Kim Cattrall: Of Vulcan Bondage

"There was a feeling on the set when we did it that it was really uncharted territory," says Kim Cattrall before crunching into one of the plums she brought from home.

The set she's referring to is that of her latest film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The "it" she's talking about is some sort of mysterious cosmic coupling her Vulcan character enjoys with that intergalactic cold fish Mr. Spock, played--as always--by Leonard Nimoy. Frankly, I hate getting this news, because I've always liked to think of Spock as one of the few individuals, real or imaginary, who gets "it" less than I do.

Still, I press on.

"Could this be a Vulcan love scene you're alluding to?" I ask. "It's certainly a pain and pleasure experience, yes," Kim purrs. "There's definite chemistry and vibrations ...Vulcan vibrations."

Was it difficult to convey the emotional detachment that comes with portraying a Vulcan? "It was," she says, "but Leonard was always my guide. I mean, he's been a Vulcan for a much longer period of time than I have."

Try decades, I think, as my mind fills with questions I can't find the gumption to ask, like, "When do Vulcans peak, sexually?" and, "Did Nimoy set the mood by slapping his 1969 version of 'If I Had a Hammer' on the turntable?" I scrape my mind out of the galactic gutter and ask Kim about the challenge of finding good women's roles in the current film climate.

"It is frustrating, but within the confines of what exists you have to make the most of it, and I think that I do," she says. "I don't want to do Mannequin 8, though, so if I can't find a role in a film that I really want to do, there is always a classical role in theater. The artists there aren't frightened of women," she says, laughing at her own frankness.

Kim is equally frank when it comes to talking about having appeared nude in some of her films. "I'm really at peace with it," she says. "I love my curves and my softness and my breasts. I think they're beautiful, so I don't have a problem showing them. "A good thing, too, for she's trying to pull together a movie project that will call for even more exhibitionism. She asks if I know who Bettie Page is. "Didn't she sing 'Doggie in the Window?'" I respond. "No. She was an S&M queen in the '50s," Kim says. "I want to make a movie about her. I think she's great. I was in this club the other night and they had all this stuff about Bettie Page; they were showing the '40s and '50s teaser reels with girls walking around in underwear, spanking each other, and tying each other up.

It's great stuff. It's so cheesy. And I look away and my girlfriend taps me on the shoulder and I look back, and the next thing up on the video monitors was my love scene with Rob Lowe in Masquerade. It was weird." I point out she's not the first person to be taken aback by seeing footage of herself in bed with Lowe. At least hers was well shot, of first generation quality, and she got paid for it.

While Kim's not hung up about taking her clothes off, she's even more passionate about the clothes she puts on. "I like rubber, and I like the sort of progressive sex fashion for women now. I like stuff on the edge." She adds that it's important to her to be a little subversive now because "in this decade, everything is getting so right-wing."

Speaking of latex accessories, how did Kim feel about the Vulcan ears she had to wear for Star Trek VI, the ones that took two hours each day to put on? "They were so cool," she says. "I liked them so much I went out in public in them--I even slept with them on."

Dennis Hensley