Trivia

♥ Gates was pregnant during most of the fourth season. Since it was not incorporated into the series, directors used a variety of techniques to hide her pregnancy on-screen.
♥ Gates wore a full wig from third to fifth season, while first, sixth and seventh seasons they styled her own hair. (from Gates’ twitter)

In Gates’ words…

• The reason I took the job was because it was a woman who had a very powerful position, was a commander, was a mother, was a good parent, was a leader and was somebody who cared about helping people. She had great humanity. She was that kind of a doctor, and it was very important to me that she was that kind of a doctor. And she was the love interest of Picard. So, she was a woman who also had sexuality. [from “The Doctor Is In: Gates McFadden Interview, Part 1” by StarTrek.com]

• [on the relationship with Jean-Luc Picard] McFadden said fans always want to know if Captain Picard could have been Wesley’s father. “I think it would’ve been cool … it stayed very vague. I made a choice that Picard wasn’t but he could have been. There had been opportunities, that Picard and I had been involved on some level. But who knows? It was a great relationship and I loved the fact it was so ambiguous.” [from “Gates McFadden on being a female cast member on Star Trek: The Next Generation” by CBC]