Kate Mulgrew, Bryce Dallas Howard and Rosario Dawson shine at FAN EXPO Boston

BOSTON — A trifecta of talented ladies from three different fandoms reigned triumphant at FAN EXPO Boston this past weekend. A seasoned, scintillating acting veteran, an infectious and giddy fangirl and a very appreciative and appealing first-timer totally kicked some serious panel butt at this year’s FAN EXPO Boston.

The final frontier 

In arguably the best comic con panel I’ve ever attended, the incomparable Kate Mulgrew reflected on how playing her Captain Kathryn Janeway on “Star Trek: Voyager” changed her life and the lives of others.

“As a professional in this industry, it was monumental. It also changed the way I lived. It even changed, a little bit, my relationship with my children, who were not fond of their mother’s absence for seven years but their mother was very fond of what she was doing,” Mulgrew mused. “If I could go back in time and change anything, I would say we need to find a way to make this culture, this society, not only support but endorse, heartily and with passion, mothers in the workplace. It’s the best possible example for our children, especially our sons, who, as you know, can, sometimes, be rather difficult.”

With her legs folded and feet often resting on the sofa, Mulgrew gave a cozy conversation about how it feels to have given life to a character that has had a long-ranging and profound impact on young women pursuing science.

“There’s a roomful of well-known personalities in there (inside the Hynes Convention Center) but I don’t know of anybody in that room that had the privilege and the honor of affecting and, dare I say, impacted young women in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) as much as Kathryn Janeway,” Mulgrew said. “No other single thing could be as gratifying.”

Mulgrew said she didn’t know the impact her “Star Trek” role made on women until she was personally invited by then First Lady Hillary Clinton to speak at a “Women in Science” forum at the White House.

During a four-hour plane ride from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., the first female Starfleet Captain to helm a regular “Star Trek” series wrote what she thought was a wonderful, powerful speech but, she scrapped it when she looked into the audience made up the brightest young women in the world.

“I got on the stage at the White House and they were all there, these women. I just looked at my written speech, picked it up and I threw it away,” Mulgrew recalled. “I said, ‘Why don’t you tell me what it is that I have done for you, in any conceivable way, that has lifted you up?’”

A young woman, no more than 25, lifted up her hand and proceeded to open Mulgrew’s eyes.

“She said, ‘I come from a family of scientists and my father said to me, Now, listen, Alyssa, you are going to be very good in research. You are going to be very good at the desk. But, you are never going to go up. And, then you appeared on “Star Trek: Voyager.” And, guess what? After seven years of sitting by my father’s side and watching Captain Janeway of “Star Trek: Voyager,” I went up,’” Mulgrew recounted. “I’ll never forget that to the day I die. Extraordinary thing.”

Currently, Mulgrew appears in the animated “Star Trek: Prodigy,” voicing an Emergency Training Holographic Advisor which is based on the likeness of Janeway. “Star Trek: Prodigy” Season 2 is scheduled to starts streaming July 1 on Netflix.

From 'Jurassic Park' to 'Star Wars'

While Mulgrew hit her panel out of the Delta Quadrant, Bryce Dallas Howard (at her first comic con panel anywhere, ever!!!) proved she’s a consummate people person and natural panel guest with a glorious gift for gab.

Appealing, down to earth and a little goofy (in a good way), Howard mesmerized the audience with her refreshing candor and wholesome geekiness that made her an absolute, crowd-pleasing delight.

The successful star of the “Jurassic World” series and sought-after director in the “Star Wars” expanded universe, Howard said she was convinced to try out comic cons after the urgings of her godfather (and killer comic con guest at last year’s FAN EXPO Boston) Henry Winkler.

“I was complaining how at premieres, and what not, there are folks, fans, that are standing there for so long and, basically, you give them five minutes to just bust through and give ugly signatures and you don’t even make eye contact … This is not why any of us do what we do. We do it to connect with an audience, with people, and feel out shared collective humanity,” Howard said. “Henry, he said, so often, how amazing it is. What an incredible community this is and supportive community and really, kind of, keeping storytelling alive in a very real way.”

When it comes to directing episodes of “The Mandalorian,” “The Book of Boba Fett” and the upcoming “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” for Disney+, Howard — who said she characterizes herself professionally as being a “dominant submissive” — explained how she works with others and what it takes to direct projects in the “Star Wars” universe.

“I’m very happy, happy to go play in somebody else’s sandbox, be a part of a team and to be a vessel for somebody else’s vision and try to execute their vision with great enthusiasm as if it was my own,” Howard said. “What that takes I’ve now seen it up close and personal. It takes remarkable courage. It takes incredible mastery, a lot of humility, the ability to listen, to pivot. I have so much admiration for the folks who are doing that.”

During an intimate and unguarded moment, Howard was reduced to a pool of tears as she paid tribute to the late Carl Weathers, the man who originated the role of “Apollo Creed” in “Rocky” and had a memorable role as Greef Karga in “The Mandalorian”).

Scrambling to find her tissue box (“Where’s my tissues? Geez Louise”), she asked the audience if they would give the late actor a standing ovation “for everything he has given to us and for the incredible titan that he was.”

The ovation was taped and will be given to Weathers’ family, who have a private ceremony scheduled in his honor, Howard said.

When it was brought up by the moderator that Weathers directed two episodes of “The Mandalorian,” Howard enthusiastically interjected, “Incredible director! Incredible director! He directed some of my favorite episodes of ‘The Mandalorian’.… I just want to hear him say, ‘Mando.’”

'Crossing the streams'

Infectious fan girl Rosario Dawson is the ultimate comic con guest. At FAN EXPO Boston, the “Star Wars: Ahsoka” star delivered an out of this world panel that was fun, geek-filled and simply adorable. Dawson might not be a Jedi but she’s an absolute gem.

Kicking off her panel with the “Live Long and Prosper” hand gesture made popular by Mr. Spock on the original “Star Trek” series, Dawson might have been trained in the ways of the Jedi but she’s a true Vulcan at heart.

Not only did she tell stories how she constantly dropped tongue-in-cheek “Star Trek” references on the set of “Ahsoka” (which, she confessed with a winning mischievous smile, use to drive showrunner Dave Filoni crazy), she said she has a video of herself in full “Star Wars” garb having a mini-Picard tea party. So illogical or is it?

“I’m definitely a ‘Next Gen’ girl. Captain Picard all the way,” she said. “I have a video of me being dressed as Ahsoka holding up the Picard Earl Gray tea bottle. One of these days I will post it.”

Cracking herself up when she tells the audience it’s ok to “cross streams” when it comes to the “Star Trek” and “Star Wars,” Dawson said she was asked to do something in the “Star Trek” universe but she just signed to do “Ahsoka” and she couldn’t do it.

“I could have been one of Odo’s species, the changeling. I could have been an immortal puddle guys. Do you understand my pain (she said clenching her eyes tight). That would have been really cool,” she insisted. "I also really pushed to be a ‘Q.’ My dad. That was my dad (donning a masculine voice and pointing to her dad in the audience), ‘Be Q.’ I’m like, I’m trying. Right? Then I can be, you know, annoying…cause chaos, which I love.’”

In addition to wanting to play a character in “Star Trek” universe, Dawson said she would also like to play a mutant in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“X-Men action. I got claws,” Dawson said and she held up her spread out fingers on her hand. “Let’s go Wolverine. Let’s dance.”

A fan did sneak in a question about Dawson’s role of Claire Temple, a nurse who has given medical aid to vigilante superheroes on “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist” and “The Defenders,” and the chances of her coming back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I have to say that was one of the things that I signed the most while I was here,” she said. “I would absolutely love it ... Marvel/Disney, they got my number. They know where I am.”

While very few celebrities would be bold or playfully mischievous enough to talk “Star Trek” at great lengths during what is predominantly booked a “Star Wars” panel, Dawson appropriately shifted the topic to her “Star Wars” alter-ego Ashoka and how she was worried the first time she put on the costume.

“I thought I was going to get fired because I was literally doing jumping jacks…They were freaking out. They were like, Oh no, they’re reconsidering. They’re upset. They’re like, why did we hire her? She’s crazy,” Dawson said. “But I was so excited…This isn’t cosplay. This is a new story. This is a new adventure. This is a new outfit and look and everything. That was just so exciting to me. So every time I get to put on another costume it’s another part of Ahsoka’s journey that we get to explore and share.”

During the filming a big battle scene featuring stormtroopers that "just would not die," Dawson had the ultimate fan girl moment.

“The cameras were behind us, so we’re just shooting. All of a sudden, I looked down and I turn on both of my light sabers and I just felt like I dropped into the dopest VR experience,” Dawson said. “And I’m just standing there. And the stormtroopers are coming up. I didn’t have to worry about it because they have terrible aim anyways. So I will just shoo them away and stand there looking. And Dave (showrunner Dave Filoni), was like, are you going to move? And I was like, oh right, right, right. I was just like having a moment, like, I can’t believe this is real.”

In “Star Wars” yore, Dawson’s Force-sensitive Ahsoka character in the Padawan of Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker, aka the future Darth Vader, who is played by Hayden Christensen.  The two have known each other since they were teenagers. They met in acting class during the summer of 1995, the same summer “Kids” (Dawson's debut), played in the theater, and the two young actors starred together in 2003’s “Shattered Glass.”

To be transformed into Ashoka, Dawson said it takes three hours in the makeup chair and that doesn’t include the elaborate headpiece or clothing. By the end of the first season, they were able to cut the time in half but with two people doing make-up.

Although she doesn’t have any word when they going to start filming, Dawson did receive the official word that there will be a second season of “Ashoka.” And she couldn’t be more excited.

Grateful that she gets a chance to continue this journey, Dawson said Ahsoka is real to her and it’s not a role you simply put on and walk away from. She said the role has become a part of her and, as the fans of show will attest, she owns the part.

“She’s taking on this role as master and having a Padawan of her own, allowing herself to see the full capacity of Anakin. That he isn’t just anyone of his particular choices but the full embodiment of who he was as a being in her life,” Dawson said. “And I think that allows her to graduate to a different experience of herself which she doesn’t have to sit in those doubts and those fears anymore and be stuck on this, sort of, past conversation. Doesn’t mean her present and her future aren’t in peril. It doesn’t mean there’s no chaos.”

A new record

In the history of Boston Comic Con/FAN EXPO Boston, Jeff Goldblum reportedly in 2018 set the record for the shortest panel with nine minutes. But, believe me, it was an entertaining nine minutes.

While Marisa Tomei’s 13 minutes panel (with no audience questions) on Sunday wasn’t the shortest, it was arguably the most unsatisfying and infuriating panel to date.

In fact, the overly chatty moderator spoke longer in those 13 minutes than Tomei did and Tomei had very little to say when she spoke and even less to say about playing Peter Parker’s beloved Aunt May in the “Spider-Man” universe, let alone anything about “My Cousin Vinny.”

And the fans — many who waited five-times longer in line than the length of the Academy Award-winning actress' panel — were greatly disappointed and noticeably upset, not because Tomei had to abruptly leave to catch a plane. No. They were upset that no one announced beforehand that she was going to bug out early and take no questions from the audience.

Not even Joe Pesci in his prime could successfully argue Tomei’s case.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Screen Time: Mulgrew, Howard and Dawson talk sci-fi roles in Boston