First off let me say that I had a preconceived notion of Denise Crosby and it wasn't exactly positive. I don't remember where I got my impression from but after meeting her in person, I have to say that she is one of the most friendly, enthusiastic people that I have ever meet. You can tell she is real happy and loves what she does and I was horribly mistaken about her.

She commented on how she loved the Sci-Fi community and she loved meeting the fans and interacting with them.

Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of time to interview her. The interview was all of seven minutes and I was not as prepared as I should have been. I had initially not targeted her for an interview, but the opportunity literally walked into the elevator with us.

Up in the green room, she grabbed an apple and some slices of cheese and we sat down with her:


Jonja.net: What is your favorite medium to work in TV or theater or movies?

Denise: I like them all; I wouldn’t want to do one without the other. Obviously theater is an actor’s medium in the sense that you can really hone your performance, you can modulate it. You are in the driver’s seat when the curtain goes up. You have that for two hours, but I love films. I love to watch films they are so big in scope. They have other sets of rules, but all of the above.

Jonja.net: How did you get into Star Trek?

Denise: Well, I mean, I watched the original Star Trek when it first went into syndication. I didn’t watch it when it was first on the air in the sixties. There were quite a few interesting shows then, The Man from Uncle and Time Tunnel. I wasn’t a big Star Trek fan until I was 18 and I watched it everyday. I shared a room with an Italian Immigrant and it was on at 5:00 everyday and we watched it.

<Strange that she never answered the question and we did not have to time to pursue it>

Jonja.net:It was a kind of cross-cultural, cross-generational phenomenon that appeals to a broad base of people.(Referring to Star Trek)

Denise: Oh completely. Yes, actually I watched one episode the other night with my son who is 7 and a half and this was his introduction to the show. I waited till he was a bit older, 7 and a half isn’t so old, but I didn’t want him kind of watching Mommy on T.V. as a toddler.

Jonja.net: So of the two characters you play on Star Trek Tasha Yar and Commander Sela, which one did you like better?

Denise: Oh boy, each one is so different. I played Tasha more so she was closer to my heart. I don’t think Sela was fully realized as a character. I didn’t get to go very far with her. Her character arch would have been fully developed, but we never got the chance.

Jonja.net: What are you doing these days?

Denise: Well let’s see, right now I am headed next week down to Dallas and I am on the jury for the USA film fest watching the shorts and then on to the Dallas Comicon. I am actually doing the USA film fest that night and the Comicon during the day.

Jonja.net: You will be busy!

Denise: I know and a movie came out on DVD called Mortuary that I did with Toby Cooper directed. And Monday night actually, tomorrow night I am doing a charity benefit performance, a one night only performance of the Vagina Monologues.

Jonja.net: Here in Denver?

Denise: No in L.A. Tomorrow is V day and it is a worldwide campaign to stop violence against women and one day a year they hold simultaneous productions all over the world.

Jonja.net: So you are going to do that? It is a great cause.

Denise: Yes, it benefits a shelter for battered women and their children in Santa Monica called Sojourn house.

Jonja.net: What can you tell us about Ripple Effect?

Denise: Ripple effect is a very interesting film by a man named Philippe Caland wrote directed and stars in. He wrote Boxing Helena. An independent film with, Minnie Driver which involves a guy who comes to L.A. and tries to start a company fashion business and borrows money and what happens to him through various kind of awakenings in his life, in L.A. in the fashion industry. It is a great joy for me, he asked my husband to do a part in the film and my husband is an actor Ken Sylk. He is a screen writer now but an actor before and he will do things when friends are doing stuff and ask him. So he was asked to do this part and it is a wonderful part and he is playing it and then they needed the part of his wife. I thought “Gee, I can do that”. Then the needed a location of a house. So they literally filmed our scenes in our house as husband and wife actually in our bed. The crew would come over to my house and I would get in my pajamas and they would start shooting.

Jonja.net: Would you like to do anymore Sci-fi in the future, any other star Trek opportunities?

Denise: Oh my God yes! I love the genre and it is all about the script and doing good work and I think that it is always fun for the fans to see you in a something else of fantasy or sci-fi genre.

Jonja.net: Is there anything that you would like someone to ask you, that no one ever has, something you would like the fans to know.

Denise:I just, you know I am trying to do some comedy, more comedy; people don’t know that I have done. I have worked with someone as great asJohn Ritter and Blake Edwards. Last night (Friday Night) I did an improve show with Dean Hagland and how great it was for me as an actor. It was fun and seeing the audience response was great. So, you know, I just don’t want to be pigeon holed. Hollywood has a tendency to do that. So, I am trying to break out of everybody’s expectations of me. Hopefully Dean (Hagland) and I will get a chance to do another show.

Jonja.net: Well, Thank you, we appreciate your time.

We get a quick photo and she is off as quickly as she came and I was left with an overwhelming impression of her. If you ever get the chance to meet her, jump at it, she is a pretty neat person.

Be sure to read our interview with Dirk Benedict who played the original Starbuck and Captain Murdock on A-Team

That was a really nice interview.

I came away after reading it with a real sense of what a charming and effervescent personality she obviously possesses.

Good work, 'Jonja.net'!

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"There's no right way to eat a rhesus"!

I always liked her. I wish she would of stuck around long enough for ST:TNG to find something more useful for her than saying "Hailing frequencies open".
One of the problems with the first 2 seasons was that they felt pretty heavy. Too many characters and trying to find something for everyone of them to do.
I would of preferred to see Troi or better still Wesley dropped (or in the case of Wesley, jettisoned) and more time spent on Tasha Yahr.
I always felt sorry for Crosby. She left, bored of having nothing to do, hoping for greener pastures, and then tried her best to get back in. Even if it meant being some silly character like Seela. Interesting idea behind it but never done well. She was a better Tasha than Seela.

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"Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars"

Thanks again to Lowerdecks.com for reporting on one of our interviews.

Be sure to give them a good look and check our their site.

Denise was a very sweet lady! On the way up to the interview she really praised sci-fi fans and how supportive they are. She loves the fans! I thought she was very nice and down to earth.

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Why do you think people love Doctor Who so much? "Because it's the best idea ever invented in the history of the world!"
-- Russell T. Davies

I got to hear an interview on the Bob & Tom Show a few years ago when Trekkers came out. She really loved going around and meeting the fans and talking trek. She truly seemed sincere. I have heard plenty of actors that try and act like they are these big wonderful people and go on about the wonderful fans, but you can tell when they are just blowing smoke to sell whatever it is they are pushing. Crosby did not give me that impression at all.
Its nice to see fans appreciated rather than pushed aside as a bunch of loser goofballs.

We are winner goofballs!

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"Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars"

Another good score for the site