Update: After a long delay—perhaps caused by subspace interference, tachyon particles, or communications jamming technology—the U.S.S. Little Village has received answers to interview questions posed by Acting Ensign Rob Cline to Terry Farrell, who portrayed Jadzia Daz on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, just in time for this weekend’s TrekFest event in Riverside, Iowa. What follows are these question and answers, then the original piece as written in our June 2024 issue.
Tell me a bit about growing up in Cedar Rapids. Which schools did you attend? Were you involved in the arts while you were in school?
Farrell: I went to Wright School and Arthur School then McKinley Junior High and Washington Senior High. I loved art class. I loved it so much that for a time I was an assistant to an artist at Ambrose Recreation center. I was in choir, I was in the chorus for Free to Be You and Me at McKinley and I was president of my 8th grade class. I was involved in Outdoor Club, track and field, and basketball. I was a foreign exchange student to Mexico between junior high and high school. In high school I was involved in basketball and Spanish club. I was only there 10th and 11th grade; then I moved to New York City.
We know that Captain Kirk will be born in Iowa, but you are a Star Trek actor who has already been born in Iowa. Do you think growing up in Iowa has factored into your approach to your career — as a model, as an actor, or both?
Of course, I was raised in Iowa not around either business. I think I was really fortunate to grow up in a community with friends that were a tremendous support system for me. We moved a few times within Cedar Rapids and I think being the new girl in school really helped me learn how to make friends and very much helped me in both my career as a model and as an actress. Each shoot or production is a new group of people that you grow close to rather quickly.
I was reading a chat you did while you were on DS9 (it was posted on a Becker fan page… because the internet is a weird place) in which you said that your mom and your grandmother were your role models. What characteristics of theirs have you tried to carry forward in your life and work?
Both my mother and my grandmother explored different careers throughout their lives. They were both very hard working women that had supportive women groups of friends. How they lived their lives showed me that I can change my mind about what I’d like to do with my life, to get the most out of it that I can. The freedom to explore who I am and treat life like a fantastic adventure.
I was 40 when I had my only son and I left my career to be an at-home mom. It meant so much to me to be able to make that choice for myself when my mother didn’t have a choice; she had to work. Investing my money to make that possible for myself, my son, and our family was a huge gift. Now he’s in college and it’s time to reinvent who I am again. What do I want my life to be now?
What are you looking forward to at TrekFest? How active in the fan community (conventions and the like) are you these days?
Last year was a very busy year for conventions because it was DS9’s 30th anniversary. This year I have five conventions. I love my fans. They have kept me supported and feeling like I can come back to my career and that is what I’m working on right now. I have an independent film, I.Demon, I will be shooting in September 2024. Sorry I can’t tell you more.
I know you were not thrilled at the decision to kill Jadzia off at the end of season six of DS9, but death has a certain impermanence in Star Trek. Would you be up for playing the character or an alternate universe version of the character or even another character entirely in one of the current or near-future incarnations of Star Trek?
I haven’t been approached to join another Star Trek show, but if they sent me a script I would definitely read it. I love being a part of the Star Trek family. Playing Jadzia Dax has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had and continue to have. It’s such a gift to have played a character that has empowered so many people to move into the sciences, to see themselves in my character, and to feel seen and validated. It’s been an extraordinary gift.
I am currently on a podcast [about DS9 and Voyager called] The Delta Flyers Journey Through the Wormhole. You can find this on Patreon.
Do you have a favorite among the shows that have launched since Star Trek Discovery?
I can’t pick a favorite. I think of us all being a part of the Star Trek family. And for 30 plus years these are my pals. We all have the world of Star Trek to call home.
As any Star Trek fan knows, sometimes you hail someone you want to talk to and that person doesn’t respond. Sometimes, that means they are about to launch an attack on your starship; other times, it just means you don’t get the interview you were hoping to set up.
Unfortunately, when I hailed Terry Farrell — Cedar Rapids native and famed Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor — to talk about her upcoming appearance at TrekFest in Riverside, Iowa, she didn’t respond. The hope had been to get some details about her childhood in Iowa. There is precious little about such things online. Here’s what you can learn from IMDb:
“Terry Farrell was born on Nov. 19, 1963 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At age 15, she became a foreign exchange student to Mexico, and, from that experience, she decided she would like to live a more adventurous life in the big city. She sent several photos to a modeling agency and then, at age 17, dropped out of high school and became a model in New York.”
For the first six of seven seasons of Deep Space Nine, which aired from 1993 to 1999, Farrell played Jadzia Dax, a member of the Trill species. Some — but by no means all— Trill are joined beings, with a humanoid individual serving as host for a symbiont being. Those symbionts tend to outlive their hosts many times over, and as Deep Space Nine begins, Jadzia is the latest host for Dax — a symbiont with a long and arguably checkered history. Jadzia was killed at the end of season six (there are competing narratives about why this was so) and a new character, Ezri Dax, replaced her aboard the station. Farrell, meanwhile, became a costar on Ted Danson’s sitcom Becker.
TrekFest is an annual celebration of the future birth of James T. Kirk (in 2233), the captain of the USS Enterprise portrayed by William Shatner in the original Star Trek TV series that premiered on Sept. 8, 1966. (Trekkies now celebrate Sept. 8 as “Star Trek Day.”) Farrell is one of a number of significant Trek actors who have real-life connections to Iowa.
They include (in order of appearance in Star Trek series and movies) Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov in the original series and attended Grinnell College before transferring to UCLA; Stephen Collins, who played Commander Willard Decker in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and was born in Des Moines; Farrell; and Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager (and more recently in Star Trek: Prodigy) and who was born and raised in Dubuque.
Travis Riggan, president of the Riverside Area Community Club and TrekFest chairman (visit the TrekFest website and you will find the name of the festival rendered in a variety of ways — two words, one word with a capital F, one word with a lowercase f) provided details about the annual festival with Little Village via email.
“We have trademarked and been recognized by Paramount Pictures and the Star Trek Universe as the Future Birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk,” Riggan said. “Riverside’s town celebration brings in an additional thousand people into our community to celebrate the uniqueness of our festival. So [other places] have a summer fest or something basic, but Riverside, we step that up a notch with ours being out of this world!”
The “Future Birthplace” designation has an impact on the community year-round, not just during the festival.
“Daily, due to the claim to fame of being the birthplace, we have, on average, 20 people stop each day and get pictures of our attractions,” Riggan said. “These people come from all over the world and visit, and some may even say our small town of Riverside may be the mecca of where Trek starts. It is a grassroots festival that every Trekkie or sci-fi buff needs to check out!”
Riggan has been involved in the festival for a long time, and said he’s looking forward to Farrell’s appearance.
“Some of my memories of our festival include having Chekov [Koenig], Sulu [George Takei], and Uhura [Nichelle Nichols] all in attendance several years ago. That year, our festival was packed throughout the town and the TrekFest events. This will be the first time Jadzia Dax [Farrell], a local Iowan, will be in attendance. She was one of the fan favorites on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and continues embracing the Trek community and fans. This year is also exciting for some of the local musicians we will be having in attendance.”
This year’s TrekFest is scheduled for June 27-29 in Riverside — here’s hoping I can hail down Farrell then. You can find the full schedule and list of guests and performers at trekfest.org.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s June 2024 issue.
