Penny Johnson Jerald, who played the Maquis agent who became Captain Benjamin Sisko's wife on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, said that there were moral lines she would never cross in her acting work, despite her recent fame as the scheming Sherry Palmer on FOX's 24.

Speaking to The Baltimore Sun, Johnson Jerald said that her moral obligation as a devout Christian was to God, and she would not utter profanity nor appear in a show with what she considered gratuitous violence.

"I won't curse in God's name...I won't consider a script if there's nothing redeeming about it. I can't do shoot-'em-up, bang-up shows," stated the actress, who played the recurring role of Kasidy Yates for several seasons on DS9. Moreover, "if it violates me physically", she said that she would not accept a role; "there will always be another job where you don't have to take your clothes off or have a gutter mouth."

Despite its high body count, she said 24 was a show about the sacrifices good people must make to fight evil and to protect one's country. "She's not plotting evil," said Johnson Jerald of Sherry Palmer. "She's a master manipulator, and there's a difference."

Johnson Jerald recently made her first appearance at a U.S. science fiction convention. Fan Bernie Seilhamer reported that at Slanted Fedora's Washington D.C. gathering, the actress said she auditioned for the role of Kasidy Yates after encouragement from her husband and "submitted to the charms" of Avery Brooks once they had read together.

The interview in which Johnson Jerald talks about growing up in Baltimore as well as her life as an actress is here. Thanks to Judith for the heads up.

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