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Voyager's First Family Written by Jamie Painter Scarlett Pomers is not your average ten-year-old. After all, how many kids do you know that get to hang out with a Borg, especially a beautiful Borg like Seven of Nine? Or have their own fan website (http://surf.to/pomers)? And like her recurring character on Star Trek: Voyager, Pomers is highly intelligent, precocious, and ambitous girl. As Naomi Wildman, the half-Ktarian/half-human daughter of Ensign Samantha Wildman (played by Nancy Hower), Pomers came on board the show earlier this season and has been thrilled to become part of the Voyager family. Pomers was actually the second young actress to be cast in the role of Naomi, originally played by Brooke Stephens in one episode ("Mortal Coil"). While Pomers admitted that she was not very knowledgeable of the Star Trek universe prior to joining the Voyager cast, she has since become an avid fan. The strawberry-blond actress says she's been fascinated with Star Trek since the moment she stepped onto the set. "The first time my mom and I went to the studio for a costume fitting, I saw a Ferengi. I saw a Klingon. I saw all these other aliens, and I would stop and say to the actors, 'Can I look at your make-up for a second? This is so cool!' " recalls Pomers. For her own role as Naomi, she is made up with reptilian-like bumps on her forehead to indicate her Ktarian heritage. As the only child actor with a recurring role on the show, Pomers is surrounded by adults -- which for some child actors might be intimidating. Pomers, however, has only good things to say about her experience thus far: "Everyone's really nice and they don't treat me too much like a kid." She especially enjoyed shooting the episode "Once Upon a Time" which marked her Voyager debut. In the episode, first aired last November, Naomi enters a Holodeck-created forest environment in which she is befriended by Trevis (a living tree) and Flotter (living water). Pomers explains that while the episode looks like it utilizes a myriad of special effects, much of the spectacular visuals were actually created by set designers and makeup artists. "It was like being in The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland, " remembers Pomers. "It was just so neat. And the guys who played Trevis and Flotter (Justin Louis and Wallace Langham) were really nice." Pomers noted that she particularly enjoys performing opposite actor Ethan Phillips, whose character, Neelix, is Naomi's godfather and is often a source of comedic relief on Voyager. She knows she's not the only one on the set who appreciates Phillips penchant for humor. "Everybody likes him. He always makes me laugh every time we are on the set. He's always cracking jokes." She also adores working with actress Kate Mulgrew, who has become an inspiration to the young performer. Pomers says she hopes to one day be cast as the captain of a Star Trek ship. In fact, Pomers' character, Naomi, has similar aspirations of becoming captain of Voyager by the time the ship reaches the Alpha Quadrant. Pomers has one idea for never-before-used plot thread with the Ktarian. "I want them to make an episode where my dad comes, so that they can make a new kind of alien." The young thespian, who is a A student, especially loves sharing her experience with her fellow classmates at school, who has taken quite an interest to Pomers' work on Voyager. "When I'm absent, the kids at my school always come up to me the next day and say, 'What were you working on yesterday? Tell us!' I recently brought in my Star Trek action figures and talked about how I'm on the show." And while she doesn't have her own Naomi action figure yet, Pomers hopes that she is one day a regular fixtures on Voyager. "I hope to be on the show for as long as it goes," she says. While only a decade old, Pomers is practically a verteran in the acting business. Her career began at the age of three in Michael Jackson's music video "Heal the World." Since then, the Southern California native had appeared in more than three dozen commercials, including a recent McDonald's ad. Her television credits also include CBS's Martial Law, Touched by an Angel -- which earned her the 1997 Young Artist Award for best actress in a guest -starring role-- and the Secret World of Alex Mack, as the mischievous Jackie Phillips. "It's fun to play a brat and not get punished for it," says Pomers. Her film career is also been burgeoning. She had a featured role in Disney's recent Mighty Joe Young, and can next be seen in the independent film Happy, Texas, opposite William H. Macy. Her other film credits include The Baby-sitter's Club, and a starring role in Slappy and the Stinkers. In the spring of 1998, Pomers starred in the Los Angeles stage musical Ruthless!, her first live theatrical role. She now dreams of performing in a Broadway musical, and has every intention of sticking in the acting business when she becomes an adult. For now, she is truely relishing her work on Voyager, and hopes to be traveling with Star Trek as far as it takes her. |