‘Star Trek: Voyager’ premiered on UPN in January 1995 and ran for seven seasons
For Kate Mulgrew, playing Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager was more than a landmark television role. It placed a woman at the center of a Star Trek series as its commanding officer and gave audiences a different kind of captain to follow.
More than three decades after the series premiered, Mulgrew reflects on what the role meant to her and the influence Janeway had beyond the screen at the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame’s 34th Anniversary Gala on Sept. 29.
“I was the first female captain. It was huge. It was unprecedented. It was breathtaking,” Mulgrew, 71, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “It reshaped my life, the course of my life. I hope that it’s been good for the world. It certainly was good for Mulgrew.”
When Voyager premiered on Jan. 16, 1995, Janeway was introduced as the captain of a Starfleet ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant, facing a decades-long journey home.
The series ran for seven seasons through 2001, with Mulgrew leading a crew through unfamiliar worlds, difficult choices and conflicts that often tested her authority.
Janeway’s importance extended beyond simply being the person in command. She was portrayed as a scientist, explorer and decision-maker whose authority came from her knowledge, judgment and ability to lead under pressure.
For viewers, particularly women interested in science and technology, Janeway offered an image of leadership tied directly to intellectual curiosity and exploration.
Reflecting on that legacy at the gala, Mulgrew connects her affection for the character with the impact she believes Janeway had on perceptions of women in science.
Describing what the character made possible for women and how the role challenged old assumptions about who belonged in scientific fields, she tells PEOPLE: “I loved Katherine Janeway, and I think what she allowed women in STEM to do as a result of her command was absolutely, deeply significant in the world of science and also in the world of men who theretofore had not really regarded either Star Trek or STEM as women’s business.”
