Star Trek: Voyager‘s Robert Beltran praises what Genevieve Bujold, the original actor cast as Captain Janeway, would have brought to the role. Beltran played Commander Chakotay for seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager opposite Kate Mulgrew, who became iconic as Captain Kathryn Janeway after she replaced Bujold.
Academy Award nominee Genevieve Bujold as Star Trek’s first female Captain to lead a TV series was a casting coup for Voyager. However, a few days into production, it became clear that Bujold, a feature film actress, could not acclimate to the demands of TV production. Bujold soon quit, and production shut down until Kate Mulgrew took over as the new Captain Janeway.
Appearing as a guest on The D-Con Chamber, Robert Beltran told hosts Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer of his first days on Star Trek: Voyager’s set, which coincided with Genevieve Bujold’s all-too-brief stint as Captain Janeway. Beltran says Bujold was the reason he wanted to be cast on Voyager. Robert praises the often-mocked way Bujold played Janeway, and he laments the “totally new, totally original, unique” Star Trek Captain Genevieve could have been. Read Robert’s quote below:
Robert Beltan: When I auditioned, Genevieve Bujold was gonna be the Captain. And that’s what won it for me, because I wanted to work with her. I’d seen her in, for instance, Anne of the Thousand Days… Just beautiful. So I wanted to work with her, and I was very, very disappointed when she quit.
We only passed on the set. I was doing tattoo experiments with Michael Westmore, and she was shooting already. I think Tim [Russ] was shooting with her, and Robbie [Duncan-McNeill]. I passed her one day, and she had this glazed look in her eyes. I had already heard rumors that maybe she wasn’t gonna be around for too long. When I saw her with those glazed eyes, when I passed her, I thought, ‘Wow. Too bad. Too bad.’
But see, everybody criticized this scene that has been shown of her on the bridge, saying [whispers], “Fire.” Instead of what Patrick Stewart would do, or even Kate. “Fire!” I saw her do that. I was behind the camera watching her do that. And I thought, ‘That’s so brave. That’s a brave choice.’ Everybody made fun of her, but I thought, ‘Okay, anybody can do “Fire!”’ But can you summon up what she did?
I think that [Voyager’s producers and director] anticipated that she had a slower rhythm for TV than what is necessary to shoot a film… I think that her choices were so unusual that they thought, ‘Uh, this may not work.’ They wanted that, I don’t want to say stereotypical… Kate ended up being a very good Captain. Genevieve would have brought something totally new, totally original, unique.
You can watch Robert Beltran’s appearance on The D-Con Chamber below, with his comments about Genevieve Bujold and Star Trek: Voyager starting around the 33-minute mark:
As the oft-told story goes, Star Trek: Voyager’s executive producers were overjoyed at casting Genevieve Bujold, an acclaimed film actress and Oscar nominee, but Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman felt it wouldn’t work. Bujold was used to the slower pace of shooting feature films and wanted luxuries like “getting to know her directors” that weren’t possible in TV production.
Unfortunately, as Berman predicted, Genevieve Bujold buckled under the fast, demanding pace of shooting network television, especially since Star Trek: Voyager existed in an era that required 22-26 episodes per year. After Bujold quit, Star Trek: Voyager‘s production shut down for days as Kate Mulgrew stepped into the role of Captain Janeway, whose name was changed to Kathryn from Bujold’s version, named Nicole Janeway.
Ultimately, Kate Mulgrew distinguished herself as one of the all-time great Star Trek Captains, and her seven years as Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager garnered a new generation of fans. Janeway, who was a Science Officer before she became a Captain, inspired countless young men to pursue careers in STEM. In 2021, Mulgrew reprised Admiral Kathryn Janeway and other versions of her Starfleet icon in Star Trek: Prodigy.
Interestingly, Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ executive producer Mike McMahan briefly considered bringing back Bujold as Captain Janeway from somewhere in the Multiverse, but he demurred out of respect for Kate Mulgrew.
Genevieve Bujold as Captain Janeway is one of the great ‘What Ifs?’ of Star Trek, and Robert Beltran feels that Bujold would have been something special if she’d been able to adjust to Star Trek: Voyager‘s demanding production.
- Release Date
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January 16, 1995
- Network
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UPN
- Showrunner
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Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Kenneth Biller
- Directors
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David Livingston, Winrich Kolbe, Allan Kroeker, Michael Vejar
- Writers
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Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor
