Enterprise Beams Up New Transporter Chief January 27, 2008
by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: ST09 Cast , trackback
Daily Variety is reporting that Marlene Forte has landed the role as the (unnamed) Transporter Chief for the new Star Trek movie. The 40-something video store owner turned actress has appeared on many TV series such as Lost, ER, CSI, The West Wing, and Daybreak. Her film credits include Real Women Have Curves and Adrift In Manhattan. She starred in the 1997 independent film Lena’s Dreams (see clip below).
Where’s Kyle?
The name of Forte’s character isn’t known but it is pretty clear she isn’t playing Lt. Kyle who was often seen beaming the crew in and out of the NCC-1701 during Star Trek The Original Series. Kyle (played by John Winston) would also pop up in engineering, sometimes at the helm and even showed up on the bridge of the USS Reliant in Star Trek II. However, the first known transporter chief of the Enterprise would be Pitcairn who served under Captain Pike during the time of “The Cage.”
Kyle (left) and Pitcairn (right) manning their transporter station on the NCC-1701
Forte from Lena’s Dreams
For more on Forte see IMDB and an interview at About.com.
For a full list of known cast members, see our “Star Trek” cast page
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Comments»
Now that is nice. I actually knoe her!
Beam me up!
Oh, yeah, comments. Good casting decision. Why do I get the feeling she’ll be red-shirted by the end of the movie though? Nevermind the fact that in TOS, engineers wore red shirts, but you know what I mean.
Huh. Funny – she doesn’t look too much like John Winston to me. :)
#3 lol
#4 lol too
poor Mr. Kyle, wonder where he’s at
Man who cares?
she can energize my circuits anytime
and : 9th!!!
> it is pretty clear she isn’t playing Lt. Kyle
Is it? Kyle might be a woman this time… But wait, stop. That’s against canon! Aaaargh! We’re all gonna die! :D
A million years ago I saw John Winston (Mr. Kyle) on TV’s “The Dating Game.”
She could beam me up any day.
> it is pretty clear she isn’t playing Lt. Kyle
You never know. This could be Trek’s attempt to reach out to the transgender community. Midway through the movie, she takes a trip to sickbay and comes out a changed (wo)man…
there will be no peace ’till Mr. Kyle energizes
:D
Can’t the character’s name be Lt. Kyle?
Mr. Kyle better have his agonizer ready.
I hope she has a jump suit on and is working alongside Mr. Kyle!
And all I want to hear is Pine/Kirk holding his communicator and yelling “Energize!”
I get it! It’s an opposite universe! Like the mirror universe, everyone in this movie is opposite from what they were in Normal Trek.
She can cross-circuit to “B” with me anytime……growrr! :)
…maybe she plays Lt. KYLIE :)
How about Lt Kylea?
As in Lt. Kyle-A :-)
Perhaps she’s the transporter chief because the plot point includes an all-male landing party getting lost, refusing to ask directions, and needing to beamed out — instead.
re:22
…as a male driver I find your post sexist and funny as hell!
:)
Yet another actor whom JJ has worked with before. Well, at least he knows that they can perform. But if JJ ends up going several Trek sequels, are we going to get the entire casts of Alias, Felicity, Lost, MI:3 and Cloverfield popping up?
I don’t see why Kyle would be in the movie anyway, canon or not. The Enterprise changed transporter chiefs like socks during TOS – it just so happened that the same actor popped up to do it more often than others, and thus we had Kyle.
I don’t want no woman beaming my molecules who knows where.. everyone knows what they say about women beamers!
Remember RAND in TMP!
Wow! From that short clip she is very impressive!
It’s Ms. Kyle — he had a sex change! ;)
-Federation captain..good ideea….but..maybe..a president for Federation and.. a Starfleet..commander..sounds better…
STARFLEET is the military side of the FERDERATION..
It’s Ms Kyle – he had a gender reassignment! ;)
I wonder….who will be playing Janice Rand?
Transporter Chief Rand?
So she’ll be standing NEXT to Lt. Kyle pushing buttons on the transporter.
No speaking lines as only Kyle spoke to folks who entered and left the transporter room after all, and when the transporter went haywire of course.
Kyle ( into intercom ) : Transporter is out Mister Scott !
Scotty ( from intercom ) : Borgas Frat ! Not again….
Sorry, looked like the profanity filter ate my post.
while I’ll admit that a change like this shouldnt make or break the movie, it’s still an annoying little detail that Abrams & company seem to feel needs changed just so they can differentiate themselves from classic Trek.
why do they keep doing this? Its almost as if they’re deliberately trying to rub it in that they’re in control and it doesnt matter what longtime fans think. If they feel that way fine, but stop rubbing it in.
22 Or maybe it’s because after a long ,hard day on the planet the guys need a perky little tomato to welcome them home.
#36… it’s a big ship. We saw numerous different crewpeople operating the transporter over the series three years… why do they keep doing *what*?
What I’d like to know is will she be wearing the old overalls above, or a nice little mini-tunic number?…
#36 CTIII -
What are you talking about? There can be only ONE transporter chief on the entire Enterprise? Nothing in the article states that Abrams & Co. are CHANGING the character of Kyle and/or that other-guy-from-”The Cage”-that-I’ve-never-heard-of.
You’re grasping at straws.
I can’t believe such a huge deal is being made about even the transporter chief… you people are maddening.
My dog could play the new transporter chief, and I still think the movie could be good, since after all, the transporter chief is about as important to the STORY as a diagnostic tool on a cart in Engineering.
Purists out there… you’re all in for one hell of a ride. I can’t wait to see your faces by the end of the movie… I hope you all make it. lol
Well, she could be Lt Marlena Moreau, a chemist and molecular transportation expert, if it weren’t for that introduction-to-Kirk scene in Mirror, Mirror. Of course, unless you take that Trials and Tribulations changed the past so that now that scene was with Benjamin Sisko. ;)
She definitely has a Barbara Luna type look though…. maybe we could go this way anyway… because I’d love to see Marlene (and what a coincidence) in a future sequel with a Mirror crossover as the mirror-Marlena :)
Another possibility is to recall that in one of the scripts of Space Seed, Lt Marla McGivers is also noted to serve not just as historian, but as a “control systems specialist”… That would be a great character to have floating around…. Perhaps she does something that annoys Kirk who decides to remove her from the posting later to “free up time for her to focus on historian duties..”
A young Yeoman DiFalco would be funny… considering Shatner’s not in the movie.
“Ensign Lisa Angela Martine Teller reporting for duty” is another option…. And would be funny in its own way if Orci stuck in a “retcon” of the ever-changing crewman’s name.
A TAS flair would be Anne Nored.
But, my first choice is that this character would be Ensign Tonia Barrows. She was a great character in Shore Leave, and a return would be fun. Especially because of the later novel by David George… and knowing Orci loves all the novels… :) Gives someone for Urban’s McCoy to play off of with his passionate hatred of having his molecules scrambled…. Imagine him falling for a yeoman who as one of her rotating duties is a transporter operator!
#23
Oh. And like there haven’t been sexist remarks about women, here… ;)
#41
I’m thinking that the sticky stuff on the floor of the theater at the end of the midnight show isn’t going to be that annoying mix of caffeinated beverages, Milk Duds, Junior Mints, and smashed popcorn… it is going to be the former contents of exploding heads. :D
I’m only going to be looking for the color of the bridge carpeting to be accurate, and the moire patterns of the Science Station’s scanners to be precisely as I recall them, or I’m going to send a strongly-worded letter to JJ about how he raped my childhood. Heh!
/sarc
#25
Especially if you (generically) got up and walked out in the middle of the night, after the romantic dinner in her cabin.
Don’t tick off the woman who has expertise with the transporter, or, you may find something has rematerialized outside the ship.
Now what? We’re lobbying fur Mr. Kyle ta be in the film?
Speaking of transporters… I saw me the evil Kirk episode with the new effects… guess it be a repeat … so ta speak… Har
And it was in the time of B.S.- Before Shuttlecraft… but if we are gunna lobby fur Mr. Kyle, then maybe we should speak up for a wee doggie in a furry sweater ta be in tha fim…
arrrr
#7
If you’re really interested, the actor that played Mr. Kyle was recently seen in an episode of James Cawley’s Star Trek New Voyages.
Man, who can forget that agonizer scene in Mirror Mirror?
I’m a fan of the West Wing, but don’t know this actress… I just hope as her first assignment she just doesn’t have the misfortune of beaming up Commander Sonak. ;-)
I think Rand’s a good possibility :D
“If we’ve never seen it before on TOS, it couldn’t have existed!”
That’s the attitude some take toward this thing. It’s a silly attitiude to have.
There’s only one transporter room in The whole enterprise? I honestly doubt it.
You can imagine Kyle is in Transporter room 2 waiting for someone to remember he is there.
Obrian was allways in transporter room 3. The poor dude in Transporter room 1 probably died of starvation waiting for the cofee he once ordered. I can see it: “Wow mom! I’ve been assigned to transporter room 1! I’m the most important transporter chief in the ship!
>48. Diabolik – January 28, 2008
>“If we’ve never seen it before on TOS, it couldn’t have existed!”
>That’s the attitude some take toward this thing. It’s a silly attitiude to have.
Well, nobody has really said that it is wrong or anti canon not to have Kyle. We are all only playing “canon wars” because of inertia, but I don’t really find anyone angry about this.
Now I wait in eager anticipation to know the identity of the Enterprise’s Latrene Technician! ;)
#36 – What exactly makes you think longtime fans care about who’s running the transporter? There’s nothing that says it couldn’t have been the woman above. It’s not as though Kyle was the only one who ever ran the transporter.
Honestly, if you’re going to get caught up in details like that, I don’t know how you can possibly enjoy the movie (or really, Star Trek as a whole given all the errors, plotholes & inconsistencies contained within it).
Be pretty funny if they got Shatner to play Transporter Chief of Room 3 1/2. He can be in charge of transporting crew members from one transporter to the other within the ship that are too lazy to walk. He wears a red shirt and stands there nervously his entire shift with an iPod to keep him company. They make him go get doughnuts and coffee and call him do-boy. He’s also in charge of the Foreman Grill in the crewman’s breakroom (he makes the grilled-cheese sammiches). It’s a promotion from when he used to be the cologne/towel guy in the restroom on deck 11.
Wonderful actress, one can only hope her role as the “unnamed star trek transporter chief” will give her ‘range’ to demonstrate her talent
Just another transporter chief that’s going to have her shift at the moment Kirk decides to beam down. Mr. Kyle is probably just off duty.
Wow slow news day….
-Where are ‘the curves’..?(sorry ..is just a stupid joke..)..
36. ctiii:
Relax.
If you have visited this site at any time during the last few weeks you might have found ABUNDANT evidence that JJ and Co are NOT trying to “rub it in”..in fact they are bending over backwards to accomodate the fans in this new movie.
#56
Don’t apologize. I can’t count the number of stupid jokes that I and others have littered this site with! :)
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
I wonder if her name will be Scottie! Although that may prove too confusing! :)
http://TalkTrek.com – Talkin’ Trek, an episode at a time…
Another arguement that this is a BSG style reboot…lol
ABRAMS & CO. BETTER KEEP THOSE KOMONO-LIKE PAJAMAS…
…on their transporter chiefs, or I’m starting a hunger-strike.
Don’t know her but two things about this:
One – She is someone who made it out of her day job and into something she wants to be doing. Good for her. I applaud her on that.
Two – She looks like she’d ber a pleasant sight to see after beaming up.
* on a side note did anyone know that Pitcairn didn’t get to use his real voice and that Bob Anderson (the voice who gave Mr. Phelps his orders on Mission Impossible – and who later did a voice of one of the Providers) over dubbed the voice for him. At least that’s my recollection of him in the Cage? Does he ever make another appearance? Don’t guess his voice was deemed televison worthy.
#3
Exactly what I’m thinking :-)
First thing that popped into my head lol
#60 — it’s KIMONO, not KOMONO. I saw someone else type the same on some other thread :( couldn’t let it slip this time!
BTW, KOMONO in japanese means “accessory” so the sentence kind of would have made sense if you meant transporter chiefs need to glam up a bit with KOMONOs! :D
#41 JeFF – January 28, 2008
“Purists out there… you’re all in for one hell of a ride. I can’t wait to see your faces by the end of the movie… I hope you all make it.”
Not the Trek attitude, really. There’s nothing wrong with someone having a different opinion about the movie to yours (which I would describe as somewhat jingoistic, but I digress…). TOS purists should be just as welcome to complain about changes as you are welcome to embrace them.
A great actress, I saw her in many productions.
I bet many of the people who are saying “Kyle MUST be the transporter chief” are the same ones saying “Chekov can’t be in this because we never saw him until Season 2″.
The difference is in TWoK Khan SAID he saw Chekov on the Enterprise, thus making it canon that he was there in ‘Space Seed’. We DON’T know if Mr. Kyle was the transporter chief before ‘Tomorrow is Yesterday’, so unless Gary Mitchell, for example, comes back from the dead and tells Kyle “I know you — you were the Enterprise’s Transporter Chief, then the identity of the transporter chief before ‘TiY’ is fair game, canonically speaking.
Why not call her character “Kahn’ so when young Kirk, in danger on a planet, has to get a hurry- up transport he can just yell her name into his communicator…
and baffle the general movie-going public as to what that had to do with anything….
Face it, if we see anything or anyone who doesn’t “jibe” with what we think is canon from TOS….the simple answer is…..
Oh, THAT? That took place during the commercials…..m’yeah! :)
Wow, people reacting badly to this just goes to show how rabid some of the fanboyism is around Star Trek, really, get over it, and get laid.
#69
Me guess is that they all pee during the commercails as well as I dunna ever seen mention o’ space urinating on any ST incarnation…
Maybe they use the transporter to take out yon pee and such…
Maybe they just pee on the cannon…so ta speak… I know I have once or twice…
#36 – Get over it.
#64 -
Thanks for setting me straight! I wondered if I was typing that correctly! :)
# 65 – “TOS purists should be just as welcome to complain”
Unfortunately, that’s all that’s going to happen for the most part.
Well, Abrams and company must have been reading my mind.
I have been thinking for months this production needs more hispanics and women and here they go and do it in one move.
Proves they are making good decisions.
I think it’s awesome how so many real actors are being cast in small roles, instead of just extras. This movie is going to shine.
Don’t forget that Kyle is pronounced “Cowl,” according to Kirk, and that’s the almighty canon.
Actually I think he called him Cowl early on and softened up on that pronunciation later on.
#71
Actually, they just activate the transporter and pee into the beam…
Ok, sorry. Irrelevant to the thread and a bit too gtaphic.
THE LEVEL OF COMPLAINING I TAKE ISSUE WITH…
I know I’m not alone on this, but there’s nothing wrong with being a “TOS Purist”… it’s the ridiculous fringe-element that focuses on all the unessential design aspects and suspects that Abrams & Co. willfully want to “stick it” to the fans that drives me (and many others here) absolutely buggy.
This isn’t about just offering constructive, differing opinions… I’ve been only half-facetious about this in the past, but there’s something about STAR TREK and its history that, I’m sorry, brings out the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a lot of fans, which seems to be unnecessarily hindering their excitement and enjoyment at the prospect of a new STAR TREK film.
Most times I can laugh it off; other times it can get a little testy; but the nitpicking is always annoying. Get back to me when Abrams & Co. turn Kirk into a woman, make Spock a Klingon, have McCoy become the chief engineer and Scotty suddenly hails from New Jersey and THEN we can worry.
Hiring an actress to play a new, unidentified transporter chief is NOTHING to get riled-up about. Everything else looks like it’s going to be STAR TREK to me.
36.
You’ve gotta be kidding! Either that, or you belong in an SNL sketch the next time Shatner hosts. : )
#18
No, that would be Battlestar Galactica.
I hope everyone realizes that the article above is not implying that not having Kyle (or Pitcairn) is some kind of violation of canon. It was just added for extra flavor. JJA is certainly not ‘rubbing’ anything in by not bringing in Kyle. I do think that this actress is also adding more diversity to the cast…which is a good thing.
Gotta agree that if someone is getting hung up on a transporter technician
then they might as well bypass seeing the movie.
I mean seriously get some perspective please!
#80 silvereyes “they just activate the transporter and pee into the beam”
So, they use the transporter to pee into the beam
That would sure help explain the yellow stream
I would always prefer to flush
But then, I’m in no big rush
Your preference comes down to self-esteem!
For the record, I consider myself a purist, but NOTHING will hinder my enjoyment of this destined-to-be-historic movie!!!
JJ &co. have shown they CARE.
Hell, that’s why they hang out here!
I dunno, I like Pitcairn, he LOOKS like a Chief.
I’d trust him to scatter my molecules.
Cawley looks a little like Kyle…..maybe??
#86
It be not known where goes the transporting beam
I be weeing off in it with all o’ me pee
We don’t know that we got
Crossed circuits by Scott
It becomes my chicken sandwich and coffee.
arrrrr….
If they don’t have paper posters cut out and pasted in the top bridge viewscreens it’s a violation of canon and I refuse to see it. There MUST be paper viewscreens to match the established bridge images!!!!!
I boycott this travesty.
There is no female transporter chief. That is against canon. I know people will say who cares, but it is significant. The known crew of the enterprise under Pike should be the same!! This actually makes me mad.
Yes, because we KNOW that those two guys manning the transporter under Pike NEVER took a break and were always on duty.
Seriously, the ship is probably Kirk’s, not Pike’s, in that scene.
Oh, wait, you were kidding, like I was in my post #90.
#90
Yes indeed! And don’t forget the 60’s hairdos and the garish uniform and bridge set colors and the plywood sets. Let’s keep everything the same, regardless of whether or not it should be updated to reflect today’s way of thinking and style. Remember, when you make a mistake, the only way to go about dealing with it is to just keep making it over and over again. Change is evil!
As long as when she beams, we see the TOS stock-footage shot of Scotty’s hand’s on the slide-controls, we should all be fine.
And Spock called him Mr. KYLE in Mirror, Mirror, as did John Winston himself in TWOK.
I am glad that Marlene Forte is aboard.
Guys… you purists really need to wake up and smell the bacon!
lets be realistic here… this movie is set BEFORE TOS this means that:
a) It wont look exactly like TOS
b) James Kirk isnt a captain… (please correct me if this is wrong) therefore the crew will be different, lets face it McCoy and Chekov wernt in the first series(?) or episodes(?) so it would be fine to assume that there will be different crew members in addition to this guys.
c) following on from B… we never get to see the full crew, there are more people on the Enterprise.
d) Who says Kyle isnt the transporter chief?… there can be more than one! (e.g. on TNG O’Brien wasnt the only transporter guy/gal)
e) as for the look of the ship/uniforms etc… on “The Cage” the uniforms were more like payamas and didnt really look like TOS uniforms… (I really hope they keep the colour code, however!) So it would be fine to assume that, if this film is set before “The Cage” the uniforms would be slightly different again, like a miss-mash of Cage-era and ENT-era uniforms. With regards to the look of the ship… the NX01 looked too futuristic and that was suppose to be set way before TOS, so i think this Enterprise will be alot like “The Cage” Enterprise, but im expecting a more NX01 look to it… if that makes sense.
In conclusion… this movie will be different, and i for one welcome it… if it tells the same story with a familiar but not totally replicated feel then im a very happy chappy. i TRUST JJ, and all you purists should too, lets face it, if it wasnt for JJ then Trek would be dead-dead-dead-dead-ski. We all owe this man our gratitude for bringing the show we all grew up with, (no matter how old we are) and no matter how purist we may be.
End of speech.
Jay
We all owe this man our gratitude for bringing the show we all grew up with [BACK], (no matter how old we are) and no matter how purist we may be.
sorry had to edit this line, didnt make sense otherwise
Jay
#36 CTIII -
Please take this as a good-natured ribbing…
…but judging from the hornets-nest you stirred up and the responses to your original post… it looks like you got spanked.
#90- LOL!!!
And the paper bridge viewscreens MUST be wrinkled!!
#94- LOLOL!!
And the stock footage should be as grainy and shitty as possible!
OK people no need to pile on.
But it seems to me that a major shift away from the “it must look the same” attitude since the last few days, since Cawley’s turnaround, and as JJ and the others have given some answers. Now, the hardcore holdouts seem to be sliding down into the minority of those posting.
If we do see Pike’s enterprise in the movie? Then I really would expect to see Dr Philip Boyce and Pitcairn, Lt Kelso, of course Number 1 and the other known characters Why shouldn’t we?? It’s not asking too much, afterall they are part of the crew!! Also, the uniform is the uniform! Whether it looks like PJ’s or not. I like the old uniform….it is the uniform of starfleet in that period. Any change is not correct.
To remain true to TOS they should show the new actress in the long shots then cut to James Doohan’s hands operating the slider controls! I always found it funny when Scotty was part of the landing party but his hands could still operate the controls!
#95
I think the ‘purists’ were being a bit facetious :-)
By the way, Anthony P., thanks for all the effort that you put into this site. It gives me my daily dose of Trek, and is very much appreciated. If anyone gets a cameo, it should be you for all the work and effort that you put in here. Thanks!!
#103 Was the extra “e” intentional ;)?
P.S. Had to look up your word in a dictionary *G* Who says you don’t learn anything from Trek? ;)
Two words… gooseneck viewers.
If they sneak one in somewhere on Pike’s ship, I’ll wee-wee my little fan pants.
She’s hot.
#99 Anthony- Who? Me? Dammit Spock, it’s funny! And I’m in a good mood, for once.
#105- Oh yes. JJ? Gooseneck viewers. JUST one. Pretty please??
At LEAST one in-joke would be priceless.
The only female crewmembers I’ve seen operate the transporter were Rand and Marla McGivers. I think there was a 3rd, cant remember??But who cares who pushes the buttons!! I wish I had the job of cleaning up the crewman’s lounge.
When are they confirming Faran Tahir? It’s pointless to refuse to acknowledge him while his stuntman is listed in the credits on IMDB.
Teri Hatcher did it on TNG
Oh boy, she would make a great NUMBER ONE!!!
But, being in the transporter room, she’d be more like NUMBER FOUR HUNDRED AND TWELVE!
Too bad… hopefully, it will be a good roll for her, seems like she could really act!
Hells YES there MUST be gooseneck™ viewers!
I’ve said many a time I will walk out of the movie if my namesake ain’t on screen!
All in all this looks like it’s going to be a pretty dang good cast. The unfortunate thing is that most of them probably won’t have many scenes. The strangest bit of casting to me is Winona Ryder, but since I think she’s a babe it doesn’t really matter to me. I know she bugs a lot of people, but Winny is OK in my book.
Of course, without a good script, casting can only go so far. And directing. A prime example of this is Red Dragon. How in the world can you take Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Ralf Fiennes, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Philip Seymour Hoffman, an excellent Thomas Harris/Ted Tally screenplay, and make an average movie?
In spite of my nature, however, I feel good about Trek. I’m thinking this is where Abrams and Orci will finally get to shine. Most of their past work is good, but maybe they’ll really kick ass with this one.
We got a good reinvention of Batman, why not Star Trek as well?
#101–They have stated very clearly that anything which appears to violate canon will have a canon-inspired explanation. In other words, people, don’t rush to judgement.
wasnt there a woman who operated the transporter on TNG?
she was played by a real life astronaut if i recall correctly.
Granted she wasnt a transporter chief ,
but female officers operating the transporter isnt unheard of .
p.s. I wonder if she’ll have her hair done up in Classic Trek style… meow!!
Kyle must have taken too many hits from the AGONIZER so he had to be replaced.