Native Californian Julie Caitlin Brown caught the attention of fans everywhere with her portrayal of Na'Toth on Babylon Five. She has also appeared on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her other TV credits include, Renegade, Pointman, Vanishing Son, JAG, and Sliders. She has also worked with John Travolta and Alec Baldwin in the films, Chains of Gold and Miami Blues. An accomplished singer/songwriter, Julie delights convention goers with her songs and observations on what life was like underneath the makeup. I was lucky enough to meet with her and discuss her career at the Northeast Supercon in November of 1999.

Tony Tellado: When did you discover music ?

Julie Caitlin Brown: I probably starting singing when I was a very small child. I know my first performance was when I was ten. That is something that came naturally to me. I have been classically trained. I sang on broadway. Going into theater itself is just a wonderful way to get to of combine the acting and the singing. And now that I have doing a lot of the acting, I kind of come back to the singing which is a lot of fun. It's a wonderful way to connect with people especially when it's your'e own music. It breaks down a lot of walls that normally exist because they're seeing you as the entertainer and themselves as the audience. And it's nice.

T²: I liked your song, Soulmate which is a nice tune.

JCB: Thank you. I like to open with a song like that usually because it sets the tone of what I believe spiritually, energetically about my position here. That I am not setting myself apart, or above. That we are here for connection as souls on the planet. Hopefully in that regard it allows people to see me as a human being and not someone on a television show.

T²: You were on Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Gambit. That was a nice guest cast. Richard Lynch, Robin Curtis who was Saavik in Star Trek III . What was it like on the set especially having Patrick Stewart infiltrating your crew ?

The drummer or guitarist, his son wanted me to got and meet  his dad. I walk in full regalia as Vekor and I walked in and met the dad and the next thing I know I have some publicist saying excuse me miss, can Mr. Tyler have a photo with you?  I said let me see if I have time (Kidding) Ok. We took pictures. And I said have you guys come to the set ? No we have a set tour at four o'clock. So I said well it's almost four now, let's go. We walk in together and Patrick Stewart looked at this bizarre group and asked who were these people ? I asked, Patrick do you have children ? And he said yes. How old are they ? In their late teens and twenties, he said. I said make friends with these people, they are Areosmith. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are jumping on the transporter pad going Beam me up Scotty. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. There is a universal appeal to this show that defies logic. And to be part of it has been a real blast.   

T²: When you worked with Terry Farrell on Becker, you weren't in make up and she wasn't wearing her spots, did you kind of look at each other and say that wasn't it great to working without heavy make up ?

JCB: Yeah. I think we both said we paid our dues and did some nice work on those shows but..We had been at the same agency when she got Deep Space Nine. I was around when she was auditioning and we were talking about the technobable which is a pain in the butt. Because your'e not talking about anything real. Your'e talking about made up stuff half the time. So it was fun to do something lighter to do comedy together. She's a very generous actress and I'm just very happy for her. I'm happy that she's got a role like that allows her to break to break out of something that she did for seven years.

T²: So your'e doing more non-make up roles ?

JCB: You know I did a lot of non-make up shows around all of these shows. However if I'm at a convention...There are actors that bring in every photograph of every role they ever did. Personally it's too much to carry. I bring the shots from the shows that I have been on that relate to science fiction. That's all I need to bring. I'm moving into writing and producing. I am looking to start creating vehicles for television and film stuff. That and making another album.

T²: What types of stories that you care about that you want to tell about in your writing ?

JCB: Well. The one piece that is a movie is about the first girls high school basketball team in South Dakota in 1975. I happen to be on the first girls basketball team in my high school in 1975. The woman I wrote it for is based on a true story. We're the same age. I like to tell stories that inspire, uplift and instruct. They're not always happy ending stories. They're always about movement forward.  And I tend to write stories about kids. I have a sixteen year old son. I have written a two hour pilot about a small high school in rural Nebraska that is literally invaded by an air force base of kids. Because they're faced with closure.That's really exciting. What happens when all of your closely held beliefs and illusions are blown away. I like ripping the covers off of people's presumptions.

T²: How do you like to write ? Do you have a set regime ?

JCB: There is no set regime about me at all. I have the up most respect for people who say I'm going to write six hours today. What I usually do is that I write in long hand then I transfer it to computer. The reason is that I can write anywhere when I write long hand. I don't have to take a computer with me. Any scrap of paper will do. When I'm first compiling notes for a project, it's on everything. When I go to pull it together, it's hilarious. I mean I look like the nutty professor with all this paper everywhere. It is the same way I write my lyric. I think about it. I act scenes ou. I talk about to myself or maybe another person. I bounce ideas off it. As I allow it to germinate, I'll write ten, fifteen pages at a pop. But that's because I have been contemplating it for a week or two. So when I get into the mode of writing, I beat out the story, ok, first opening, first act, second act, third act, conclusion. I know where I am going but I am always open to inspiration because things happen all the time that turn the story a different direction.

T²: You played Na'Toth who was the attache to Narn Ambassador G' Kar on Babylon Five. What was it like to work with Andreas Katusalas and what did you learn from him ?

JCB: It's funny because we just did a sci-fi convention and were on stage together.And it was one of the few times we have ever been on stage and I heard some things from him about his perspective on how I came in and took over the role. He actually said that she was new kid on the block and I wasn't going to give her anything. That wasn't my perception. My perception was that I went to him and said, look I'm taking over for a woman who has had clausterphobic attack.

I don't know anything about this show and I need your help. I need to know what you have established as this race of Narn. I know what Joe Strazsynski said. I need to know what you say. He wasn't overly forth coming but he gave me some hint and then we moved from there. What he said on stage which was very lovely. Was Julie and I work the same way. We work organically from the in to the out. We want to know why are our characters they way they are. We take the dialogue and say how does this fit into what our beliefs and our feelings are. We were very lucky because we did we work the same way. We began to collaborate more and more about where we were going and how we were doing and I believe it did it show up in Chrysalis, our final show together before I left the show. There was real energy running between us. Because we were in harmony about who these characters were. When I came back to do the fifth season. It was charged. It was huge. It was like for the last show was Chrysalis and now several years later I do Tragedy Of Telepaths were he finds me and saves me. That was intense. We had a good time.   

T²: I really liked what was between those two characters.

JCB: They wanted to. That's why they hired Mary Kay Adams to replace me. They wanted Na'Toth. I was offered the series for five years. The intention was that I would be the attache as Bill Mumy was to Mira (Furlan), as Steven (First) was to Peter (Jurasik). The problem was in writing a female character while well written, the design of that character...it's like playing a Cardassian on Star Trek Deep Space Nine..the make up is prohibitive. If you notice there are very few recurring or regular Cardassians that are women. All men. Man's skin because of the shaving every day...a man's skin is easier to deal with. There are more oils in a man's skin and it doesn't seam to bother a man's skin as much. Although you can talk to Max Grodenchik and Armin Shimmerman and they will tell you..that our faces hurt. Andrew Robinson is a friend..Their faces hurt...They come out of make up and they look pretty red. So the intention was that I was always going to stay on the show. I just couldn't. Regretfully so I wish I could have done more.

T²: Speaking of working in make up with like people like Michael Westmore. How do you keep yourself interested while they work on you ?

JCB: That's what it amounts to. You develop a very close relationship with whom ever your make up artist is. You study your lines. You meditate. If you are a spiritual being than you thank God that you have a job today. It's not as tedious as people may have you think. You take breaks. It's not like your'e sitting in the chair chained to the chair. You can get up and have a cup of coffee. There are certain phases where they say ok when we get to this point you can't do this or that but you can do this. There is an interesting feeling of getting up at two thirty or three in the morning and going to a lot when there is no one else there. Going in and it's quiet. You and the make up artist are the first people there. It's a whole another experience. You'd have to do it I guess.

T²: I don't know If I could. I think it takes a special person to do this. I don't think that a lot of people can do it. I think only a few people can put themselves in the mindset and how far they want to go to express their craft. I'm more the person that can appreciate it more than do it. I have. Your work speaks for itself. Technology like this allows actors to create a whole line of characters. How does it feel to see your image on trading cards ?

JCB: The merchandise. You know its funny because you're imortalized. There are products on celluloid. Stage. It's there and it's gone. Music is there or it's gone unless you do a CD or someone video tapes your concert. But I will have till the day I die products that bear my name and if your'e looking for a legacy..That's what Joe Straczynski always said. This is my immortality. I created this show and I will be forever associated and known for this writing and this show. I think it's a hoot. I think it's a lot of fun.At the same time I know that it isn't the be all end all for me. Really what I'd rather people remember me for was that I was a nice girl.

T²: What do you see ahead for you in the next millennium ?

JCB: The millennium for me is about people being more and more in touch with who they really are and authenticity. Believing that you can have your dreams come true. A lot of my dreams have come true. It's not that I got out there and worked really hard. I always had a strong work ethic. What I believe has come into being for me, is that I am allowing the abundance that the planet has. That the universe provides..God provides..I'm allowing it. I'm getting out of my own way and I'm saying if I am inspired to write a song, write it. If I am inspired to write a story, write it. That's my creation. It's not my job to judge my creation. It's just my job to express it. Let others judge it. My job is just to put it out there. Along the way, I'm having a really good time helping others to put their dreams out there. I have an online fan club that is free. I invite people to write short stories, poetry and art work. I want to give them a place to express themselves. Because I have been so blessed with venue to express myself. I want them to have that opportunity and see your byline and see your stuff in print. Then have people e-mail you and say. Wow, I saw your stuff on Julie's website that was cool . Do you have anymore ?

T²: It's nice that your'e putting up your money to do all this. I think that's very important and says a lot to your fans.

JCB: I wouldn't be here without them so. We're in this together. On top of that we support a wonderful charity called Sunny Hills Children's Garden which takes care of at risk children from zero to eighteen. These are kids who basically have no where left to go. There's a wonderful facility in Northern California. Sixty acres. They really take these kids not with the sense of you're broken, you're damaged. We're going to keep you under wraps, keep you away from society until you're eighteen, then see ya. What they do is they want to re-integrate them. They mainstream them back into high schools and regular schools. They work with them to bring them back into harmony with who they really are which is a divine expression of God manifest as a human being.

Thanks to Lisa Mueller of the Northeast Supercon and of course, Julie Caitlin Brown.

LINKS

Special Thanks to the Julie Caitlin Brown - Official Fan Club

Babylon 5 - Official Page

Lurker's Guide To Babylon 5  - One of the Best sites devoted to this show

Star Trek - Official Page