Summary
- Jolene Blalock's belly button piercing caused a mishap during the filming of Star Trek: Enterprise's premiere.
- Blalock hasn't played T'Pol since the show ended in 2005 and has retired from acting.
- Fans hope to see Blalock return as T'Pol, even if it's in a voice acting role for an animated Star Trek series.
Star Trek: Enterprise director James L. Conway recalls a funny story about an on-set mishap involving Jolene Blalock and her belly button piercing during the filming of the series premiere. Conway directed Enterprise's two-hour pilot, "Broken Bow," and he was largely responsible for the look and tone of the Star Trek prequel series. As T'Pol, the NX-01 Enterprise's Vulcan Science Officer, Blalock was an integral and popular member of Star Trek: Enterprise's cast.
Appearing on The Shuttlepod Show, James L. Conway told hosts Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Erica LaRose, and Mark Cartier about the challenges of casting T'Pol until Jolene Blalock joined Star Trek: Enterprise. Conway then recounted directing the infamous decontamination scene in Enterprise's premiere, and what happened when they found out Blalock had a very un-Vulcan-like piercing in her navel. Read his quote and watch the video of The Shuttlepod Show below:
I do remember one funny story, and that is, I think, before the scene when you guys have to go in the decontamination [chamber], she was getting undressed, and she had a piercing in her belly button. And nobody on the makeup crew could get it out. So they took her to Hollywood Boulevard to one of the piercing shops. And she was in full makeup! And here’s the kicker: the people who brought her there and back said nobody in the shop said a word about how she looked.
