10 Times When Star Trek Re-Cast Its Actors
7. Janeway
Today, Kate Mulgrew IS Captain Kathryn Janeway. Serving as Star Trek's first leading female Captain, she commanded the starship Voyager as it was flung across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant while in search of a Maquis ship piloted by Chakotay.
Voyager's first episode Caretaker was a solid pilot, introducing each of the characters to the audience with the traits they would come to be known by.
But Kate Mulgrew was not the first actress cast to play the Captain.
French Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold was cast in the role prior to this. She began filming for the pilot and there are several of her scenes available as extras online. There is a single shot of her surviving in the episode, though admittedly it is one of just her hand.
Bujold's stint in the role was brief (a day and a half to be exact) and she quit, citing discomfort with the hectic pace of TV filming. Other rumoured reasons included the producers not being satisfied in what they were seeing. Once Mulgrew was brought in however it was immediately obvious that Captain Janeway had finally arrived.