Quotes

[about her character, "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa", on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)] I told George Takei that Ogawa was his great-granddaughter, and he said, 'Not too great, please; I'm not that old!'

[on how often she worked on Star Trek] I never knew when they'd want me. When I came back the second time I worked with Jonathan again, so I thought he was a good luck charm. After that there would be a month or two in between shows, and you never knew what they were going to write down the road. So there was no expectation on my part, which was probably a healthy thing; it wasn't until I got some thread of a storyline that I really allowed myself to feel a real part of the show; to be honest with you.

[on how she got involved with Star Trek] I had been reading for the show for a number of other episodes and characters and they actually hired me at one point to be on the bridge, but I was doing a commercial and I couldn't get out of the contract; it was a multiple-day shoot and I had already gone on camera one of the days, so they weren't able to release me. I was heartbroken, because I really wanted to be on the show!

[on how she got the part of "Nurse Alyssa Ogawa" on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)] There was a role in sickbay, so I read for it and got the part. I thought I would probably never come back because, on the show, everybody had aged and so I'd be a little girl when they went back to real time, but on the set, that day, Jonathan Frakes said, 'Oh, you'll be back!' Then, sure enough, a few episodes, later, they called me. I guess I got a little bit of help from above or something because, had they put me on the bridge, I probably wouldn't have been with the show long!

In this business you're selling who you are to a large degree; although you're playing other characters you bring those elements to the table, and it gets very limiting if producers think that a character must have strong cultural traits or must be a man or a woman. But I've been very lucky in that at times I've been cast in a role that was perhaps initially intended for a man, and it's been very nice that they'll consider other options; same thing, I think, with the cultural issue in that very often a part wasn't necessarily intended that way but then they've been open enough to consider it.

The episode that Gates directed, "Genesis", was fabulous, because I got to work with her as a director rather than just a colleague, and I thought how terrific. I was hoping that she would get to direct more episodes, and I'm sorry that we did that episode in the last year because, had it been any other year, I am convinced that she would have and should have directed a lot more. She was fabulous, and it was fun for me as an actor. It's always fun when a director knows how to get the best out of the other actors and really do a great job, and she has such a good visual eye. (When asked which of her Star Trek episodes stand out to her) 2017

Well, it's going to keep me young forever! When I'm long gone, people will still be watching old episodes. There's a part of my vanity that thinks, "Hey, that's pretty cool." (When asked about her Star Trek experience many years later) 2017