco on April 6th and 7th; Orlando, FL in May, the 25th and 26th; Minneapolis in July, the 13th and 14th; and Las Vegas, August 2nd - 4th. That's just the ones they've set now, they're setting more and I'll post them on my Web site calendar, and in between that I go to Canada and double back to Orlando. I'll be inducted as an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on July 10th in Orlando and I'm very excited about that because I'm in really, really good company like the great Marion Anderson, Rosa Parks, Dr. Mae Jemison. (Dr. Jemison is) the first African-American woman astronaut and is my very good friend.

I'll be doing my book tour with Saturna's Quest, which is the second of the trilogy — Saturn's Child, Saturna's Quest, and I haven't named the third one yet but it's the ongoing adventures of Saturna.

Q: Question for the beautiful Nichelle Nichols. I am 52, an old man so my children say, and you still look as pretty as when I saw you last on T.V. What is your secret?
htreeman

NN: Oh, hearing good ones from people like you saying that!! I take good care of myself. I never think of age. I'm too busy living my life to worry about what happened yesterday or might happen tomorrow. Not to say that I'm a Pollyanna, you know, I do make plans and I do have respect for the past and I have great expectations for the future, but I've learned not to worry about what was and what might be. There's too much happening right now.

Q: You have impacted people through Star Trek, NASA, and your singing. Would you change anything that you have done in your past?
scifieuropop

NN: If I were asked that thirty-five years ago and someone would have told me what was going to happen, that I would be connected to Star Trek, any one show, I would have said "No, that won't happen, I have other plans." So that's sort of in keeping with the last question — I had other plans but I think man plans and God already knows. (laughs) I think man devises and God divines. Having come where I am and looking back on all the wonderful things that have happened and the impact of being something that's had such a positive impact on society — I have no regrets. I'm very proud of Uhura and I hope she's proud of me.

StarTrekHost: I am sure she is!

Q: What was your favorite episode of Star Trek?
captainnickb

NN: Any time Uhura got to get off the bridge! (laughs) I did adore doing different kinds of things like "Mirror, Mirror" and "Plato's Stepchildren" and "The Trouble with Tribbles" and I enjoyed the movies. I enjoyed a great deal of the show but I guess I got hung up on the philosophy of the show and hung up on what Gene was proposing when hope was very slim in the hearts of people all over the world.

It was a time when America and Russia were engaged in the Cold War and the whole world was frightened about the two superpowers, who would push the button first and give cataclysmic destruction on our planet. It was a time of the Vietnam War, which everyone knew was too long and we couldn't face the fact that we shouldn't be there. It was a time when women were coming into their own and demanding rights. It was a time of the flower children who were in full bloom and could not accept, you know, the same status quo of their parents for generations before them. The most important thing for me was it being a time of the civil rights movement and when one great lady, Rosa Parks, refused to be less than human and Dr. Martin Luther King stood beside her, came to her and supported her and the civil rights movement changed our country.

Q: Ms. Nichols, just want to say thanks, you inspired me as a young woman, I am now a pilot with the RAF. Maybe I'll join the Space Programme one day. How does it feel to inspire so many people, especially women and minorities?
Iddy

NN: All right!! Listen, I am so proud of you and I wish you the best and you now know that you can be anything you want to be. Keep your dreams alive and you've honored me by saying so and I thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart.

Q: Do you still stay in touch with the cast of Star Trek?
captain_malik

NN: Oh, yes. I'm in touch with the Star Trek cast and that's all you guys' fault because had it not been for the conventions that kept the show and the philosophy of the show alive, we wouldn't be talking now about the show, about the things that we hold so dear that the show projected, and I would have gone on to other things and I'm sure I would have succeeded at least as much as I have now, maybe more so, but it isn't about that is it? So, because of you, I get to see my guys almost all the time, almost once a month anyway. I talk to George and Walter all the time. I saw Jimmy Doohan when I was in Seattle about a month ago and he's doing wonderfully well and looks beautiful, and his family — his little daughter and his wife Wende — are just doing great. I saw Leonard as well in Seattle and I've talked to Bill, he called to see if I'd be interested in doing a Mind Meld with him. I'm really blessed that I've lived such an eventful, exciting life.

Q: You, and the rest of the cast of the original Star Trek, have been the inspiration of many scientific careers. I, and others I have met over the years, owe our love of scientific interest in part to Star Trek. This is not so much a question, but a thank you.
kenneth t

NN: God bless you ...

Q: I have been a Star Trek fan for many years now and I will continue to watch Star Trek into my old age, through the repeats. The original Star Trek is my utmost favorite of all the Star Trek spin-offs. I won't miss an episode, and even now I still watch them everyday. I just want to thank you for being a part of my life everyday. Please take care of yourself.
Your friend and Fan Norma.

NN: Blessings to all and love to you all. Blessings and love always in all ways ...

Q: My children and husband have become Star Trek fans as a result of me. One of our favourite ST movies is "The Voyage Home." Your performance with Walter Koenig asking for directions from a cop was hilarious. The other one was in "The Undiscovered Country" when you had to communicate with the Klingon, telling him about sending food to Rura Penthe. We really enjoyed those performances.

NN: (laughs) You remind me of things I've forgotten!

StarTrekHost: Thank you so much for joining us! We hope we can do it again soon!

NN: I hope so too, I'll be here.