On Star Trek: Lower Decks, Doctor T’Ana (Gillian Vigman) is the extremely competent Cerritos Chief Medical Officer whose bedside manor may leave something to be desired.
Comics Beat caught up with Vigman over Zoom to learn more about playing the surly CMO. We asked all about recording T’Ana’s profanity, about the inspirations behind the character and about whether or not Vigman would reprise the role in live action.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
AVERY KAPLAN: When you record your lines for T’Ana, do you swear and they bleep it out afterwards?
GILLIAN VIGMAN: Yeah, I ****ing swear continually. I ****ing love to swear. I find a delicious joy in dropping ****s and ****s and deeper words. Honestly, when they told me in the callback, “just go crazy,” I said, “This might be the greatest ****ing thing I’ve ever done.”
My poor son… When it was the first or second season, he had to come in because I didn’t have a babysitter and I’d picked him up at school. And they were so accommodating; they sat him on the couch. And at one point they asked, “Is it okay if you go crazy with him sitting here?” And I was so glad, I said, “You have no ****ing idea. He’s heard it all before.”
And he’s sitting there, he’s like 9, thinking: “Yeah, yeah, I don’t give a ****.” So then he dropped a swear. And that’s when I feel bad… Both my kids hear me. I can’t help it, especially when I’m driving the car with them in it. “Did you ****ing see that?”
I have to be careful, but I love it. And I don’t think I’ll ever give up on it. So the fact that I got to use it for a character that I respect so much… Listen, Doctor T’Ana, she is good at what she does; don’t **** with what she does. She’s the best researcher, a great surgeon and a phenomenal doctor. Her beside manner is what you ****ing get.
And by the way, once you’ve been a patient of hers, you’ll never want to go back. You’re stuck. You’ll want to see her. If I was a dermatologist in, say, Los Angeles, every ****ing person would want to come to me, because I’d be the best one. And I’d be like, “Just lie back. Your face is a ****ing mess. And we’re going to start there.”
KAPLAN: Are the swears written into the script or do you freestyle them?
VIGMAN: A little bit of both. They usually put in a swear or something they want there, and then they say, “You can be as filthy as you want.”
And honestly, every time I record, it’s like Christmas morning. Because I say things that are so inappropriate and I use verbs in the most inappropriate ways. I walk out and I’m sweating, but I’m sweating as if my endorphins have been pumped beyond.
I’ll miss it so much. And I truly hope there’s going to be some kind of part two to this experience. Even though I am so grateful we had five seasons, and that I got to come in and work with really talented and hilarious people — on all sides of it, from production to performance to recordings and editing… the music.
I hope that I can get another chance to live in that world, and especially in the Trek world.
It’s been a ****ing awesome experience.
KAPLAN: Would you be interested in reprising the role in live action?
VIGMAN: You ****ing bet I would. I would sit through prosthetics — probably swearing up a storm to get into my caitian character.
And I would feel her. Because I already feel like her every morning when I wake up and I want to swear at my kids to do things and swear at the world and get out there and be as honest as I can.
Her honesty comes from such a real place. And it’s not meant to be demeaning, and it’s not necessarily to make you feel bad. It’s like, “You’re in my ****ing way. I have to get from point A to point B. If I cannot achieve this, someone can die. I may not be able to get the vaccine.”
She’s like if Anthony Fauci was more ornery, add some feline features and was more like, “Don’t **** with me, this is how we’re going to do it. And I will claw you to ribbons if you don’t take my vaccines and listen to why I’m doing this.”
So I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m throwing it out there. Please let me do your live action.
KAPLAN: Are you a cat person?
VIGMAN: So here’s the sad thing: I personally am a cat person. I have two very allergic people in my family.
So, fun fact: in Los Angeles County, there are — and this is both sad and kind of beautiful — there are over 300,000 cats that live in a feral manner in LA County. They don’t even know how many, they know its over 300,000.
So in our neighborhood we have one or two, so I leave food out for them two times a week. And there are two of them, and they come and sit with us. And we’ve named them: Squigs and Wendy. And they come and eat food and we love them. For all I know, they have homes, but they come and visit. My kids are thrilled. But my husband is severely allergic. So we have a dog.
When I leave my husband, I’ll get a cat. Or many.
KAPLAN: Is T’Ana based on any particular cat or person?
VIGMAN: For me, it’s based on how I really feel on the inside.
What I found hysterical and amazing: when Mike McMahan showed me the original, from Star Trek: The Animated Series, she is super sexy. And I love that he said, “No no, we’re going to go in the opposite direction.” And I found that to be so clever and hilarious, that it was playing counter to that period of time, that “women should be sexy and demure. They’re easy on the eyes and they’re very easy on the ears and they’re always going to be sweet to you.”
So I love that he said, “We’re going to take this to the other side and make her the nastiest, but the best.”
So I think for me, it was based on all those feelings I have inside of me, and all those characters I enjoy playing — which are higher-status angry characters who are terribly rude. But the difference is, she comes from a place that is truly about the work.
And also, she loves the people she does because of their intellectual curiosity. Like Tendi.
T’Ana is one of the most genuine characters on the show. I don’t want to discount how everybody is very special on the show. But I think T’Ana comes from a place of earnest work ethic that’s hard and strong — don’t mess with it.
KAPLAN: Is it you making the cat yowls? Is this just a natural talent you have?
VIGMAN: I guess so! I’ve been practicing. Like I said, Squigs and Wendy come and visit and over the years, we’ll sit there and try to copy the sounds they make. And any time I have a friend who has a cat, especially a cat that likes to sit on laps, I’ll listen.
The chatter that cats have is hysterical. Because you can hear them communicating with one another. And it’s all different. It’s incredible! And then it goes into a deeper place when there’s peace and there’s joy. I love it.
I went on YouTube once and I listened to cat noises, so I could really think about it. But they’ll let me go crazy, especially with the higher-pitched ones. I was laughing hysterically most of the time I got to make the noises, because you’re trying to constantly find it, too.
KAPLAN: What would T’Ana order from the food replicator?
VIGMAN: She’s would order — this is going to be so gross — I think she’d order a banana that’s been basted in fish juice. Do you want to throw up a little bit? But she’s kind of sexual, too, so that’s part of the reason.
KAPLAN: Thanks so much!
VIGMAN: Live long and prosper, mother****er!
New episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks are available for streaming on Paramount+ on Thursdays.
Keep up with all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage here.
