I
had wanted to be on Star Trek more than any other show. And
here is why:
In a city of twelve million
people we had an acting class of ten people. And in that acting
class three of those people were Jonathan D'Arco, Garret from
Voyager, and me.
Garret and I had not
been working yet very much. But Jonathan had done his three
episodes of 'The Next Generation', which I loved. And every
Monday night Jonathan would come back to class and he would tell
us about a convention he had been at that weekend.
And I thought 'Oh, my
God, how great is that. That not only you are on that really
quality show, but that you get to go and meet the people that make
it all possible. And I just thought that was the greatest
thing. That's the show that I want to be on.
So, I made it a point
to meet the casting director, Ron Cerbo, for Deep Space Nine.
And I got this audition for the role of Marta. You remember
Marta? She was the Bajoran Dabo girl who dated Jake in the
second season. Well, I thought how great is that to get to
be a Bajoran Dabo girl. Bajoran spirituals, double fun.
Not that I can relate to either of those.
But I just thought it
was a really neat thing. So I worked really hard on this.
And I don't know how it is in Hollywood. But you can go in
for an audition five or six times for the same role. They
keep having you back and they can't decide. It can be really
grueling. Well, I went back and I went back for this role
of Marta. They had narrowed it down to me and one other girl.
But, it was for the role
of Jake's girlfriend, right? He is sixteen and she is nineteen
and I'm not...
So they cast her.
And I thought 'Oh God, so close and yet so far away.' I really
had wanted it. Well, I heard when we were shooting 'Let
He Who Is Without Sin',
Ira Beer told me that they wrote the role of Leeta for me.
After that Marta audition that was really nice.
It was my first day at
work and I was so excited because finally I get to be on the show.
I thought it was my only day. I didn't know it was going
to be a recurring thing.
I am in the hair trailer
at five o'clock in the morning. And Avery was in the hair
trailer. What Avery was doing in the hair trailer I don't
know. I was really really excited even just being in the same
trailer as Avery and was really excited to be on the set that day.
I
was leaving to go into make-up and I said 'Thanks for doing
my hair up. I see you later. I'm going to
go and get my make-up. I'm so excited to be on the show.
Thank you. Bye Mr. Brooks.'
Well, I was so star struck
by him. So, Avery says: 'See you later Kathy.'
And I said 'No, no.
I'm not Kathy. I'm Chase, Chase Masterson. I play the
role of Leeta. I had auditioned for the role of Marta but
I didn't get it. It's nice to meet you Mr. Brooks. Bye...'
And he says 'See you
later, Kathy.'
And I said 'No, no.
I'm not Kathy. I'm Chase, Chase Masterson. I'm not
Kathy. I never even played a Kathy.' And he took one
long wonderful Avery Brooks look at me and he said 'Nordic Track.'
I had done a Nordic Track
infomercial YEARS before. And now on my first day on the show,
my ONLY day on the show I thought, Avery Brooks, the star, is reminding
me of it!
So embarrassing, right?
Well, I had to say something, right? So I took one long hard
Chase Masterson look at him and said 'Avery. I was
not paid for doing it. What's your excuse for watching it?'