STLV ’12: Captains Panel with Shatner, Mulgrew, Brooks & Bakula

The last and to many the most anticipated, event of the day was an on-stage get together with the actors and actress who portrayed several of Star Trek’s captains: Kate Mulgrew, William Shatner, Avery Brooks, and Scott Bakula. The first to speak was Kate Mulgrew, who revealed that the first time she realized she wanted to act was at the age of eleven years. She even said of naysayers and haters of nerd culture that “you should live to be such a nerd” and went on to say that “[she was] not only privileged by it…[she was] honored.”

Kate Mulgrew

William Shatner joked with Mulgrew about her assertion that Star Trek needed more female leadership roles. “Now I’ve pissed you off,” Shatner said, “and I have to work fifteen minutes to get you back!” He was joking, of course.

When asked if he would play Captain Kirk differently if he had to do it again, Shatner replied: “If I played [him] again I might have played him a little more subtle. Then again…”

Cirroc Lofton presents Avery Brooks with a piece of art

Avery Brooks invited Cirroc Lofton, who played his son Jake on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, to the stage in front of a surprised and ecstatic audience. Lofton praised Brooks for being a valued mentor and friend on the set of DS9; Lofton even presented Brooks with a painting he made for him, asking him to autograph it.

Scott Bakula

Bakula introduced himself to the audience and even playfully ran around the room when it was his turn to speak. He also sang an excerpt from “The Impossible Dream” for a child who made the request. When asked about what he hoped to achieve in his portrayal of Captain Archer had Star Trek: Enterprise not been canceled, Bakula replied that they had been propping him up as a seasoned veteran who would “pave” the way for the creation of the United Federation of Planets, saying finally: “We got a taste of it…we never got there, but we had a great time doing it.”

William Shatner

In a conversation moderated by co-CEO of Creation Entertainment, Adam Malin, the four captains spoke of their greatest passions in life and of the internal and external forces that drive their creativity. Brooks said it was music, while Bakula and Shatner said it was their families; Mulgrew reaffirmed it was the world itself and the will to try to find out why we are here.

William Shatner and Avery Brooks

Later in the conversation, Bakula suggested that the world would be a better place if everyone treated each other like movie stars. It was a comment to which Shatner needed to offer one last jab and say: “If everybody was treated like movie stars, what would the movie stars do?”

Brooks, Shatner, Mulgrew and Bakula salute the audience

This year’s Star Trek Las Vegas convention was concluded with a standing ovation for four of Star Trek’s greatest captains and most certainly in commemoration of a cherished and beloved genre of all time and for all ages.

More STLV coverage:

STLV 2012: Vegas Star Trek Convention Kicks Off with Nichelle Nichols, John de Lancie, Rene Auberjonis and Ethan Phillips

STLV 2012: Day 2 Recap with Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Ira Behr and Diana Muldaur

STLV 2012: Vulcans, Borg and Ferengi — The Incredible Costumes of the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention [Slideshow]

STLV 2012: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Cast Reunion with Frakes, Spiner, Burton, Dorn, Sirtis, McFadden & Meaney

STLV 2012: ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ Cast Reunion with Mulgrew, Beltran, Dawson, Russ, McNeill, Wang & Picardo