Cedar Rapids native Terry Farrell coming to Riverside’s TrekFest 39

Terry Farrell has gone where no Cedar Rapidian has gone before, and her latest star trek is bringing her back to where it all began — the Future Birthplace of Capt. James T. Kirk.

Farrell, 60, who spent 1993 to 1998 as Jadzia Dax on television’s “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” will be a celebrity guest at Riverside’s TrekFest 39 on Friday and Saturday, June 28 and 29, 2024. She’ll do a meet-and-greet from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, then on Saturday, ride in the parade at 10 a.m., judge the costume contest at 11:30 a.m., and join in a Q&A session at 4 p.m., followed by photos and autographs. (The festival begins with a beer tasting from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday.)

Even though she grew up in Cedar Rapids, this will be her first trip to the Washington County town, lying about 39 miles south, off Highway 218.

“I’m curious, because I’ve never been to Riverside and I’m really excited,” she told The Gazette in a recent phone interview. She also gets to bring her sister, Chris Farrell, along to ride in the back of the car during Saturday’s parade.

It’s also a chance to get back to her roots planted before she left Cedar Rapids Washington High School at age 17, to embark on her instantly-successful modeling career in New York City. (She later earned her GED diploma with high marks.)

“I love that I’m from Iowa,” said Farrell, who has moved to New Mexico to be near her parents. “I love the Midwest. It’s certainly been great for me moving through the world and making connections to other people in the industry that are from the Midwest — not New York or L.A. — and it’s so much fun to be like, ‘Yeah, we’re the down-to-earth people.’ ”

She did love those years when she wasn’t down to earth, but was shooting through the stars as a Trill, a symbiotic (or parasitic) being inside a humanoid that could take on other forms and genders in a new host after the previous host’s body died. Trills appeared earlier in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” with the actors sporting prosthetic foreheads.

But when Farrell’s cover-girl beauty was covered up on her first day of filming, she cited this swift reaction that changed all that: “Kerry McCluggage, the president of Paramount Television, said, ‘What did you do to her face?’ ”

So the design team went back to the drawing board, and decided to repurpose the spot pattern used on Famke Janssen’s character, who was an empathic humanoid, not a Trill, on “The Next Generation.”

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Becoming Dax

Farrell said Janssen turned down the role of Jadzia Dax, “but I guess it kept the spots that she had on (makeup designer) Michael Westmore’s mind.” And that’s how Dax ended up with a lovely spot pattern framing her face near her hairline, continuing down both sides of her neck and onto her torso.

Farrell’s modeling career led to acting classes and several television and film roles, but when she was offered a leading role on “Deep Space Nine,” she was over the moon.

“The thing that appealed the most to me about the show was how it was described to me as this ‘Star Trek’ is going to be the dark ‘Star Trek.’ It is going to be the ‘Star Wars’ of ‘Star Treks’ and this part of Dax, this is the Spock part. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, Spock was my favorite.’ ”

The prospect left her “kind of terrified and excited all at the same time.” But she ended up loving it.

“ ‘Star Trek’ has been the greatest experience ever,” she said. “It’s like a gift that keeps giving, not only because the fans are amazing, but I get to have a camaraderie with the ‘Star Trek’ actors from the other ‘Star Trek’ shows. It’s like we really are a big family.”

She even married Adam Nimoy, Leonard “Spock” Nimoy’s son in 2018, but filed for divorce two years later.

“That did not work out, unfortunately,” she said. “Very much the statistical second marriage too soon.”

Her son, Max Baker, was born during her first marriage to actor Brian Baker, with whom she remains on friendly terms. She put her career on hold so she could be home with their son, but now that he’s 20 and making his own way in the world, she’s ready to get back in front of the cameras, with a couple of film projects on the horizon.

And more “Star Trek” events. She typically attends four to six of those in a year, but last year was an exception. Not only was it the 30th anniversary of “Deep Space Nine,” but she became an empty-nester, and was eager to step up her game.

“I just wanted to say yes to everything I could — even small conventions — because I didn’t want to be at home missing my son,” she said. “I needed to start moving on, creating my new life post-child.”

Representation

With one foot in the past and the other in the future, she enjoys meeting her fans at conventions. Because Trills can change genders after a host’s death, Dax has become a touchstone for the LGBTQ+ community, via social media memes and in person.

“I do have trans fans coming up to me and saying, ‘How do you feel about being kind of our poster representative?’ And I’m like, ‘You know what, as long as you understand that Dax was androgynous and adjusted to whatever the sexual preference or identification (of each host).”

Those issues weren’t discussed when the show was being filmed, but now, Farrell feels like Dax was pansexual, attracted to someone regardless of gender identity. “Which makes sense,” she said.

“Jadzia didn’t have any confusion about her gender or her sexuality. I think she was just very open to experiencing whatever adventure she could. And that’s what made her fun to play.

“And I think that’s what makes her relevant today, because I was playing out things that didn’t have a cultural vocabulary and a comfortableness with people talking about being out and whatever LGBTQ plus means to you. Those weren’t conversations we were having at that time,” she said.

“In fact, when the episode of ‘Rejoined’ aired, it was preempted in many of its time zones, because they were very upset about the content.” That episode aired in 1995 and included Jadzia kissing the wife of one of the former Dax male hosts. Trills weren’t allowed to reconnect with former partners and lovers, so this meeting broke barriers on several fronts.

The entire “Star Trek” realm has been breaking barriers from the original series onward. That’s contributed to its longevity and popularity, Farrell said.

“First of all, I think (creator) Gene Roddenberry was incredibly smart to have so many different races represented in the cast so people see themselves be represented, from Chekov to Uhura and Sulu.

“So that (was) happening and perpetuating, and ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is probably the most diverse cast of the ‘Star Trek’ shows. That’s my impression from watching the show.

“But I think that when you can see yourself in the future, especially in a sci-fi show that’s showing us surviving in the future — which is not only the hope for all of us, but that as many people as possible can see people that represent them, then they see themselves in the future. And that makes people feel seen. And that’s so important to have that connection with each other, especially with how nutty the world is right now.”

As for being seen now and in the future, in 2001, an amateur astronomer in Canada discovered two asteroids and named them after Farrell and her “Deep Space Nine” co-star, Nana Visitor: 26734 Terryfarrell and 26733 Nanavisitor.

“He didn’t buy it, he discovered it, so that’s amazing,” Farrell said. “How do you wrap your brain around an asteroid or an action figure? It’s just kind of unreal.”

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