For many in Hollywood, image is everything. Shaving your head for a role was a potentially risky career move. One thing about me, as far as my career is concerned, is that I'm very confident. I know I'm good. Having shaved my head for the role put a spotlight on me. After Star Trek, I was with the top agencies, but producers and directors did not know what to do with me.

Everybody told me to stay in Hollywood. This was the place they said I could have a big career. What they failed to mention was that no one would quite know what to do with me.  How many roles are there for actors with accents or foreign looks! I knew I was not about to displace the Florence Henderson types as the mother on shows like The Brady Bunch. If there is an exotic woman it's always a terrorist role. The American audience's limited expectations cause Hollywood's trepidation, and, like an albatross, they limit the textural realism that today's writer and director can create.

Ilia had a strong effect on male members of the Enterprise crew. Do people react diffrently to you because of your looks? Well, on Star Trek, Stephen Collins came up to me and said, "You're so exotic. You're foreign, you're intelligent, you're beautiful, and it scares me to talk to you." (Laughs) This happened to me a lot in America. People would say, "My God, she's a princess. She's a real lady." I sort of have that aura about me. In a way I was very shy deep inside because of it. People were afraid of me.

You've done so much in your life and career. What do you plan for your future? Right now, I don't know what I'm doing next. I've come to a stage in my life where I accept things for what they are and go wherever life moves me. Star Trek was my first major film that presented Persis Khambatta in Hollywood. I'm going down in history with Star Trek. It's a great feeling. I say thank you God for all the positive energy. I just have beautiful memories of what has happened in my life.