Nichelle Nichols, who made history in the 1960s TV series ‘Star Trek,’ plays the grandmother of a gay teen in ‘Tru Loved.’ (Photo courtesy of MGLFF)
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
Actress Nichelle Nichols instantly became a television icon when she signed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise 40 years ago as communications officer Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek.” The first African-American woman cast as a lead character in a network television series has since devoted her career to roles that break down societal barriers and promote understanding.
Just as “Star Trek” challenged the prevalent societal notions of race and class at the time, her latest movie, “Tru Loved,” being screened this weekend at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, looks at contemporary attitudes about family and sexual orientation.
The Express caught up with Nichols as she prepared to travel to Miami for an appearance at the May 2 screening:
Nichelle Nichols: Well, I was so busy at that time. I was between two other films and didn’t think I’d have time to do it. But I read the script and thought how charming and how important for young people to understand each other and respect each other’s lives. We all don’t have the same experiences, and I thought that the writer handled it in a very sensitive and charming way — a very different way.
I read the role of the grandmother and told the producers how I wanted to play it — a little saucy, a glamour gal, a little opinionated, yet someone who loves her grandchild and her daughter. I decided she needed to have this warm, affectionate place for him. He’s the warm soft spot in her life. I thought I could bring a little bit of a different approach from the ordinary grandmother. They loved my ideas, and by the time I came on to shoot it, they had written a few additional scenes for me.
The world has become so much more accepting of differences, not just “tolerating” them. I hate that word. How dare anybody tolerate me? I’d rather they dislike me and be honest. Learning to accept differences is so important.
I didn’t feel that way at all once I reconciled myself to stay with the show after the first year. My first love has always been live theater and musical theater, specifically. I thought this experience would be a nice adjunct to my resume.
I actually quit after the first season. The day after I had given my resignation to Gene Roddenberry, I was convinced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that my role in history was very different from what I had thought. At the time, I never thought that “Star Trek” would become a phenomenon.
Dr. King told me, “You cannot leave. You have changed the face of television forever. That door can close as quickly as it opens.”
“Star Trek” burst on the scene in the middle of the civil rights movement, women’s rights, Vietnam, the Cold War, the flower children who were emerging and yearning to express themselves.
Here was, in his words, a television show that said, “Stop, world, what you’re doing. You’re better than you think you are. Look, here’s proof — here’s what you look like, here is what you can be doing, men and women of all races going together into the universe.”
It was so compelling an argument. I thought, “My goodness. For the first time, the world will see us as we should be seen — intelligent, beautiful, human.”
I don’t know. I’m always stretching. I’m always seeking to stretch. I’m remounting my one-woman musical in which I become a half dozen icons of black women entertainers. They were my beacons of excellence as I grew up — Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Pearl Bailey — the women who went through so much to become great artists. I never sing a song that they ever sang; all the music is original, but written in their style.
It’s going to be very exciting. My ultimate dream is to take it to Broadway and record it.
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