Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070082
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IAN SPELLING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As it happens, the 30-year-old California native grew up behind William Shatner's house and played basketball with the actor's daughters, Melanie and Leslie. She became angry whenever the girls ended their basketball games early to watch their father's TV voyages.
``I grew to despise the show because it interfered with my play time,'' Biggs-Dawson says with a self-deprecating laugh.
But that's all behind her now. Settling in to discuss her character, she sits for an interview just off to the side of the impressive Voyager bridge set that dominates soundstage 8 at Paramount Pictures. The actress is still sporting her elaborate Klingon visage, a construction that takes a full two hours to apply.
``B'Elanna's constantly at war with herself at this point. She still despises her Klingon side and wants very much to be human, like her father, whom she idolized.
``But the truth is she's denying that it's her Klingon side that gives her such strength, energy, ability and aggressiveness. So there's this great battle going on internally, which is really challenging for an actress to play.''
A former Maquis, B'Elanna serves aboard the Voyager as its chief engineer and takes orders from Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). B'Elanna realizes that the captain believes deeply in her talents, and she is slowly becoming less skeptical of her senior officer's efforts to be a friend as well as a shipmate.
Likewise, notes the effusive Biggs-Dawson, B'Elanna's relationships with the other ``Voyager'' characters are still in their formative stages. She does, however, anticipate that B'Elanna will continue to respect Chakotay (Robert Beltran), her former Maquis commander, and to seek the friendship and counsel of the Vulcan Tuvok (Tim Russ), whose calm presence and total emotional control B'Elanna admires tremendously.
``It's going to be a while before she lets herself fit in,'' Biggs-Dawson says. ``I think it's because there's something in her that wants to strike out whenever she feels oppressed or that authority is keeping her from expressing her real feelings.
``There are so many places to go with the character, and I have no idea where we're going to take her. So it's very fresh and exciting.''
Biggs-Dawson lives in Los Angeles with her casting-agent husband, Eric Dawson, and their two dogs. She says she ``popped out of the womb ready to act,'' and remembers playacting as a kid, performing little shows at home for family and friends.
By her late teens Biggs-Dawson was at the University of California at Berkeley, where she was a theater-arts major. Her big break came when she landed the role of Diana Morales in the Broadway show ``A Chorus Line.''
Subsequent acting opportunities included a number of New York stage productions, a year on the soap opera ``Another World,'' guest parts on ``Matlock'' and ``Jack's Place,'' and regular roles on the series ``Nightingales'' and ``The Round Table.''
Her film work includes ``Guilty by Suspicion'' (1989) and the upcoming direct-to-video release of a sequel to the 1990 horror-thriller ``Darkman.''
``It's an interesting little film,'' she says. ``I play the wife of the bad guy [Jeff Fahey], whose business has a great affect on Darkman [Arnold Vosloo].
``When [Darkman] jumps into my husband's body we fall in love. They actually shot another `Darkman' film right after it, so I'm not sure if the film I did will be `Darkman II' or `III.' ''
As for future projects, Biggs-Dawson knows she'll have to squeeze them in between breaks in the hectic ``Voyager'' schedule. But the situation is fine with her.
``It's a blast,'' she says enthusiastically. ``It's completely exciting and overwhelming. I'm in total awe and so proud to be a part of `Star Trek.' ''
TREK ALERT
If you have Trek or science-fiction news or trivia to share - or if you have questions relating to ``Star Trek'' - write to Ian Spelling, in care of the features depatment, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a reply.
by CNB