I think I am going to meet with Zoe and let her pick my brain if she wants to, but I would like to hold that in abeyance to see what she, because she’s such a lovely actress and creative actress herself. I’d love to wait and see what she brings to it so that I can understand, so that I can get to see who and what Uhura was like and what the qualities were that Uhura, Nyota Uhura had that qualified her to go on that first five-year mission where no man or woman had gone before. I think she might bring some interesting new qualities to the character.
Some people view Gene as a man with a wild futuristic utopian fantasy, but that’s too simple. Star Trek did not promise that people would magically become inherently “better,” but that they would progress, always reaching for their highest potential and noblest goals, even if it took centuries of taking two steps forward and one step back. Ideally, humankind would be guided in its quest by reason and justice. The ultimate futility of armed conflict, terrorism, dictatorial rule, prejudice, disregard for the environment, and exercising power for its own sake was demonstrated time and again.
I’ve grown up just thinking that what people refer to as powers are natural extension of our lives, of our abilities, and are hidden somewhere in that 90% of our brain that even Einstein hadn’t used yet.
I think anybody with any intelligence sits down and sees Star Trek not a kids' show.
It was towards the end of the show and I was really considering leaving the show, for no other reason than I wanted to return to the theatre. I went in to talk to Gene - this was I was getting up nerve to tell him I was leaving the show, but at this point I went in and I said "Gene, I've been watching each of the episodes and they each get better and better" and I said, "And I discovered something: you're writing morality plays." And he said, "Shhh. They haven't figured it out yet."
As I soon learned, this was the dream to which Gene had alluded so often in the past. Interestingly, though he’d said many times before that there might be something in this for me, that day I won a part that had yet to be created. It was only after I’d been brought on board, and Gene and I conceived and created her, that Uhura was born. Many times through the years I’ve referred to Uhura as my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the twenty-third century. Gene and I agreed that she would be a citizen of the United States of Africa. And her name, Uhura, is derived from Uhuru, which is Swahili for “freedom.” According to the “biography” Gene and I developed for my character, Uhura was far more than an intergalactic telephone operator. As head of Communications, she commanded a corps of largely unseen communications technicians, linguists, and other specialists who worked in the bowels of the Enterprise, in the “comm-center.” A linguistics scholar and a top graduate of Starfleet Academy, she was a protégée of Mr. Spock, whom she admired for his daring, his intelligence, his stoicism, and especially his logic. We even had outlined exactly where Uhura had grown up, who her parents were, and why she had been chosen over other candidates for the Enterprise’s five-year mission.
Well my mother was a genuine psychic. She never went into business for it, but she could interpret dreams. She dreamed and other things, and sensory things. If I walked into the house and something was bothering me, and I was always the kind to shelter my loved ones from my problems. I walked out, my mother would say okay sit down and tell me what’s the matter. I’d burst out crying. I’d walk in the house. "Hi I’m home. Guess what I did today?" And she says, "sit down - tell me what’s the problem". And she knew before I knew everything. She knew when people were in trouble and she knew when people were pregnant before they did sometimes. And I grew up with this as a natural thing. It was not a phenomena to me until I grew up and people reacted to it. And I realized that this is something that not everyone has.
All the people in Star Trek will always be known as those characters. And what characters to have attached to your name in life! The show is such a phenomenon all over the world.
In "Plato's Stepchildren," Uhura and Kirk were supposed to kiss under duress from their captors. It became an issue with the director and Gene Roddenberry finally decided to shoot the scene with and without the kiss. Bill Shatner kept kissing until there was only time for one more take. When the camera zoomed in, Bill crossed his eyes and the director didn't notice it until the next day in dailies. Of course the last scene was unusable and they had to go with the kiss scene, which became history as the first interracial kiss on TV.
Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game. It's about where we are and where we're going. Space travel benefits us here on Earth. And we ain't stopped yet. There's more exploration to come.
Uhura never had another name during the series. One of the fan writers wrote "Upenda" - which means "peace" in Swahili, I understand -- not officially, but in some of their fan writings. And it sort of took hold. But when they were going to do the official history of Star Trek in a published book, the writer called Gene and asked him was "Uhura" her first name or her last name? Gene said, "Well, Nichelle and I never decided." We always leaned towards it being her last name because it's taken from the Swahili "uhuru" which means freedom. So it would sort of be like the same as "Freeman." So he said, "You can make it her last name." The writer said, "What about her first name? I've come up with one in Swahili. It's Nyota." Gene said, "I can't give you that permission because Nichelle and I named her together, and she has rights to that, so you'll have to call her and get her permission." So he gave him my number, and he called me and I laughed and was delighted. He said, "I have a name and it's Nyota." I said, "That's quite beautiful. What does it mean?" He said, "It means 'star'." I said, "You can have my permission!" So I have since said that her name is Nyota Upenda Uhura, which would mean a free-floating star: "star of freedom and peace". I like that.
I was very blessed in always knowing what I wanted to do, and by the grace of God I've been able to succeed in my chosen career.
Star Trek represented, and still does represent, the future we can have, a future that is beyond the petty squabbles we are dealing with here on Earth, now as much as ever, and are able to devote ourselves to the betterment of all human kind by doing what we do so well: explore. This kind of a future isn't impossible - and we need to all rethink our priorities to really bring that vision to life.
Space travel benefits us here on Earth. And we ain't stopped yet. There's more exploration to come.
Gene's whole vision was that minorities weren't on set because we were minorities, we were on set because in the future our diverse world would all be working together as equals. I understand that everyone needs to see role models that can inspire them and talk to them and represent them, but I believe we need to move to a future that transcends race, gender, or anything else. We're all people.
It's just coincidental that the acting took off first over everything else.
I'm a fan of the fans. I love them. They're fabulous. I love being around them. I love their madness and their caring. I love watching them take off for a weekend, don the costumes, and become characters from the 23rd century and beyond. I thank the fans for giving us--me--so much support and love. I want them to know I love them. They'll always be my friends. I'll see the fans, always. They can rest assured of that.
Charlie X”)? Those were the hints, as far as I’m concerned.
I've agreed to do several Star Trek conventions this coming year.
Musical theatre has always been my first love. I was on my way to Broadway when, as I tell my fans, Star Trek interrupted my career!
Billie Holiday I never met, but I love her music.
I hated the color, that was all. It was kind of a pea green. Gene hated the color also, and so he called Bill Theiss in and told him he wanted to change that costume, and um, -- so I think I wore that pea green thing for a couple of episodes and then they changed to that beautiful red.
Mahalia Jackson, I grew up around the corner from in Chicago.
The day Jimmy Doohan fell into the water off the Bird of Prey. All the actors in the live scene thought it was a joke and jumped in after him. Nimoy, who was directing the film, was flabbergasted but quickly jumped in with them and screamed at the camera crew, "Keep shooting -- keep shooting!" It turned out to be a keeper and one of the best shots in the movie.
What drove me was probably was drove most performers: I'm an artist, and performing is what I do. So it's my passion that drives me. There's never been anything that can hold me back. Maybe it was my passion blinding me, but I never saw myself as a actress; I saw myself as me, Nichelle Nichols. My biggest obstacle, if anything, was trying to decide where to focus — on music or acting. They are both my passion.
I spent so much time focusing on music and Broadway that I hadn't really gotten into any of it until I met Gene Roddenberry, and his passion was contagious.
I think "Star Trek" is always going to be a window into what lies ahead of us. I'm happy to see another generation of actors and actresses leading the charge. And now there are so many fans being a part of it. If it weren't for the fans, there'd be nothing to do.
Well, there've been so many. You can watch me play a female pimp in the ‘70s or a wise grandmother on the "Young and the Restless" just last year. I just love performing.
All I want for my birthday is my two front teeth. Well, I have all my teeth ... I just want to keep on keeping on. I love what I do.
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