 |
| It's a brave new world for Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) in STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. Images: PARAMOUNT. |
Ever since it originally debuted in 1966, Gene Roddenberry’s legendary STAR TREK series and its multiple spin-offs have had their fair share of attractive, capable and independent women. None more so than the lovely, equally multi-talented actress/singer/dancer Nana Visitor who, for seven seasons from 1993 to 1999 played the gutsy, straight talking Bajoran resistance fighter turned military officer, Major (later Colonel) Kira Nerys in the darkest interpretation yet of the STAR TREK vision: DEEP SPACE NINE, the first non-Roddenberry created series following his sad passing in 1991, from the helm of his trusted THE NEXT GENERATION stalwarts producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller.
 |
| Crooked Bar-keep Quark (Armin Shimmerman) doesn't always stay on the right side of Major Kira's temper! |
In a series that enjoyed almost total creative freedom from its backers at PARAMOUNT, DS9’s production team and writers boldly created characters that were multi- dimensional, who’d been through struggles and hardships and had not generally had the greatest time of their lives in what should be the Utopia of the 23rd century. By the end of the first few episodes of this intriguing multi-arc story-telling new series of TREK, these individuals, with their heroism and convictions, soon found themselves pulling together as protectorates and overseers in one of the most important areas of space ever, which contained a one-of-a-kind wormhole linking two special quadrants together for trade and exploration, from which a delicate balance must be kept on new alliances soon formed from this new discovery and the constant threat of alien invasion and warfare. Riding such times of turmoil and wonder, DEEP SPACE NINE is well and truly open for business…
 |
| Through good times and bad, Kira's friendship and love for Odo (Rene Auberjonois) stand true. |
Amongst this band of flawed and fascinating people living and working on the station would be Major Kira Nerys, truly becoming one of the stand out heroes of this ground breaking dramatic series: a young woman from the peaceful, pacifist religious society of Bajor, her life would be turned upside down from the moment she was born, witnessing first hand her world’s occupation by the dreaded forces of the neighboring aggressive Cardassian Empire, as, originally arriving on their world “to help them”, soon looted it of everything good and pure it once represented, its people turned to slaves working at the crack of a whip and its mineral wealth and assets taken by deadly force. Over the next forty years that the Cardassians reign of terror would shake their world and its system of planets, a small but dedicated number of Bajoran resistors would spring up to cause as much chaos and damage to the enemy as possible, amongst them the battle hardened Kira, who, when the Cardassians had finally finished with the planet and stripped it bare of everything her people held so dear, was eventually part of the provisional government and military forces assigned to try and clean up the mess they’d left behind, with help from the galaxy spanning United Federation of Planets, an organization for peace and unity of whom Bajor was to eventually join its noble ranks.
At first resistant to any further outsiders arriving on their world, and totally aggressive/bitter to the newly arrived Star Fleet forces (led by Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) sent to help the Bajorans and their tactically important Deep Space Nine space station (an abandoned Cardassian facility previously known as Terek Nor), Kira eventually settled down in her crucially important job position as First Officer and began to trust her new found friends, of whose equal nobility and courage she admired, resulting in her, through many dangerous adventures, often gladly being prepared to risk her life to save both them and the welfare of her people. Beneath that fiery exterior was a pure but also emotionally complex heart, previously damaged from her time as a killer of Cardassians: a part of her earlier haunting terrorist life that would constantly conflict with her pacifist and religious upbringing. As peace and stability of a kind eventually find their way to the Alpha and Gamma quadrants with the end of the lengthy Dominion War, Nerys would go on to enjoy the new challenges of command, exploration and renewal for her people that life now affords…
 |
| The actress would have great fun playing the Mirror Universe version of Kira-the evil Indentant. |
To realize and bring dramatic and emotional resonance, and believability, to this once in a lifetime TV series role of Nerys, you need a seriously talented and versatile actress to give it the part the justice it deserves. And Nana Visitor would be that woman, who, through the shows seven seasons and 176 episodes, gave us a memorable, multi-faceted and evolving character: a person whom you may not always agree with or like in certain situations but were emotionally invested in and cared about, as well as being the kind of brave and courageous role model that women, and men, would admire and cheer on through good times (especially in her romance with alien shape shifting security officer Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and bad. Memorably adding the characters unique voice to a whole new generation of STAR TREK’s best and brightest heroes, Visitor would do a terrific job inhabiting the part and truly making it her own (even getting the fun chance to play an alternate, darker version of her character-the playful but cruel bi-sexual, almost Dominatrix-like Intendant in several of the series popular Mirror Universe episode storylines over six years).
 |
| With Bajor behind her, Nana Visitor post DS9. Image: ULIKE. |
Beyond TREK, the Broadway starring actress (and niece of the legendary Cyd Charisse), who had prior roles in hit TV series like DYNASTY, L.A. LAW and THIRTYSOMETHING, would go onto appear in numerous cult and mainstream TV series hits like James Cameron’s DARK ANGEL (where she played the bleached blond baddie, Doctor Elizabeth Renfro), FRASIER, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, the re-imagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and in the ABC family series WILDFIRE. More recently, she can be heard playing numerous character voices in episodes of FAMILY GUY and will soon be seen in an episode of The BBC/STARZ hit series: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY.
A dedicated and zestful entertainer, character actress, and all-round talent, Miss Visitor’s highly likable and respected presence on the small screen is always most welcome by KOOL TV.
All seven seasons of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE are on DVD from PARAMOUNT. The series is also in re-runs on the UK's SKY 2 channel.
No comments:
Post a Comment