STARTREK.COM: Who are you and where are you from?

Roxann Dawson: Roxann Dawson, and I was born in Los Angeles, California.

Q: What did you like about your character B'Elanna Torres?

RD: I love the arc that B'Elanna took. I think if you go back and look at her first episode to the last episode, I couldn't conceive of a character that could change more. But not change arbitrarily — I think each of those changes were earned in the writing. Each of them had a reason. It wasn't like she just flipped one day and became a sort of maternal, married woman. And hopefully her relationship with Tom (Paris), I think, for the most part helped redefine marriage, in a way. I mean, I think that what was wonderful about that relationship when it worked its best — and it didn't work all the time — but when it worked its best was when you really saw these two really strong-headed people struggling to create a unit. And it showed that relationships are not easy, and that if you want something from a relationship you have to fight for it. And that's what it was about; at times it was B'Elanna fighting for it, and at times it was Tom fighting for it. But that's what it's about — it's about that struggle to create a unit. And I think people forget, and I think that relationships, once you've got it, you know, you can just sort of glide through that, and it's done with and it's happily ever after. But I think that their relationship, once they reach ... People often ask me, "what are they going to be like now that they're back on Earth and the show's over?" I said, "Well, if you think that it's going to get any easier, you're wrong. They will be fighting each other and loving each other until the day they die." And that's great! I mean, that's what I loved about that relationship.

Q: Would you like to have sung more as B'Elanna?

RD: I would have loved to! But you know what, it really would have been a stretch. I can't really see her singing. I can't. I mean, I would have loved to, but I really can't. It would have been some major holodeck scene. I did A Chorus Line on Broadway, so I sang eight performances a week. I thought I had the best role in the show — I was able to do "What I did For Love" and the song "Nothing," which are two classics, and do them on Broadway. And in fact I closed the show, when it closed. I had done the show for several years, and they called me back to be the final person to do the show, the role of Deanna Morales, and it was such a thrilling experience, beyond description. I do miss that — I miss dancing and singing — but that was one era, and now I'm in another.

Q: What are your favorite Voyager Episodes?

RD: I have a few favorite episodes of Voyager, but all centered around me, of course. No! I actually have a few favorites that don't have me hardly in them at all. But the ones that I acted in that I'm especially proud of — even more so because of the writing than my acting, I have to say — is "Remember," which was extraordinarily written, and the episode "Lineage." I just think those two episodes were written so well. They both had things very important to say, and they were said in a way that was elevating, that didn't talk down to the audience, that really made you think and didn't try to preach. I loved those episodes. I thought that they were just really, really great.

Q: Was Voyager really the series with the most practical jokes?

RD: I don't know how Voyager gets pinned with that reputation but I think it's actually true. We do, we have a lot of practical jokers on the set. In fact that's what made it so much fun. And I think sometimes when I look back at the times where I was among the cast goofing off with a director staring at his or her watch — I am now getting paid back, that's all I can say. Because I now know what it's like on the other side, and when you are trying so desperately to beat the clock and the cast feels a need to have to play practical jokes on each other, and waste your time. It's just a horrible feeling. It really is. It's like the teenager getting the mother back, you know, for all the things that we know we did as teenagers. But the cast of Voyager was wonderful when I directed. They listened to me, they took direction, they treated me very kindly, because they knew how important it is to me. So my debut, I was really treated with kid gloves, and not every director gets that kind of opportunity.

Q: Do you prefer acting, writing, or directing?

RD: Probably the most creative thing for me at the moment is directing. I've been acting a long time, and it would have to be something really different, challenging, something that would really turn me on to take me away from directing at this point. I've always written, and will continue to write, but it's a very personal thing for me, and it's unusual to be able to write things like I did with the trilogy of the Tenebrea books — it's unusual for me to write things that people actually read. So I will always continue to write. It's always a part of me.

Q: How did you start directing?

RD: Well, I've always wanted to direct, and I approached them very early on about wanting to learn how and my producers graciously opened their doors to allow me to learn. I had directed in a theater before, but didn't know if I had the eye to really compose things filmically. I discovered that I absolutely loved it. What I didn't love was acting and directing in the same show — that was very hard for me because they're two different parts of my brain completely. I love doing both acting and directing, but I like doing them separately.

Q: In which medium do you prefer to direct?

RD: Well, right now I'm loving directing for film. I think directing in the theater is a whole other kind of thing. It's a wonderful high in itself — you're working in a proscenium in one sort of frame and then try to fill it and create different things. But there's a wonderful freedom when you're directing on film. I find it so exciting. I love learning more about it, becoming better at what I do (hopefully I am), and I'm hoping that this will become part of my life for good.

Q: What are some of your influences?

RD: You know, actually I was very influenced by a film class I took in college, that was mostly centered around editing. And I was very turned on by that, but decided never to pursue it because I was going to be an actor — it's what I had decided on. I'm very, sort of, single minded. And it wasn't until many years later that it came full circle and I came back to that. I actually dug up that old text book and began looking at it again. And realized that I'd been inspired to do this a long, long time ago.

Q: Have you enjoyed directing on Enterprise?

RD: Well, directing for Enterprise is great because I'm so back with my family. I mean, these are the same people, for the most part, that I was working with on Voyager. That's wonderful. But the show is quite different, and it's a different cast. It's a different premise. The show has a slightly different look. But I love that, because we're trying to push the envelope a little bit more, and it allows me to be a little bit more creative than I could have in Voyager, and I love what they are trying to do. What's wonderful, too, is directing one of the first episodes of Enterprise, you're right there as they begin to establish things. In my episode it was the first time that anybody had been transported. And to be able to deal with what that is like for the first time. And the last episode was the first time that they saw food replicated. And to sort of play with those ideas, I mean, how wonderful to be there at the inception, sort of determining how things are going to be. It's great.

Q: Can you explain the directing process?

RD: Well, the process that a director has to go through, at least on television, which is very different than feature films because television is so fast and you're coming up with a product immediately — varies greatly from show to show, and even from episode to episode, depending on the requirements of that particular episode. Oftentimes you don't get a script until the last minute, even though it would be really nice to get it earlier. You're often struggling with having to deal with a lot of new things. And every script is different; there are times where there's a show that is very optically heavy, where there are a lot of effects, and you have to iron all of those things out and figure out "well, how are you going to do that?" Like in one of the episodes of Enterprise that I did, how do you create this character that's written on a page that is this kind of cell-like amoeba character that takes over the entire cargo bay. You read that on the page and you go, "Okay, now how do I do that?" You talk to the people, you create it. It's your job to make what's on the page live on the screen. And that involves a week of what they call "prep," which is a lot of meetings and preparing to direct, where you hopefully get all of your problems ironed out. And then the clock starts when you start directing, and you have to achieve what you've prepared to achieve. And hopefully you do achieve that in the time allotted, and get it all into the camera. And then you've got your "post," where you begin to edit it all together, and you discover all the pieces that are missing that you'll never get, and try to work your way around that. And the put in the effects, and the music, and it ends up in your home.

Q: How do you feel about your work on Star Trek?

RD: I couldn't be more grateful. I've got a most amazing family, and I'm able to do the thing that I love doing. Star Trek has afforded me some amazing, amazing opportunities, and I will always be grateful, really.