Series: TNG, DS9

Character(s): Admiral Alynna Nechayev

Natalija Nogulich played the role of Admiral Alynna Nechayev in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

In an interview with SubspaceCommunique.com, Nogulich revealed she was given the part of Nechayev after interviewing for two different roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Though she was unsuccessful in the auditions, the producers were impressed by her work and later offered her the role of Nechayev. As Nogulich recalled, “They liked my work, they seemed interested in me, but they said I wasn’t quite right for that particular role, or whatever it was. […] And then I went in the second time for something else, and it also wasn’t a complete fit. But again, they were clearly interested in having me be, you know…when they ask you back to audition more than once, it’s a sign that they’re appreciative of your work. […] So anyway, finally, the third time, my agent said, you know, you’re going for this role which will probably recur and it’s a very strong part…and they had actually gotten feedback about me from the other roles, I was too strong for whatever the other roles were. So this one is a really strong character and you can go for it and they seem to think it’s a good match for you. So, I really dug my teeth in for the audition and worked very hard on it, and went in very prepared. It just felt great when I did it. It felt like I nailed it and indeed, what was a day later, or later that day, I’m not sure, I got the call from my agent that I was going to do it. And then I ended up doing another, and another, and another.”

Nogulich came to believe that, had The Next Generation gone into another season, her character would have been developed even more with Picard so that their relationship wasn’t as adversarial. Looking back on playing Nechayev, she recalled, “It was a perfect fit. I mean, I have a Slavic background, she had a Slavic name. I do tend to play strong characters. I’m a character actor and that was a good fit.”

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