Considering all the TV work she's had since, I doubt Ms Forbes would regret not signing onto Trek full time. From a Trek fan's perspective, I wish she had, because she was always great in her Trek appearances, but Trek is only a small part of the TV world. Still, if they ever make another Star Trek series, I'd love to see her guest star at some point.
Michelle Forbes
- Thread starter Spork111
- Start date
Just a crazy thought, how well do you think a recasting of the part of Ro Laren would have gone over? Even during the TNG run just so they could have someone there full time?
Recasting made no sense. There was no reason for Ro Laren to be the only Bajoran in the Trek 'verse, and she was already written out of TNG. Though, yes, there was an obvious setup for her to show up somewhere on DS9. I think a recurring role as Maquis Superwoman would've worked well on DS9. She could've very easily been a regular given the premise of Starfleet and Maquis forced to work together. Didn't Chakotay basically ape her backstory about Starfleet officer gone Maquis? Anyway, given that the Starfleet/Maquis tension didn't really last much beyond the pilot, Ro on Voyager probably would've been just as disappointing as the rest of the show.
I could see why not being a regular could be appealing. Even if you're just doing guest stints on shows... it's not the constant grueling production schedule... you're in and out in chunks. Presumably you get paid more if you measure on a 'per episode' basis than the series regulars as well. Another benefit is if you're billed as a guest star then chances are you'll actually have interesting scenes that matter to the plot... and not have pointless background busywork that say a Garrett Wang had to muddle through as a regular.
Also, who's to say that DS9 was going to have a 7 year run anyway? If it got canned after a season it wouldn't be the first spinoff of a popular show to do so.
I could see why not being a regular could be appealing. Even if you're just doing guest stints on shows... it's not the constant grueling production schedule... you're in and out in chunks. Presumably you get paid more if you measure on a 'per episode' basis than the series regulars as well. Another benefit is if you're billed as a guest star then chances are you'll actually have interesting scenes that matter to the plot... and not have pointless background busywork that say a Garrett Wang had to muddle through as a regular.
Also, who's to say that DS9 was going to have a 7 year run anyway? If it got canned after a season it wouldn't be the first spinoff of a popular show to do so.
Actually, she was only written out (and defected to the Maquis) near the end of season 7 of TNG, when DS9 had been going on for almost two seasons already.
Chakotay didn't have the same backstory, since he resigned from Starfleet before joining the Maquis. Ro's situation is more similar to Eddington, Cal Hudson or Tom Riker, who defected while they were still Starfleet officers.
Yeah, Michelle Forbes seems to have done really well for herself, more power to her. But Kira is a great character, and I think Nana Visitor should be proud of what she accomplished on DS9 (in addition to her other roles obviously, though I confess I haven't really paid much attention to what else she's done).
As I go back through DS9 I'm impressed by the sheer quantity of good to excellent Kira-centric material there is over seven seasons. This is partly do to the writers having a strong vision for the character throughout, but a lot of the credit has to go to the actress as well.
My mistake, it's been like 20 years after all
Maybe Ro would've made more sense given that... I don't think the show missed out much by inventing the Kira character, though I would imagine Michelle Forbes would've been a bit better in the role than Nana Visitor.
But just because Chakotay resigned first doesn't make him much different. They made him a Maquis with Starfleet experience so that it would be easy to plug him high up in the chain of command.
I don't agree. I think Nana Visitor was awesome as Kira, she's a huge part of the reason why I love the character so much.
I imagine that there is a lot more resentment among the Starfleet officers for people who defected straight from the Starfleet to the Maquis, , than for someone who first resigned before going to the Maquis. Picard would certainly feel betrayed by Ro, and we know how angry Sisko was at Eddington.
