“It Made No Sense”: DS9 Actor Explains Her Plan To Also Play Star Trek: Voyager’s Captain Janeway

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor revealed she also wanted to play Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager simultaneously. Visitor portrayed Major (later Colonel) Kira Nerys for seven seasons of Deep Space Nine, and Nana returned to voice Kira in an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3. Visitor also authored Star Trek: Open A Channel: A Woman's Trek, which explored the evolution of Star Trek's female characters and the actors who portrayed them.

TrekMovie interviewed Nana Visitor at the red carpet of Universal Studios Fan Fest, where Visitor joined other Star Trek personalities to celebrate the opening of the Star Trek: Red Alert attraction. When asked about her plan to play both Major Kira and Captain Janeway, Visitor confirmed that she once had this ambition and even tried to talk Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman into it. However, Visitor also admitted, "It made no sense." Read Nana's quote below:

I didn’t care how it would work. I cared that I felt like I could do it! I wanted to play both roles. And I thought there, you know, it’s just across the street. It’s a quick makeup change. I can do it. Separate all the scenes that she’s got for the week, put them on these days. Major Kira on others. It would have been a nightmare for them. Of course, for so many reasons, it made no sense. But when you’re passionate about something, sometimes you don’t make a lot of sense.

Why Nana Visitor Wanted To Play Both Major Kira & Captain Janeway

It Was A Bold Plan, Even If It Didn't Make Sense

Although Nana Visitor was already embodying a revolutionary Star Trek female character in Major Kira Nerys, it's understandable why Nana would have had ambitions to lobby for the role of Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. Janeway is a groundbreaking character as the first female Captain to be the lead of a Star Trek series. There was great interest in who could play that role, with prestigious French Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold originally cast as Captain Elizabeth Janeway before quickly exiting the role.

Amusingly, Nana Visitor believed it was logistically possible for her to bounce between the Star Trek: Voyager sets to play Janeway while still playing Kira on Deep Space Nine. However, even Nana realized it would be impossible from a production standpoint, and her scheme couldn't work. Of course, Kate Mulgrew replaced Genevieve Bujold and turned Captain Kathryn Janeway into an iconic character who has inspired generations of Star Trek fans.

Our Take On Nana Visitor Playing Captain Janeway

Nana Also Knew It Could Never Work

Nana Visitor's plan to simultaneously play Major Kira and Captain Janeway was certainly bold, but she also knew it was nonsensical and could never work. Even if she were somehow cast, the physical demands of playing the lead role of one Star Trek series and the co-lead of another would be impossible to endure. Still, Captain Janeway was one of the most sought-after roles in Hollywood in the early 1990s, and it's understandable why Visitor wanted to play the first female Captain to lead a Star Trek series.

Nana Visitor is proud of what she accomplished as Major Kira on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a role and a TV show that has only become more relevant and powerful in the decades since its syndication run in the 1990s. Kira was a complex and groundbreaking character in her own right, especially as someone who isn't part of Starfleet. Nana Visitor couldn't have simultaneously played Major Kira on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, but it's still fascinating to imagine the 'What If?' of Nana in command of the USS Voyager.