Trek Celeb Watch: Judge Kate, Hot Zoe, Nominee Stewart and… President Shatner?

This week we’re bringing you news on nominations for Patrick Stewart and Simon Pegg, Robert Picardo getting more work than he knows what to do with, and it’s ladies night at the Trek Celeb Watch as we have news on Kate Mulgrew, Nichelle Nichols, Zoe Saldana, Jeri Ryan and Terry Farrell! Plus… Shatner for president?

Everybody Still Loves Patrick!
Patrick Stewart‘s (Jean-Luc Picard) acclaimed performance in Robert Goold’s production of Macbeth continues to rack up awards and nominations. Playbill reports that the actor has now been nominated as Best Actor by the Laurence Oliver Awards, going up against his X-Men co-star, Ian McKellen. The actor was also among the guests at the South Bank Show Awards in London, according to The Independent. TrekMovie.com did a little digging (through YouTube) and located the former TNG captain.

Stewart applauds TrekMovie.com for their outstanding detective skills.

Judge Kate
Step aside, Judge Judy. Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway) has the gavel, and she’s not afraid to use it. Mulgrew will portray a conservative colonel, one of the three judges in The Response, a 30-minute film which recreates the U.S. military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. As reported by WTOP, Mulgrew had to push aside her own personal belief that the treatment endured by Guantanamo detainees is “absurd” in order to play the role.


It may not be Starfleet issue, but Mulgrew once again dons a uniform for The Response.

In the meantime, the “A Day with Friends” event that was to be hosted by Mulgrew and fellow Trek alum Samantha Eggar (Marie Picard in TNG’s “Family”) was canceled by the event’s organizers. The event was to take place on March 16th. The reasons for the cancellation is given on the organizer’s website as “circumstances beyond anyone’s control.” Bummer.

A lotta Picardo
TrekMovie.com has already reported that Robert Picardo (The Doctor) will become a full-time cast member on Stargate: Atlantis. Before we see him return to the role of Richard Woolsey, however, Bob will be performing in a concert called “A Beautiful Deception” at the Berger Performing Arts Center in Tucson, Arizona, on February 9th. Then, on June 20th and 21st, he and John de Lancie (Q) will be hosting a Toronto Symphony Orchestra called Star Trek: The Music at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. See The Star for more information on that.

In addition, Picardo will be seen in a slew of upcoming films, including two from award-winning director/producer Russ Emanuel, Chasing the Green and P.J.. The latter film was screened at the Park City Film Music Festival on January 20th and won the festival’s Bronze Medal for Excellence. Currently, Bob is shooting the independent film Sensored!.But wait, there’s more! Picardo will have a cameo in an independent film called The Assassinator 2. He’s not the only Trek alum doing so, however; Voyager’s former doctor will be joined by Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov) and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi).


Robert Picardo on the set of Sensored!

Takei’s Musical Trek
George Takei hosted the Minnesota Orchestra’s “To Boldly Go…” concert in Minneapolis this past Friday and Saturday, as reported by The Star Tribune. The concert featured music compositions from the various science fiction films and television shows, including those within the Star Trek franchise. Takei took over hosting duties from his TOS co-star Leonard Nimoy (Spock), who had to back out because was busy filming some movie you may have heard of called Star Trek. During his visit to the Twin Cities, Takei stopped by for an interview with Minnesota Public Radio; you can listen to it here.

Nichols’ Magdalene Scores
Lady Magdalene’s, the independent film starring Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), was named “Best Cutting Edge Film” at the San Diego Black Film Festival. The next screening for Lady Magdalene’s is scheduled to take place at the Los Angeles Backlot Film Festival in April.

Another film featuring Nichols, entitled Tru Loved, is scheduled to premiere at the Sedona International Film Festival in Sedona, Arizona, according to MediaRights. The festival begins February 27th, with Tru Loved scheduled to premiere the following day. Nichols plays the grandmother of a closeted gay football player in the movie. For more information on the film, see its official site.


The ladies of Lady Magdalene’s are ready to celebrate!

Nichols and Burton to Have a Ball
In more Nichols news, the actress will be among the guests at this year’s SF Ball in Boscombe, England, and TNG’s LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) will be joining her. The event will be held this weekend, Friday through Sunday, at the Carrington House Hotel. See The Dorset Echo for more information.

Speaking of LeVar Burton, Boston.com reports the former TNG star will be speaking at Wellesley College (in Massachusetts… duh) on February 20th. In his talk, entitled “The Making of Roots“, Burton will discuss … well, the making of Roots.

Saldana in the Spotlight….
Zoe Saldana, Star Trek‘s new Uhura, is on the rise in Hollywood. The actress is one of the ten up-and-coming stars gracing the Annie Liebowitz-shot yourself cover of next month’s Vanity Fair. (Click here for a behind-the-scenes look at the cover shoot.)


Zoe Saldana (far right), along with Alice Braga and Ellen Page, on the cover of Vanity Fair. Wow….

…and Incognito (or not)
Saldana is so hot that she’s now being sought by the paparazzi. TMZ caught the actress as she was leaving a party, but she didn’t seem keen on having her picture taken, as this videoshows.


Does Zoe’s ride promote drinking while driving?

Pegg’s Empire
Simon Pegg (Star Trek‘s new Scotty) has been nominated as Best Actor by the 2008 Empire Awards for his performance in the film Hot Fuzz, which he also co-wrote. That film is also nominated as Best Comedy and Best British Film. Pegg’s Run, Fat Boy, Run is also up for Best Comedy.

In addition, Transformers (written by Star Trek scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) is up for Best Sci-fi/Fantasy film, while Ratatouille (featuring music by Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino) is up for both Best Comedy and Best Film. People may cast votes for their favorite nominees through February 25th. For the full list of nominees and to cast your vote, see Empire Online.

Logan Crushed About Crusher
In the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine, Star Trek Nemesis screenwriter John Logan discussed the scene he wrote for the film in which it was revealed that Wesley Crusher had not only returned to Starfleet but would be serving aboard the USS Titan. This scene, of course, was deleted, and even if it had been added, Logan wasn’t permitted to go into as much detail as he wanted regarded Crusher’s mysterious return following the events of TNG’s “Journey’s End.”

I totally accept, as a fan, the idea of him going back to Starfleet – that he’d been through this [Traveler] experience, and it has led him back home again. The idea that he is going to be part of that [Titan] crew and that family, that the Crusher family will continue on with Will and Deanna, I thought was really neat.

For the full interview, pick up the latest issue of Star Trek Magazine (excerpt from TrekWeb).

Shatner For President?
The LA Times has already noted that Leonard Nimoy is supporting Barack Obama’s campaign for president, but his friend and colleague, William Shatner, has been mum on which presidential candidate he is backing. According to The Spoof, however, Shatner has the perfect candidate in mind. Calling a press conference in his living room, the actor stated:

Let me make this clear. I am not a candidate for president. I am not running for anything. I only want to make it clear to all the voters, that if they are not happy with any of the current candidates, I will happily accept their votes, and if elected I will serve in the office to the best of my ability.

[Just in case you hadn’t figured it out, The Spoof is a parody site… i.e., it’s a joke.]

QuickBits

  • According to Hollywood Reporter, Kimberly LoCascio has been named Paramount’s senior vp production, visual effects. As such, she will be overseeing the visual effects work on the new Star Trek film.
  • Trek writer and producer Eric Stillwell has invited fans to attend a special screening of TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” on February 8th and a sci-fi TV writers’ workshop presented by himself, Lolita Fatjo, and Mary Conley on February 9th. See TrekWeb for furll details.
  • A biography on TOS art director and designer Matt Jefferies, entitled Beyond the Clouds and written by Jefferies’ brother, Richard L. Jefferies, is now available for pre-order at MattJefferies.com.
  • Chris Pine (the new James T. Kirk) stars in the romantic comedy Blind Dating, which was released this week on DVD. You can order it now at Amazon.com.
  • DS9’s Armin Shimerman (Quark) discusses “Rule One” – essentially the “prime directive” of the various acting unions – in a report at BackStage.com.
  • Jeri Ryan‘s Seven of Nine, Michael Dorn‘s Worf, and Terry Farrell‘s Jadzia Dax are among Entertainment Weekly’s 17 Heavenly Bodies of Sci-Fi.


Heavenly doesn’t even begin to describe it…

In Memoriam
Viola Stimpson, the 101-year-old actress who played the old lady in Dr. Gillian Taylor’s tour of the Cetacean Institute in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, has that died in her Tarzana, California home on January 14th. Trekkies may remember her for suggesting that the George the whale was singing to Spock, who had suddenly appeared in the whale tank.

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Huh now I know it is late.

I really hope the new uniforms include miniskirt varients. Zoe looks great in the photoshoot.

I would have liked to know what happened to Wesley,shame they couldn’t have cleared that up!

Amen on the miniskirt wish.

And what is it with cuteness and the name “Zoe” in SF? Zoe was sexy in Firefly; Zoe was cute in Doctor Who, Zooey Deschanel spells it funny, but she was adorable in Hitchhiker’s Guide, and now we’ve got a pretty Zoe for Trek …

I really don’t know why people are making such a big flap about Zoe Saldana…she only has visible eyes if you encrust them with tons of mascara. Otherwise they disappear into a not-so-pretty face…seriously people, I just don’t get it.

Just a quick one. Kirsten Dunst is not in “Run fatboy Run”, she is in the upcoming Pegg film “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People”.

#6 Is this a movie about Trekkies? ;)

Viola dead? She had such a lovely little role in ST IV. I always liked that senile scene. :-)

Just FYI, it appears the writer’s strike is over.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23057002?

7 of 9. More like 10 of 10!!!!!

sorry to hear about viola stimpson, 101 not a bad age to get to tho!
i still piss everytime she says “maybe he singing to that man!”

r.i.p.

#6, 7

And will Abrams be directing it? :)

I had no idea thre was a matt jefferies web site, much less a bio coming out soon. I’ll be picking that up for sure, thanks for the tip!

Why is Jeri Ryan always thought of the sexiest woman in Trek?

Hello, anyone heard of Jolean Blalock?

Jolean’s farr prettier and a much better actress than Ryan. Hollywood just doesn’t know what to do w/ an actress when they have a forthright sort of attitude. Remember what happened to Sean Young when she publicly requested the role of Catwoman in Batman Returns. It’s just too bad Hollywood still is sexist in the way they treat their actresses.

Plus, Sean Young has a rather destructive drink problem, which is why she was escorted from the DGA awards for heckling.

– I love Star Trek …!

15# Why is Jeri Ryan always thought of the sexiest woman in Trek?

Hello, anyone heard of Jolean Blalock?

I heard of, but diferent persons are bound do have diferent tastes I guess.

To me skinny legs and silicone allways were a major turn off.

7 of 9 >>ensign Robin Lefter>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>all others

Wow! I don’t get it… why do some people feel it okay to say such rude things on the net?

My mama used to say “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing!”

#5: says you…

— on to other notes

1) My God, Nichelle Nichols looks great! What a cool lady!

2) I would have liked to have seen more of Wesley Crusher in “Nemesis” Stinkers to the editors who felt they had to make the film soooo concise… and that they didn’t re-insert his–and other character moments– on the DVD. “Nemesis” was an okay movie, but not the first-class send-off the fine crew of ST:TNG deserved!

3) Anyone know if Majel Barrett is providing the computer voice for the big E? and … If there are no mini-skirts in the movie I am boycotting. :-D

I am soooo kidding!

Majel Barrett has provided the voice of the Enterprise Computers ever since the show’s inception. I believe she gets credit for voiceovers for that since 1966. It’s like, show tradition that Majel gets to do the computer voices.

Speaking of which-has anyone decided who plays Christine Chapel? That’s a somewhat critical role in the series, given Christine’s feelings towards Spock.

Finally: Zoe Saldana: Mirror Universe uniform. It Must Happen.

15# Why is Jeri Ryan always thought of the sexiest woman in Trek?

Hello, anyone heard of Jolean Blalock?

I heard of, but I guess diferent persons are bound to have diferent tastes

To me skinny legs and silicone always were a mjor turn off, so i my scale

7 of 9 >> ensign Lefler »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» others

The fifth season of Stargate Atlantis will be the last.
The way the producers have foolishly played musical chairs
with cast & replaced interesting characters with non-interesting
characters, seals their fate. Richard Woolsey? Come On!
The Bromance between Sheppard & McKay is not anuff.
Looks like Stargate Atalantis is a big sausage party now!

Richard Woolsey is a guest character, nothing more.
Kind of a bad guy really. Annoying. Nobody you want to follow.
Get Dr. Weir back!

Anyway I should copy & paste this into the Gate World message board.
Sorry to rant about this on the (Best) Star Trek site.
Thing is Stargate Atlantis rips of Star Trek so hard,
its hard for me to tell the difference sometimes.

Double post

arrrr… sexiest woman in Trek? What bout Chekov’s drill thrall? Harrr…

SORRY, I’LL TAKE ZOE SALDANA…

…over the “enhanced” likes of Jolene Blalock and Jeri Ryan any day.

Frankly, I find Ezri to be better than all of them. Maybe I like short women? :/

#26- BTW, did you catch her on that Outer Limits ep?? Wow.
(My wife is 5’2′. I’m 6’2′. Nuff said!)

on a bit of a lark, I followed the link for the sexy sci-fi folks…

What in the blazes be thar?!! Some sort of cow lady who’s making me feel all funny… but rather in a good way…

On tha same site is picture of Mr. Stewart as Macbeth and I find it interesting that he is in more modern garb- maybe a MacBeth set in tha forties? Much like Ian McKellan’s Richard III movie… After his First Contact performance, I can really see Patrick killing a bunch o’ scotties…

Can I make up some news… maybe Wesley in a min-skirt endorsing Shatner’s politics while Picardo and Pegg begin re-booting the ol’ Cheech & Chong franchise?

arrrrr….

I’ll take the Blalock on rye with nothing on it! :)

I’ve long awaited a lovely Asian female in the main crews and finally in the last series we got Hoshi Sato. A beauty who required very little enhancement and had a few satisfying episodes. She’s got my vote. Judging by what people are paying for her costunes on eBay, I see others like her as much as I do.

Celeb “Watch”…. ahhhh… much better!

Especially after watching pappanazis chase around Britney’s vehicle in the middle of a multi-lane highway on foot. Stalker morons.

Best Trek females ever…. I’d have to consider people like
Emily Banks as Yeoman Tonia Barrows in TOS… or
Sherry Jackson as Andrea in TOS… or
Teri Hatcher as Lt Robinson in TNG….

TNG really blew it not to find a way to make Teri Hatcher’s character recurring….

Of all the “canon violations” to beef about, I can’t believe people are saying they’ll be mad if there are no miniskirts in the movie!! How sexist – unless you guys are just joking.

I wouldn’t mind if the women wore pants; that would be closer to Gene’s vision, anyway (look at the TOS episodes where HE had direct control over the content (rather than NBC executives), like “The Cage” or “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Notice how the women are wearing trousers, too…

The first few episodes of Season One of TOS had a few trouser versions of the black-collared female duty uniform snuck in there, too. They’re hard to spot, and usually only worn by background crew-women, so you have to be on the lookout. :D

Ah, Kate in an Army uniform. Reminds me of the good ol’ days of “Remo Williams”

As far as the lovely women of sci-fi, it’s an old standby trick to sell magazines. You’ll seldom hear anything of substance about the actresses, it’s just eye candy for the fanboys. Not that I’m saying that eye candy is a bad thing. ;) But a little substance in the writing department would be nice, too.

Shatner is Canadian (born in Montreal) so that’s it for his chances of being elected for president!

Will all due respects to the ladies in the Vanity Fair cover picture, somebody feed those women! As far as Seven of Nine’s picture… Did her body glove suit make Voyager a better show? Guys, don’t you even care that the show’s creators were manipulating you with this eye candy? And to the woman, didn’t it insult you to have this woman used as an object? Same goes for T’Pol…

#34–No, her body suit did not make it a better show. As much as I love to see beautiful women, I think you are exaggerating its effect. I do not feel “manipulated” at all. As for T’Pol, you are underestimating her character on the show. She played an important role on the ship. She held authority over men, and her opinion was respected. It seems you are discriminating against her because she is good-looking. An object? You are selling her short. There is nothing wrong with being smart AND sexy!

#32–And if Gene had his way, we would probably be fighting over Jeffrey Hunter (and whether he should be in the new film)half of the time, right?

I’ll take the miniskirts. Is that really sexist? Really?

25# SORRY, I’LL TAKE ZOE SALDANA…

…over the “enhanced” likes of Jolene Blalock and Jeri Ryan any day.

Enhanced is good and I chalenge anyone who says otherwise :) of course is not everything, so as I said Ashley Judd ranks up there

#35

Of course there’s nothing wrong with being smart and sexy, which was the case for T’Pol and Seven. Both these characters were pivotal to their respective shows. So why did the show creators need to go over the top with their appearance if not to draw in the male crowd (hence my reference to manipulation)? What you say about T’Pol being influencial on the ship is perfectly true and that’s precisely the point. The cat suits were unnecessary.

I don’t know whether I’m just showing my age or that I am just nuts about red hair but you guys can Jeri Ryan….send me Gates McFadden!

#38–Unnecessary? Perhaps–but certainly pleasing to the eye. I don’t think it was any less necessary than Kirk’s shirt being ripped every chance there was. Sex is a part of our humanity, and I certainly hope for future generations that it will remain so throughout the 22nd-24th centuries. It has always been a big part of Star Trek–that’s for sure.

Oh yes, Jolene is a tremendous actress. She was in ‘Slow Burn’ with Ray Liotta. Remember that one? Yeah, neither does anyone else.

Jolene is pretty and all, but not half the actress Jeri Ryan is. She’s stuck in direct-to-dvd hell, which is probably for the best.

As long as we’ve semi-veered into a sexiest-in-Trek subthread, my choices:

#1: Jadzia Dax in TOS uniform in “Trials and Tribble-ations”.
#2: Tasha Yar in that slinky number from “The Naked Now”
#3: Beverly Crusher, early TNG (in general)
#4: Lt. Uhura, TOS (in general)
#5 Jadzia Dax when not in TOS uniform.
#6: Dr. Gillian Taylor, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
#7: Tasha Yar, first-season TNG (in general)

So, essentially my Top Five list, but with two single-episode knockout specials on top. Also note that #5 and #6 are highly unstable and will oscillate at random. Further research may reveal this as an inexhaustible energy source of use to the Federation.

Silvereyes, it’s simple. Because people like to look at pretty stuff. Art, clothing, and people. It’s genetic. The producers of ALL TV and motion picture productions count on this as more people watching means more $$$. Star Trek was and is about making someone some loot while, hopefully, telling a good story.

I think that as fans, we have a tendency to put too noble a spin on our beloved show. To take the fine point off of it, Star Trek is a diversion, not the means to further mankind.

# 32, 36
I’d like ta see Jeffrey Hunter in tha new film. particularly since he’s been dead fur over 35 years…. Thar’s a corpse in command…
(wait, isn’t that Picard?)
cheep shot thar

how come no one mentioned a green girl as sexy yet… or have I missed that being pre-occupied with the cow bird on the sci-fi sexy link?….

Schwartzeneger/Shatner 08: Not natural born but screw tha Consitution (and it’s class)- we’ll bomb ya then give ya free healthcare…

Good platform for ya Yanks… yarrr…

#42–Don’t forget Marlena from TOS “Mirror, Mirror”!

#46–I know that no birthday party of mine would be complete without an almost naked Orion Slave girl seducing me with her eyes and her tantalizing hips.

And compared to one James Tiberius Kirk—the Frenchman with the British accent, who also happens to drink Earl Grey, was indeed a corpse in command!!!

Troi and Hoshi Sato get my vote.

#47–Troi?…(yawn), but Hoshi can check my linguistic database anytime!

#45: You’re absolutely right. I was focusing on characters that had either a full-movie or full-season role, but Marlena Moreau would definitely make the list if I had a good enough memory to include characters who didn’t get _nearly_ enough screen-time :) Heck, about a third of the TOS episodes had candidates for that list …

#46-(#46?)-yeah, #46, I think-Closettrekker

It takes me HOURS to convince my wife to put the green make-up on for my birthday.

And I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see a Borg in heels. It makes perfect sense, you know.