Mulgrew Tackles Comedy

In National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility (NTSF:SD:SUV), Kate Mulgrew is portraying another “tough-as-nails” leader, moreover one wearing an eye patch and who has a “predilection for sex.”

Mulgrew explained what attracted her to the role of Kove, boss of an anti-terrorism task force and why she took on the part “Madness,” she said. “Sheer madness! I lost my mind and found myself with a bunch of other people who lost their minds together! [Series creator] Paul Scheer was astute enough to sense that at this point in my life, I needed a departure and I needed to laugh. So he called me up and he said, ‘Will you play the head of this strike force?’ And I said, ‘Sure!'”

Scheer explained a bit more about the character, but Mulgrew was still game to take on the role. “[Scheer] said, ‘You have to wear an eye patch and you’re obsessed with sex and we’ve been married and divorced twice, and we have two little kids and they don’t talk,’ said Mulgrew. “I said, ‘You’re on!’ I went to work for four weeks, maybe it was five, and all I did was laugh. All day and all night long. I think he’s a bit of a genius, Paul Scheer. Comedians of his stripe are really smart guys.”

Mulgrew enjoyed the departure from the typical acting experience. “Most of these guys – Scheer and his partners – came out of improv,” she said. “That’s the way they approach it. That’s not been my school and therefore it was a wonderfully liberating experience for me. I’m usually handed a script and told in no uncertain terms to honor every single syllable. These guys want us to loosen it up and see what we can find.”

Although she has moved on from Star Trek: Voyager, Mulgrew still does Star Trek-related things. “I’m attending nothing but conventions for the next six weeks, all over the world,” she said. “I go to Vegas and Australia and Germany and Prague and Atlanta. I’m everywhere! It’s still hard to believe it’s been fifteen years since Voyager and forty-five since the whole thing began.”

NTSF:SD:SUV airs on the Cartoon Network on Thursdays at 12:15 AM ET.