Kipleigh Brown is originally from Chicago. She studied at the Steppenwolf Theatre and the Second City as well as performing in numerous theatrical productions around the Windy City. Kipleigh performs in and writes for "Top Story! Weekly", a weekly sketch comedy show at the IO West in Hollywood (www.topstoryweekly.com)
She also work for Star Trek Enterprise , Star Trek Online and Star Trek Continues.


- Kipleigh , thank you for your time for this little Interview.

 

My pleasure!

 

- You starts your career , when i look on IMDb,1994 in "The Magic Door" thats right?

 

I started out my acting career performing in professional stage plays in and around Chicago. But "The Magic Door" was especially exciting for me because it was my first role on a television show.

 

 

- 10 Years later you became a role in Star Trek Enterprise in the episode "The Forgotten". how did you get your role in Star Trek?

 

My acting agent got me the audition for Star Trek: Enterprise. By then I had relocated from Chicago to Los Angeles.

 

It's kind of a funny story, actually. I was thrilled about auditioning for Enterprise, because I was already a HUGE fan of Star Trek in general - and of Star Trek: The Next Generation in particular.  But I'd heard that it was a bad idea to reveal to the casting directors that you were a big Star Trek fan. Apparently Paramount Studios has had  issues in the past with some Trek fans who'd been cast on the show taking unauthorized "souvenirs" from the set. So when I auditioned I had to act very casual about it, kind of like, "Star Trek, what's that?" I made it past several rounds of auditions. At the final audition, I was told that the director of the episode would be in the audition room. However, they didn't tell me who the director was. So I walked into the room, still pretending to be all cool and casual about Star Trek and BAM, suddenly I'm  face to face with LeVar Burton!  He was the director! LeVar Burton played the role of chief engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation - which happens to be my favorite show of all time.  So unexpectedly meeting one of my heroes and managing NOT to freak out... let's just say that was the BEST acting I have ever done!

 

 

 

- After "Enterprise" you give your voice in Star Trek Online and then you work in 8 Episodes as Smith in Star Trek Continues.Can you share a moment you remember from the set?

 

 

I'm elated to have played the voice of Captain Kuumaarke in Star Trek Online (which is the official Star Trek massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Captain Kuumaarke, has appeared in several seasons of Star Trek Online. But in the latest season, "Emergence,"my character goes on a mission with... wait for it... Captain Geordi La Forge - voiced by LeVar Burton!  Seems we've come full circle. Just when I thought things couldn't get more awesome...

 

As for Star Trek Continues, I'm so honored to have been able work on this web series - not only as an actress, but as a writer as well. I wrote Star Trek Continues' 9th episode "What Ships are For." After I joined the STC cast as Lt. Barbara Smith, I fell in love with Star Trek even more - which I didn't think was possible! I was astounded by the passion and devotion of STC's creator, Vic Mignogna (as well as the cast and crew)  to carry the torch lit by Gene Roddenberry fifty years ago. What a powerful, beautiful thing... half a century later, Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future continues to inspire people all over the world. Including me. I'd never written a teleplay before, nor did I dream I ever would until Star Trek Continues. But the spirit Trek inspired me "to boldly go" where I'd never gone before.  I am eternally grateful for that.

 

 

- Was you a Star Trek Fan before you work in it or did you watch Star Trek before?

 

Yes I was a fan! But... you probably already figured that out from my answer to question #2.

 

 

- Star Trek starts these days with an New Series , "Star Trek Discovery". Did you watch the show?

 

Yes, I watch Discovery! I'm so happy to see Star Trek back on television. I sincerely hope the show captures the imaginations of our younger generation as it has their predecessors.

 

 

- But you are not only an actress you also a Writer and wrote the screenplay for "R.U.R."(announced)  and the Star Trek Continues Episode "What ships are for". How was it to wrote and not to work infront of the camera?

 

Once again, I seem to have prematurely answered part of this question in one of my earlier answers! (At least as far as "What ships are for" is concerned.)  As for R.U.R., I co-wrote the screenplay. James Kerwin is the primary author of R.U.R and is also slated to be the film's director.

 

While I enjoy working in front of the camera, I find working behind it, as a writer, rewarding in new and different ways. As an actress, it's fascinating to approach a script from the writer's point of view. I have a much greater appreciation for the careful thought and contemplation a writer puts into each and every line. Not only is it about telling a good story, it's about how you tell the story.  The words and the flow of the language are critical - they can make or break a script.  Bad writing also makes the actor's job infinitely harder. Likewise, as a writer who is an actress, I have an even greater understanding of the importance of an actor's ability to transform two-dimensional words on a page into a fully realized three dimensional being. The actor is the translator, the gateway through which the life of the writer's story is told. There is a tremendous amount of trust a writer places in the actor.

 

 

- What will we see in "R.U.R."?

 

 

You can actually get a sneak peek if you visit www.rurfilm.com, and watch R.U.R:Genesis.  It is a seven-minute short film that we made as a proof-of-concept "teaser" for the eventual feature-length film. 

 

R.U.R. is set in a stylish retro-futuristic world where "artificial" people have been created to serve humankind. The feature script is based the original play R.U.R. written by Karel Čapek in 1919. Čapek's play went on to serve as the inspiration for Metropolis and Blade Runner. 

But to answer your question specifically, R.U.R. will be both action-packed and provocative. It will explore the social and moral ramifications of an artificial race and delve into the nature of the soul, love, and life itself. We can't wait for you to see it!

 

 

- You work with so many people, which one has left an impression in your life and what?

 

I'd have to say James Kerwin. He and I are simpatico when it comes to what inspires us creatively.  We first worked together when I played the lead in his film Yesterday was a Lie.  Since then we've worked on R.U.R. and Star Trek Continues and have more projects in the works. We think in similar ways, the ideas just seem to flow. But more than that, James has believed in me since day one. He has believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself. He has always challenged me and inspired me to do things I didn't know I could do. Like writing. I kept thinking of myself as an actress, not a writer. And he said, "Why can't you be both?" I guess I felt like splitting my focus between acting and writing would turn me into the proverbial "jack of all trades, master of none." But James's question forced me really to ask myself, "why not?" And I realized that it was fear that had been talking me out of it, because you don't know until you try, right?

 

 

- At the last some words for the Fans outside there?

 

Try. Always, always try. Even failure is a success when you try. Nothing will come of nothing. If you don't try, you will never know what greatness lives inside of you.

 

- Thank you Kipleigh Brown for this Interview and i hope to see you some day in Germany.

 

I hope so too!  And thanks so much for having me on this interview. May you and all of your readers live long, and prosper.