WITH IMMACULATE set design and big budget special effects now de rigeur for today s sci-fi blockbusters, what is unique about Star Trek: First Contact is that it succeeds without the presence of one major movie superstar. Indeed, despite the fact that its cast is culled from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, this latest film in Paramount s ongoing pledge to release one Star Trek movie per year is vastly superior to everything which has gone before, with the possible exception of The Wrath Of Khan.
It s no small tribute then to the cast who have moved seamlessly from the box to the silver screen and whose talents range from Shakespeare (Patrick Stewart) to comedy (Brent Spiner) to mime (Gates McFadden).
I started acting at about eight, explains McFadden, and I d done dance from about three, so I was always involved in that kind of training. I was then fortunate to get into a masterclass of 30 chosen people under Jacques Le Coq from Paris and he became my great mentor. I also went over to Paris and studied in his school for a couple of years, coming back to the States as his assistant and teaching his techniques, evolving it into my own style. For Le Coq, mime is not like Marcel Marceau s mime, it s more like silence, what happens in between words.
Indeed, I recall a photo of McFadden, sitting the wrong way on a chair with her legs draped over its back, and her ankles crossed, the apparent discomfort of the pose belied the serene expression on her face.
I remember that shoot! she smiles, I like things that are physical. I like doing my own stunts, stage combat, Aikido, any kind of movement thing, especially where something leads to another thing, where you re taking the energy of someone else and turning it into something. I was a choreographer, that s really fascinating. My spine couldn t take the Aikido eventually, I was too thin and kept bruising. Any ritualised movement though, I find really intriguing.
In acting terms, one of McFadden s more prestigious guest appearances has been on Dream On, a quirky television comedy hinging on sharp editing from the movie archives, and currently showing on Sky One each Saturday.
I loved that series, she confesses. Brian Benben (male lead) is extraordinary. Funny thing is, two of the writers and producers of it were students of mine! Thank God I gave them an A ! It was really wild, though, when I went for an audition and there they were! I loved it because I got to play a bimbo!
Does she think that Brent Spiner, who plays the android Data in Star Trek with some zest and no little comic prowess, will now progress beyond the Star Trek universe and establish himself as a star in his own right?
I think it s definitely started to happen for Brent, reveals McFadden. In fact, he s just done a movie with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, and he s getting to use his comic talents. I m delighted for him.
Does she watch science fiction herself?
I ve always loved things like the Alien films but, because I was doing so much theatre I didn t get to watch much television. I m always behind on current films, and I ve been dying to see Michael Collins.
No doubt, then, she hasn t seen Babylon 5, with its darker vision of the future than Star Trek s optimistic idealism and which is far superior to either Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?
I ve only seen part of one episode of Babylon 5, which I enjoyed, she admits. Even though this Star Trek movie is a darker one, it has more edge, the thing about First Contact that s different from the bleakness of the Alien movies is that, although The Borg are bleak and scary, the crew is together at the end. There is a sense that if we support each other and work together in a spirit of tolerance, then we ll still be here in the future and life will be better.
But who wants to spend it in a spaceship?
Well, that depends on the cause I suppose, she concludes. If it s to a good end, then maybe it s worth being in a spaceship. n