Star Trek: Lower Decks gave us a classic Dr. T'Ana story in its final season and, of course, some "delicious" swearing scenes. It's been a great time for voice actress Gillian Vigman, who CinemaBlend recently asked if it took any special prep to voice a member of the anthropomorphic feline species. Fortunately, the Dr. T'Ana actress didn't disappoint and told us what went into voicing the Caitian.
I spoke to Vigman before the episode "Of Gods And Angles," which is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription. While she is bummed Star Trek: Lower Decks won't be on the 2025 TV schedule, she was more than happy to talk about the experience thus far. I had to know if she did any research into how to act like a cat to play Dr. T'Ana, and she had a great story for it, saying:
You know, I did. It's so funny. No one’s asked that. I will admit that at one point I think I went on YouTube, and I literally looked up cat sounds, cat noises. I remember I was doing it at home and one of my children was like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you doing, it?’
Regardless of whether they were preparing for an upcoming Trek show or not, I would 100% call out my parents for making cat noises if I heard them. Gillian Vigman had the best reason for doing so, seeing as she ultimately bagged the role of one of the best medical officers I've seen in Starfleet.
Cat noises aside, voicing Dr. T'Ana can be challenging. Gillian Vigman confessed to CinemaBlend that she gives it her all each and every session, and considering how intense Dr. T'Ana can be at times, that can be exhausting:
After I'm done with every voice-over session, I feel so rough, and I sweat a little bit because I get really into it. So my voice goes, and I feel like I've had a hardcore workout. I sit in the car afterward, and I'm like, ‘I'm not gonna forget this for a while because I'm gonna feel it in the back of my throat for about two days.' I'm sure true voice-over performers would say, ‘Oh, you're using your voice wrong.’ But I love kind of cracking and roughing it up because I think that's who Dr. T’Ana is.
Unfortunately, it's not looking likely that Gillian Vigman will get to growl and scream herself hoarse in the future as Star Trek: Lower Decks closes out its run on Paramount+. There's always a chance for her to portray the character in live-action, however, especially as Tawny Newsome continues to work with Justin Simien on what would be the first live-action Trek comedy.
Vigman confirmed to CinemaBlend she'd be up to portray Dr. T'Ana in live-action, even with the hours in prosthetics it would take to achieve. so I hope Newsome is making note of that!
As we get closer to the end of Star Trek: Lower Decks, I can't help but feel more sentimental about the run its had. What, on paper, sounded like Rick and Morty meets Star Trek has become this show that made some of the WTF moments of Voyager and other shows make sense, and led to touching comments from fans about how it relates to their lives. It's a shame to see it go!
Star Trek: Lower Decks continues its final season run on Thursdays on Paramount+. There are only a handful of episodes left before the series finale, so make sure to get current and be ready to send this one off unless we get some great news before the year closes out.
