Shoutout to Nana Visitor

[JeffinOakland]

In the beginning, I didn't like Kira Nerys & I didn't think Nana Visitor was a good actress. By the end of the series, I felt Kira was one of the stronger characters (up there w/ Sisko, Odo and Quark) and Visitor had done an amazing job developing her character into a well-rounded sympathetic individual. Did anyone else have a similar experience w Kira/Visitor or any other actor/character from DS9?

 

[kkt]

No, I liked her pretty much from the beginning She did evolve well.

 

[Relayer1]

Yes, I didn't much care for Sisko at first, but Avery Brooks and the writers turned that around for me. I don't think the first couple of seasons of DS9 were particularly good in any respect, but both the characters and story really developed. It became my favourite Trek show by a long way.

Part of the problem I have with Voyager is that I felt the same way about Janeway and Tuvok at the start, but still disliked them by the end of the show.

 

[Amaris]

She was a hothead; someone who would get in your face if she believed you were wrong, and she was willing to sacrifice her own safety for her principles.

I loved her right away.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I loved her from the very beginning. She is (and likely to remain) my favourite character of all Trek.

 

[dub]

I didn't really care for at first, but I warmed up to her to the point of adoring her somewhere in season 1. So it was a quick turnaround for me.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I may be one of the few who was not immediately polarized by the character. I liked Visitor and Kira, but I didn't think the character was too unique or too aggresive. I remember that as part of the Voyager launch, TV Guide had a feature on the women of Star Trek. THe point was to emphasize Mulgrew, but the article gushed about Visitor and how unique Kira was. I was bemused.

Now, I agree: Visitor created a special character that evolved to become more nuanced and complex over time. I love how Visitor was able to present a character in a way that was more aggressive and athletic than Visitor was herself.

I think my favorite scene happens during the six-episode arc: she walks down the corridors, ready to confront Odo about not helping Nog sabotage Dumar, and slams her fists into the console. It feels like there is much more of a fighter than there actually is.

Second favorite: taking command of the Defiant, post-partum, at the beginning of Inferno's Light.

 

[Maab of the Ten Tribes]

I remember being on the fence about her after watching the Pilot. By the second episode I was already starting to warm up to her but by "Duet" I was sold, lock, stock and barrel. That's the episode that really gave her an opportunity to shine and she totally took advantage of it.

 

[Lynx]

When I first started to watch DS9 back in 1997 when one of the stations where I live, I actually thought that the characters were TNG:s minor league team.

But after a while I started to like them.

Kira became one of my favorites from the start. Mostly because I had got a fascination for the Bajoran problem and the Maquis thing. She became my no 2 favorite after Quark!

Unfortunately, the station where I live aired only season 1 so I had to start buying the DVD:s in later years to watch the whole series.

I like DS9. Not as much as Voyager's seasons 1-3 and TNG but I find DS9 a good and entertaining series.

As for the other characters, Bashir has been climbing up on my list. From the beginning I did find him a bit annoying sometimes but after a while I started to like him better and better. The same with Jake who I found rather bland once but who I think is OK. And Garak has become something of a favorite too.

Odo is no 3 on my list. Great character. Sisko and Dax are good characters too, characters who I also started to like after a few episodes. O'Brien was already an old favrite from TNG and I'm happy that he became a main character in DS9.

I didn't like that Jadzia Dax was killed off, I would rather have had another solution. But I like Ezri!

And Gul Dukat! Wonderful villain! Not to mention Kai Winn who looks like one of my aunts!

 

[JirinPanthosa]

When the show was first on and I disliked it for not being enough like TNG I didn't like her, but when I came back to the show later and appreciated it more I loved her. I love how she starts out full of rage and hatred and emotionally and spiritually heals throughout the series.

 

[Kinggodzillak]

I adored Kira right from the very first moment she appeared. It was like someone had taken Ro from TNG and upped the badassery by a factor of about a hundred. The initial (understandable) anger soon gave way to a more mature but no less powerful character, who to me has always been the central character of the series. Nana gave that role everything she had, and she's easily the best female perfomer the Star Trek franchise ever had. She's so underrated it isn't fair.

One of the things that I love about her performance is that she is so into being a part of the world of DS9. Every moment she's on screen Kira is constantly reacting to what's going on around; looking, thinking, responding. Even if it's a 10-second cameo in a Klingon episode she is in the moment more than probably anyone else around her. She's like that in every show or film I've ever seen her in, actually. If I were an actor, she is the kind of actor I would want to be like.

That dedication to the part also comes across in interviews she does, even today; Kira isn't just a role from 20 years ago to Nana, she's more like a real person with a life of her own somewhere. That is so cool. As are the stories that she would spend time on the set staring out the Promenade window at the stars, or that she would get overexcited at the thought of commanding the Defiant or getting a promotion. Just like any of us here would if we were in that situation. She thinks this show is great for exactly the same reasons we all do. She gets it. That is wonderful.

It's also worth mentioning (although I've probably worked this into every post I've ever made here) that Nana is an unbelievably lovely person in real life. I've met her at...ooh, 5 conventions since 2007 and cannot say enough good things about her. Incredibly friendly, very warm and always happy to talk to anybody. A truly remarkable woman. Meeting her was one of the greatest and most important experiences of my life, so if you ever get the chance to see her go do it. You won't regret it, she's the best.

 

[JeffinOakland]

I adored Kira right from the very first moment she appeared. It was like someone had taken Ro from TNG and upped the badassery by a factor of about a hundred. The initial (understandable) anger soon gave way to a more mature but no less powerful character, who to me has always been the central character of the series. Nana gave that role everything she had, and she's easily the best female perfomer the Star Trek franchise ever had. She's so underrated it isn't fair.

One of the things that I love about her performance is that she is so into being a part of the world of DS9. Every moment she's on screen Kira is constantly reacting to what's going on around; looking, thinking, responding. Even if it's a 10-second cameo in a Klingon episode she is in the moment more than probably anyone else around her. She's like that in every show or film I've ever seen her in, actually. If I were an actor, she is the kind of actor I would want to be like.

That dedication to the part also comes across in interviews she does, even today; Kira isn't just a role from 20 years ago to Nana, she's more like a real person with a life of her own somewhere. That is so cool. As are the stories that she would spend time on the set staring out the Promenade window at the stars, or that she would get overexcited at the thought of commanding the Defiant or getting a promotion. Just like any of us here would if we were in that situation. She thinks this show is great for exactly the same reasons we all do. She gets it. That is wonderful.

It's also worth mentioning (although I've probably worked this into every post I've ever made here) that Nana is an unbelievably lovely person in real life. I've met her at...ooh, 5 conventions since 2007 and cannot say enough good things about her. Incredibly friendly, very warm and always happy to talk to anybody. A truly remarkable woman. Meeting her was one of the greatest and most important experiences of my life, so if you ever get the chance to see her go do it. You won't regret it, she's the best.

Wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I found her acting erratic for the first two seasons, as if she wasn't sure what to make of her character.

 

[Lexx Shrapnel]

Knocked it out of the park from the start.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Knocked it out of the park from the start.

Just like Babe Ruth and then she walked idly around the bases thinking of her next meal...

I am kidding.

 

[Kinggodzillak]

I found her acting erratic for the first two seasons, as if she wasn't sure what to make of her character.

I'd say that of all the main cast members who were new to Trek she was the one who had the whole thing nailed right from the start. Looking back at the first season she has none of the "oh God I've made a horrible mistake taking this role" sleepwalking of Avery Brooks, the misjudged hyperactive puppyness of Siddig, or the "I'm in way over my head and am genuinely totally lost and kind of a little bit scared too"ness of Terry Farrell.

But Nana...I never saw any sign she wasn't sure of the character. From everything I've heard she was in love with the character from the moment she picked up the script. You just have to look at the pilot to see she's doing all the usual Star Trek stuff with ease. She's talking about the Occupation and the Cardassians with total confidence, she takes command of the station during the first battle we ever see take place there, and she's even standing next to old hand Colm Meaney and talking the technobabble like she's been doing it as long as he has. Someone who didn't know what to make of that part would not have been able to carry off those scenes, and episodes like Duet or Progress or The Circle trilogy would certainly not have been written to showcase the character if Nana hadn't been...well, for lack of a better term, so astonishingly good.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I found her acting erratic for the first two seasons, as if she wasn't sure what to make of her character.

I'd say that of all the main cast members who were new to Trek she was the one who had the whole thing nailed right from the start. Looking back at the first season she has none of the "oh God I've made a horrible mistake taking this role" sleepwalking of Avery Brooks, the misjudged hyperactive puppyness of Siddig, or the "I'm in way over my head and am genuinely totally lost and kind of a little bit scared too"ness of Terry Farrell.

But Nana...I never saw any sign she wasn't sure of the character. From everything I've heard she was in love with the character from the moment she picked up the script. You just have to look at the pilot to see she's doing all the usual Star Trek stuff with ease. She's talking about the Occupation and the Cardassians with total confidence, she takes command of the station during the first battle we ever see take place there, and she's even standing next to old hand Colm Meaney and talking the technobabble like she's been doing it as long as he has. Someone who didn't know what to make of that part would not have been able to carry off those scenes, and episodes like Duet or Progress or The Circle trilogy would certainly not have been written to showcase the character if Nana hadn't been...well, for lack of a better term, so astonishingly good.

I realize that you're an unconditional of the actress and that any criticism on my part no matter how slight will be met with... defensiveness but this is a debate forum so here goes:

I never said that she was all bad, she could even be very good at times, but if you make a comparison between two episodes with similar aspects, like "Progress" and "Preemptive strike" well, I found Ro Laren's rapport with her old man much more convincing than Kira's with hers in progress, in fact PS got me even a little teary eyed in the end. While I found that Progress was dragging along a little. But to each his own as they say.

 

[Kinggodzillak]

I realize that you're an unconditional of the actress and that any criticism on my part no matter how slight will be met with... defensiveness but this is a debate forum

Oh, I'm a huge huge fan of hers, definitely, but I wasn't trying to be defensive. Like you say, it's a debate forum and I thought that was what I was doing. Apologies if it came across otherwise.

Yes, Preemptive Strike is awesome, and the relationship between Ro and the old guy is very touching. In the case of Progress I seem to remember reading somewhere (no idea where cos I haven't been able to find it again) that guest star Brian Keith made no secret of the fact that he didn't like Nana, or that he was just a bit of a grump generally, which caused some tension.

 

[toughlittleship]

This is a good time to mention that Visitor is in Ted 2 this year.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I realize that you're an unconditional of the actress and that any criticism on my part no matter how slight will be met with... defensiveness but this is a debate forum

Oh, I'm a huge huge fan of hers, definitely, but I wasn't trying to be defensive. Like you say, it's a debate forum and I thought that was what I was doing. Apologies if it came across otherwise.

Yes, Preemptive Strike is awesome, and the relationship between Ro and the old guy is very touching. In the case of Progress I seem to remember reading somewhere (no idea where cos I haven't been able to find it again) that guest star Brian Keith made no secret of the fact that he didn't like Nana, or that he was just a bit of a grump generally, which caused some tension.

Well, that kind of stuff can really ruin the Chemistry between characters.