Having played the headstrong Captain Elizabeth Lochley in Babylon 5, Tracy Scoggins knows a thing or two about saving galaxies. We speak to the self-confessed Trekker and sci-fi geek about her long career in the genre…
For the best part of 25 years, Tracy Scoggins was an integral part of a slew of iconic science fiction and fantasy shows on the small screen. From appearing in the first season of The New Adventures Of Superman, to guest starring as a Cardassian in Deep Space Nine, playing the immortal Cassandra who discovered a young Duncan McLeod when she was the witch of Donnen Woods in TV series Highlander, to arguably her most prominent role as Captain Elizabeth Lochley in Babylon 5, Scoggins reveals how she circumnavigated a rich and colourful career in genre and how she believes an instrumental episode, written by renowned British author Neil Gaiman, played a pivotal part in fans finally accepting her as the captain of a space station.
SciFiNow: You played colourful gossip columnist Cat Grant in the first season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Do you have fond memories of playing her?
Tracy Scoggins: I had a blast in that role! They unleashed Cat completely and let me improv a little and create a character that wasn’t always exactly as it was on paper.
She was planned as a bit of a rival to Lois Lane yet the character only lasted one season…
In a different world I would have loved to continue on that show. In entertainment, drama is conflict and Cat brought the conflict in droves! I thought our scenes together were very character-driven and propelled the story in a great way, providing a conflict that always made things more interesting. But not everyone shared my opinion on that. When I say “everyone,” the emphasis is on the “one.” For instance, there was a scene where I saw flowers on Lois’ desk so as I passed by I said: “Oh, I see you sent yourself flowers again, Lois!” and they decided to leave the line in and someone questioned why it was allowed to be improvised. The director responded: “Because it was funny and it worked.” But I feel there was only room for maybe one female on Lois & Clark. I left the show on a Friday and on the Monday I started a sci-fi comedy pilot called Galaxy Beat.
Can you tell us a bit more about Galaxy Beat?
It was hilarious, and written and produced by Alan Spencer, who is one of the funniest human beings alive! We were galactic peacekeepers and I played a character named Sheila Fleckstein, who was butch and always trying to get in touch with her feminine side. She shook hands too hard and would poke Gregory Harrison [who played the starship captain] in the arm forcefully when she made a joke. Roddy McDowall played the voice of one of the alien characters and Michael Dorn lent his vocals as the big cheese commander! Unfortunately it wasn’t picked up for a series.
In 1995 you guest-starred as a Cardassian science officer in an episode of Deep Space Nine. Your character thinks that Chief O’Brien has the hots for her!
That one episode gets me invited to all sorts of Star Trek gatherings, as it became one of those semi-cultish episodes. On Cardassia if there’s acrimony and conflict then that means, “Well, hey, hey!” [There’s an assumed attraction] and obviously that wasn’t the case and it ended ip as an interspecies misunderstanding.
What was that experience like being such a Trekker yourself?
It was absolutely divine for me! I wanted that part so badly and I remember calling my mother with great excitement. However, when she finally got to see it she said: “This is what you were excited about? If I didn’t see your eyes then I would barely have recognised you!”
A few years later you would be in charge of your very own space station; playing Captain Elizabeth Lochley in the final season of Babylon 5. Had you followed the series before you were cast in it?
Yes, I was a fan and I really wanted the part! I was channel-surfing and I came across Claudia Christian [Commander Susan Ivanova] and that’s how I discovered it. I thought: “I like this girl! Let’s see what this is all about.” And that’s how I became a fan.
Babylon 5 was progressive for the times in that it had two headstrong females of authority. This was even before Star Trek Voyager. Were you nervous taking on such a responsibility?
I was nervous on a multitude of levels. First of all I wanted it so badly due to being a fan of the show. Second of all I was filling a gap created by the departure of a very beloved character. I wasn’t trying to replace her because that would’ve been impossible. However, I didn’t realise there would be so much meanness toward my character. But the way Joe [creator J. Michael Straczynski] wrote it was like art imitating life: the station didn’t trust Lochley because they weren’t sure which side she was on and the fans didn’t trust me because I was new and the last thing they remembered me for was being a slutty gossip columnist on Superman! But I think it all worked out. I believe what caused the change was the ‘Day Of The Dead’ episode. My father used to have this saying: “Show people your strength and they’ll take notice. Show them your weakness and they’ll take heart.” I think that’s exactly what happened with that episode.
Is that what you wanted to bring to the role: that while Lochley was headstrong at work, she could also be very compassionate when she wasn’t working?
Absolutely. I welcomed that and I was an enormous fan of Neil Gaiman prior to that episode and the fact that he wrote it… I’d already Sandman, Neverwhere, Angels & Visitations… and then he was the one to come in and give me a reversal of opinion, well that really meant something to me.
It’s an episode where everything is tilted on its edge, including the characters. You learn of this rebellious background that Lochley had as a youth as she catches up with a previous close friend, Zoe, who returns from the dead…
In the show, Lochley has the opinion that it could’ve been the trick of a powerful telepath but I don’t agree with that because there was too much other spooky stuff that Tracy, the actress, relates to: I lost my first love in an accident and to this day I still use his name in a couple of my passwords, so that was freaky! If you recall, all of the returnees on the Brakiri night died violently. I went to Catholic school and there were a lot of linguistics and [I learnt that] Zoe in Greek means ‘life’. I like that it showed how Lockley escaped from her rebellious youth and it was sort of a rebirth for her. Also, if you recall, in the next two episodes down, there was a phoenix on her helmet and I remember when I got that script I went into Joe’s office and said: ‘What, have you been talking to my mother or my best friends since grade school? I’ve been fascinated by the legend of the phoenix my entire life!’.
Watching ‘Day Of The Dead’ now you feel there was a hint toward a possible bisexual background to your character. What was your take on that?
I made a choice to play it that Zoe and I had perhaps experimented a little bit in our wild youth and that she was more to me then just a friend. Now, I don’t speak for Bridget [Flanery who portrayed Zoe], I don’t speak for Neil [Gaiman, the writer] and I don’t speak for [creator] JMS. That’s the choice I made and I tried to make it come across.
You also find out in another episode that you were previously married to President Sheridan, however it’s never referred to again. Were you disappointed about that?
The only disappointment I had was that I would have loved to have had more scenes with Delenn (Mira Furlan) as that would have made for an interesting chemistry. I don’t think the marriage itself needed to be revisited but I would have liked to see an ex [wife] with a current [wife] getting to know one another a little better.
How would you sum up Lochley?
I grew up in a smallish town and in a small town you have to be nice to everybody. Captain Lochley didn’t have that luxury because she was a commander. I feel we’re always defined best from what other people say about us rather than what we say or do. The character of Byron Gordon, the telepath, said: “While you have not always been kind, you’ve always been fair.” I think that defines Lochley to a T!
How do you feel about the whole Deep Space Nine/Babylon 5, and which space station show influenced which debate? Being such a sci-fi fan yourself, what’s your stance on that? You were a part of both shows so it’s a bit of a tough call…
I don’t think I’m allowed to have a stance on that one. I’ve been a Trekker since I was a child and yet Babylon 5 was a lovely gift and I got to know one of my best male actor friends, Jerry Doyle [who portrayed Michael Garibaldi] who vert sadly passed away [a few years ago].
Although you never worked with him you also knew Leonard Nimoy too, didn’t you?
He was my idol and I had the good fortune of knowing him. I’m sure you meet actors that you might have been a bit disappointed with when you meet them, but Mr. Nimoy far exceeded any expectations I had.
As I mentioned, Lochley and Tracy weren’t immediately accepted on Babylon 5. I remember being at my first convention and Leonard Nimoy and his assistants passed by and someone was saying very mean and ugly things to me. Leonard stopped dead in his tracked and said: “Son, we don’t talk like that to ladies here!” and the guy said: “Oh, I thought Vulcans weren’t emotional?”’ and Leonard said: “Vulcans aren’t, however my human half is about to get your butt kicked outta here!”
You did work with Walter Koenig, who portrayed cunning antagonist Bester in Babylon 5…
I was also a massive fan of his and I said to myself the night before: “Be cool. Be cool. Don’t be a fan girl!” I had huge scenes with him but the first thing I ended up saying was: “If the Talosians indeed were such an advanced race why couldn’t they have Christopher Pike in his original form?” He looked at me and said: “What! Are you serious? Who put you up to that?” And I was like: “Sadly, no one!” He said: “I wasn’t even in that episode!” and I replied: “I know but I just thought you might know anyway!”
This article first featured in SciFiNow issue 131.
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