Product Code Database
Ishka is a fictional character from the science fiction television series ( DS9). A female Ferengi, she is the mother of Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Rom (Max Grodénchik). Ishka appears in five canon episodes of DS9, and also features in seven licensed-but-non-canon Star Trek novels.
Conceptualized as a feminist character, Ishka was played by Andrea Martin once and Cecily Adams four times. Both actresses endured a lot of makeup, prostheses, and costuming. Adams loved the character, and was stunned by the positive trekkie reaction to Ishka.
When, at the last minute, Martin could not return for "Ferengi Love Songs", the show held auditions for the role and saw "a lot of people". Prior to auditioning, Cecily Adams was only peripherally familiar with the Star Trek universe, having only seen a few and episodes. Adams was friends with actress Kitty Swink, and auditioned with the help of Swink's husband Armin Shimerman (Quark); Shimerman loaned her a tape of Martin's episode—"Family Business"—from which she learned "how broad the character was." Adams attributed her successful audition to the many similarities between her and Martin: not only did Martin's fit without need for alteration, but so did the prosthetic faceplate. Adams was described as a "natural mimicry" by the ; Behr said that Adams "just did Moogie." Even though she had the character down pat, Adams would later admit to having trouble with the Star Trek vernacular. Ishka was a radical departure for Adams: she'd never played an alien before, usually being cast as secretary in shows such as Simon & Simon and Murphy Brown.
Having never before worn prostheses, Cecily Adams found the Ishka makeup "rather daunting" and described the three to four hour application process before moving on to costuming. Originally the producers drew lines on Adams' hands to make them appear older, but later decided they did not look old enough and used prosthetic gloves. Once all was said and done, only the palms of Adams' hands and her upper lip were visible. After begging and pleading with the DS9 staff to see the dailies, Adams realized how much she needed to over-express to have her facial expressions translate through the makeup. When she came back to DS9 for 's "The Magnificent Ferengi", Adams agreed on the condition she receive her own custom faceplate. Adams praised the other DS9 actors who suffered through similar makeup ordeals saying, "I think it's astonishing that they were all in good cheer, and to be in the makeup all the time is really something." Because Ishka is flouting Ferengi law by wearing clothes, it was decided that she would overdo it, and so Adams was encumbered with "baubles and and beads" that made so much noise on set that Adams estimated she had to dubbing half her lines. For "Profit and Lace", where Ishka was to leave the Ferengi homeworld for the first time, Adams was dressed in a "Spandex suit from her wrists to the tip of her toes". Further, because Ishka was old, the staff padded Adams' costume with , including fake breasts that Adams guessed weighed ; after watching the dailies, both Adams and Behr agreed that the breasts needed to be reduced as they were too distracting. Adams would later thank both director René Auberjonois and co-star Armin Shimerman for helping her realize that overacting was the name of the game when working under such prostheses.
's "Ferengi Love Songs" reveals the romantic relationship between Ishka and Grand Nagus Zek, the leader of the Ferengi Alliance. When Quark is unable to extract nepotism assistance from the Grand Nagus, he colludes with Liquidator Brunt (Jeffrey Combs) to break up the couple. Quark soon realizes however that Ishka is the real power behind the throne, giving Zek financial advice and suggestions that keep the Ferengi economy afloat. Quark confesses his part, and helps reunite Ishka and Zek.
In "The Magnificent Ferengi" (), Ishka is kidnapped by the Dominion. While in captivity at the hands of the Vorta Yelgrun (Iggy Pop), Ishka offers financial advice and tries to empathize with her captor about family. In the same season, "Profit and Lace" finds Ishka leaving the Ferengi homeworld of Ferenginar for the first time to travel to Deep Space Nine in the company of Grand Nagus Zek. She has convinced Zek to amend the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities to allow women to wear clothing, and the result was economic turmoil across the Ferengi Alliance. When Ishka suffers a heart attack, Quark undergoes sex reassignment surgery to take her place at Zek's side and win back the support of an influential Ferengi commissioner. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) is able to successfully perform a heart transplantation for Ishka, and she is up and about by the end of the episode.
In the penultimate episode of , "", Quark discovers that Ishka has influenced Grand Nagus Zek to the point where the Ferengi leader has promoted labor rights, enforced environmental protection, and outlawed monopoly.
|
|
