How did the success affect you personally?

The success affected me instantly, purely because I'd got the job.

I was on my way back to England. I had just taken the suitcase down from the cupboard, to start packing and the 'phone call came. I was broke, my credit cards were maxed out, I probably had about ten dollars in my purse and I was going back to England because I was broke. So the 'phone call came and in the space of one day, suddenly I went from being this unemployed, obscure actress, to an actress in Star Trek The Next Generation. I had to have a publicist, a manager, a business manager, and all this stuff, and my head was spinning.

Then it got to the point where I was recognised. That didn't happen immediately. I remember when the show first started, we were on a float in the Hollywood parade. The whole cast were on a float � I can't remember if it was The Enterprise or not, it was just something resembling a bridge. We were in uniform, just waving to the crowds, and the float said, 'Star Trek.' The public expected to see Kirk and Spock, but it was us going past all these people, who were going, 'Well, who the heck are they? They're not Star Trek, who are these people?' So we had some baptisms of fire.

I was lucky, because of the hair and the contact lenses and the different look of the character, I wasn't recognised unless I wanted to be. If I kept my mouth shut and didn't speak, then I could go around anonymously. If I spoke, people would tend to recognise my voice.

All that changed, really, was that I can get a discount in some quite posh stores and I get some quite nice tables in restaurants now and again. I get invited to nice parties. My life hasn't changed that much, really. I did all my partying and crazy things in England before I left, in my youth, and didn't feel the urge to do it again. I met my husband in the first season hiatus and settled down, so I don't think success has changed me that much. I'm probably the wrong person to ask: you should probably ask other cast members about how success has changed them - you'd probably get a better answer.