Jane Edwina Seymour Reflects on Her Career, Challenges, and Future Projects

It was through the casting process that these roles came my way. Respective casting directors (CD’s) of each show approached me via the initial casting process. A process that involves receiving the casting brief via my US Manager, submission of an initial self-tape with the script I was sent and then submitting that self-tape back to the CD’s for review. For these roles there were likely quite a few actors being looked at.

For Borg Queen , I was cast straight off my initial self-tape. For Lakesis , I did 11 self-tape ‘call-backs’ following my initial self-tape submission.

How did you approach these iconic roles?

Because both roles have enormous provenance, the very first place I started to approach these roles is with extensive, protracted and far-reaching research. I used every tool at my disposal to become deeply imbued with the respective ‘Universe’ they exist in. Since I have a genuine appreciation for STAR TREK and STAR WARS (and Sci-Fi in general), I was highly motivated to engage with the huge amount of material that was at my fingertips. Additionally, these roles are truly wonderful in anyone’s artistic and/or literary traditions; and for an actor such as me, dream roles to inhabit and play in the Borg Queen instance: and create, inhabit and play in the Lakesis instance.

Each role had its own specific demands. For instance, Borg Queen required extensive study of Alice Krieg’s vocal intonation, phrasing, tonal qualities, breath control, enunciation, acting beats and moments. I spent two months in vocal preparation prior to stepping onto set.

Both roles gave me the opportunity to develop my unique sensibility with respect to physicality, attitudes, behaviors, intentions and motivations. For me, this is where my craft, experience and instincts combine to shape and define each role in their own image without sacrificing my unique qualities and authenticity of portrayal – I must be true to myself as well as serve the character and the character’s journey within the narrative – it’s a delicate balance.

I must also be open and willing to fit into the production and directing ethos dedicated to the creation of a cohesive and intelligent narrative that is at once highly visual, technically sophisticated, artistically credible and believable within that specific Universe.

For example: As ‘Lakesis’ , I am one of three, a trilogy of Great Mothers if you will, who need to wield their magic collectively yet remain individual and equally dangerous. So being willing, open, authentic and true to myself as an actor facilitates the playing of an ‘ensemble’ energy when the moment calls for it – and it did. All the while remaining individual characters, as well as ‘ensemble’ characters. For me, this is where my real power lies both as an actor who is creating one of the Great Mothers.

There was a steep learning curve involved for me in understanding just how extensive and all-encompassing Borg Queen prosthetics and makeup was going to be. My first session (first of three) with Prosthetic Artist, Vincent Van Dyke, took a whole day at his studio in Burbank. During which he laid the sculpting foundations for the Picard season 3 Borg Queen ‘look’.

Later in the day, head of makeup James McKinnon joined Vincent in collaborating specifically on how the production wanted Borg Queen to look at this final stage of her existence.

I found the whole process to be fascinating, exciting, uncomfortable, exhilarating, labor-intensive, exacting and painstaking in the extreme. That initial day with those two amazing industry artists, who I hold in the highest professional esteem, was a crash-course in what I was in for each morning at 5am in the makeup chair during filming. Upon reflection: I feel the results speak for themselves.

I think the most challenging aspect of embodying Borg Queen was keeping my energy and characterization at a heightened level when on stand-by for various scenes to be shot throughout the day. As you can appreciate, once I was in my Borg prosthetics and costume (which was not comfortable), it stayed on until days’ end when the director calls” That’s a wrap”. As soon as I was called back to set to shoot a scene, I had to be ready to go and be at the same level as the last time I worked on camera that day. Picard season 3 worked at a furious pace on-set and there was little to no prep time to get back into the swing of the character. I had to be ‘in character’ straight away. For me, the only way to do that was to stay ‘in character’ all the time.

Even more reason why I was so grateful to be working closely with fantastic crew members who brought me onto set, looked after my safety and made sure I got into my metal frame 20 feet in the air safely. And to top that off, I worked very closely on-set with James McKinnon and his chief (makeup) painting artist, Hugo Villasenor, who made sure Borg Queen was looking precise and pristine before each take. Two of the best in the industry so I was in excellent hands. And it was a joy and a thrill to have worked with these artists.

As mentioned before, I did exhaustive research and for Lakesis , I watched numerous series and episodes in the Star Wars\ Universe to develop a deep appreciation and understanding of where Lakesis has come from, her origins, her own journey towards becoming a Great Mother, a Dathomirian witch and a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Allied to that are the acting frameworks I use to create a character: backstory, given circumstances, fact or fiction, wants, desires, likes, dislikes, family tree, personal history both real and imagined and so on. Lots of considerations get generated via these processes which are not definitive or exhaustive, rather, they are triggers that stimulate my imagination, intellect and discretionary character choices; as well as a myriad of questions that stimulate further enquiry. It all gets written down into my workbook (I have dozens of them), which is a vital tool I use to collect all my ideas, discoveries, corrections and images, drawings and riffs on whatever I’m working on.

This is what works for me and should not be applied to other actors because they will have their own process in building a character that is authentically their own, and that should be respected.

Another vital part of preparing for the role of Lakesis was becoming completely at one with the stunning costume and head dress designed by the show’s gifted Costume Designer, Shawna Trpcic. It was so conceptually evocative of Lakesis that I immediately resonated with it and gleaned tremendous inspiration from it. The moment I tried the costume on with the head dress during a fitting session, I instinctually knew who Lakesis was. That doesn’t always happen but when it does, it’s to be honored. Shawna’s overall costume designs for Ahsoka would go on to win an Emmy, which was well-deserved.

I loved working on-set for Ahsoka. The cast were all very pleasant and a mix of international and US actors, which made for a truly interesting group who wanted to be the best they could be, and for the series to be a success – I know I did.

The crew and the production team were incredibly hard-working and always good to be around. Dave Filoni is the ‘ Master & Commander’, his work ethic is phenomenal. All my interactions with him were thoughtful, expansive, decisive and positive. It is for very good reasons I call him the ‘Professor Emeritus’ of the Star Wars Universe.