Even though Kim Cattrall had some influence in the creation of her appearance as Lt. Valeris in “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, she admitted in a 1992 interview with Cinefantastique (via Forgotten Trek) that she wasn’t a big fan of her Starfleet uniform. Originally, Cattrall said, she unsuccessfully lobbied for Valeris to wear a skirt akin to Nichelle Nichols’ Lt. Uhura in the “Star Trek” franchise, but instead ended up wearing a pantsuit that she said was too warm and bulky.
But while Cattrall didn’t love her Valeris costume, she kept one aspect of it after filming the movie. Having loved Leonard Nimoy’s Spock while watching “Star Trek” growing up, Cattrall told Cinefantisque that she had to preserve her memory of working on the film by holding on to her character’s Vulcan ears. Valeris is Spock’s protégé, after all — that is, until her true self is revealed in the third act of the film.
While Cattrall’s contributions to Valeris’ look and attitude were vital to “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country,” co-producer Steven Charles Jaffe told Cinefantastique that the actor brought even more to the role in terms of finding the right tone for her character, who, as a Vulcan, had to subdue her emotions. “It’s not easy to play a Vulcan. There are a lot of people who did readings where either there was nothing there with absolutely no emotion or there was too much,” Jaffe said. “Kim was exquisite because she had the proper balance of not showing emotion but also being very alive. You knew there was this very smart person worthy of being opposite Leonard Nimoy as Spock.”
