Question: What was appealing to you about this project and how did you end up working on it?

Kellie Martin: I was pretty excited to work on something that was kind of an adventure/a little bit sci-fi project. I've never worked on anything like this before; I've always done just family dramas.

And this was a really fun opportunity for me to use some other parts of my acting, which included staring at green-screens which I've never done before. So I kind of love that.

Kellie Martin (cont): I know LeVar, you’re old hat at this. But I kind of loved doing that and using that as a challenge. And I also loved that this is one of the first times I've played a mom. So it was kind of fun to play a mom for the first time and experience that.

LeVar Burton: And I was actually a bit leery of doing another science fiction show. When I talked to Joel Rice, the producer, and he really sort of clued me in into what the intention was, and how I might work in the project, I became very open. And I'm glad I did. I'm really, really proud of the picture. I think it’s really terrific.

Question: LeVar, do you think TV is missing something kind of like READING RAINBOW -- something that educates while it entertains at the time?

LeVar Burton: Without question. There’s a lot of great television being done right now, but there is not a lot really aimed at a soup to nuts audience, you know, 6 to 60. And that’s what this is. I've tried over my career to address that audience in as many ways as I could. And this was yet another opportunity of quality, to speak to the whole family.

Question: Would you be interested in doing another TV series at some point in the future?

Kellie Martin: This is backdoor pilot, so I would love if THE JENSEN PROJECT went beyond this so much, because it was a great group of people. Whenever you do a pilot you kind of test the waters and see if this is a cast and a group of people you could live with for the next seven years if need be.

And this cast is certainly so much fun. This is my second time working with LeVar. And I just love the environment that was created on set. We had a great time.

Kellie Martin (cont): I do love doing television series. The 16-hour days, 5 days a week is pretty intense, especially when you have a three-year old. But I've waited until she’s gotten a little older before I kind of dipped my toe back in the water of this world. So I would love it if it’s the right project.

LeVar Burton: And for my part, having had the finest television experience I can ever expect to have in one career in STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, I have faith to jump back into the fray.

But again, like Kellie says, this is a terrific project. If this goes to series, I'm there because I like what it is. I spend a lot of time focusing on addressing and speaking to the audience that it’s directed at. And, you know what? I think I've got one more television series in me before I'm done.

Question: Did you automatically feel that chemistry on the first day on the set?

Kellie Martin: Actually for me, I thought that the chemistry between the cast was there before we even started shooting. Kind of just getting us into the room, it was just very easy and natural. you weren't trying to force a relationship on screen. Really, it just kind of fell into place.

The guy who plays my husband, Brady Smith, is the best guy. Love him. Had such a good time with him, and didn't really know him until we did this project together. We became very good friends on the flight to Montreal to do the project. So that happened before we even went on set.

Kellie Martin (cont): And then the kid who plays my son, Justin Kelly, is amazing. So once I met him, I just had this instant protective instinct for him and just adore him.

So I feel like, for me, it was really important establish the little family, my husband and my son. I felt like if that chemistry was there for me, then it’s almost like I had to put much less effort into all the stuff I did as an actor.

So it was really easy and fun. And then of course, when you get to THE JENSEN PROJECT, the dynamic in the room with LeVar and all of the other actors who are part of this sci-fi techie world is just really fun.

LeVar Burton: I will say that it is interesting that when we were shooting the project up in Montreal back in March, we naturally fell into a rhythm of wanting to hang out with each other, have dinners with one another and just be with one another. When somebody’s family member came in, we were all excited to see their mom or their brother, or their daughter in Maggie’s case.

So it felt like family, but Joel Rice, the producer, is really good at creating family. That’s one of the things that he does. Throughout the course of his producing career, he creates families every time he makes a movie. And THE JENSEN PROJECT was no exception.

Kellie Martin: It is fun, as LeVar said, shooting up in Montreal.

Being on location you either want to run to each other or you want to run away and just like lock yourself in your hotel room and never come out. And this is certainly the case where we definitely wanted to chill together and just experience that, which was really nice.

And Montreal is the best city ever.

Question: How long has it been since you’ve done a TV series?

Kellie Martin: I did a show that I don't think it was considered a TV series even though it kind of was. I did a show for Hallmark called MYSTERY WOMAN, which was a series of movies. We did 10 of those. They were each two hours, but I was playing the same character.

I finished that in 2006 right before I gave birth to my daughter. So that was my last series.

Kellie Martin (cont): And since then I've taken my time. I kind of had to learn how to be a mom because I really had no idea what I was doing. You have to get a license to drive a car, but anyone can have a baby. And I really needed to learn some stuff. I took as many classes as I could find. I read all the books I could find. I just really needed to take a break from being an actor and doing the crazy 16-hour day grind and just spend time with my family.

I really loved every minute of it. It’s pretty awesome. We didn’t have a nanny, and I was able to just spend time with my daughter, which is pretty cool. I'm grateful that I was able to do that.

LeVar Burton: NEXT GEN was the last television series I did.

I just want to chime in for a second about Kellie and Keith as parents. Because you know I've known Kellie a long time. You know this is not, as she said earlier, "The first time that we have worked together," and it is so wonderful to see Kellie at this stage of her life and to be able to spend time with here at this stage in her life.

When we first met she hadn't even gone to Yale yet. And now she’s a mom. She has a great husband, Keith, who is the best dad I have ever seen. He’s like super. He’s awesome dad personified.

So it’s just a lot of fun to revisit one another at this stage in our lives and with our families and in our careers. Kellie was there when Michaela, my daughter who just turned 16, was born. Two weeks after Micha was born we moved to Tennessee to do CHRISTY, and so Kellie met Micha when she was really, literally 3 weeks old.

Question: LeVar, did you ever expect to be such a major role model for so many generations of children at READING RAINBOW?

LeVar Burton: No. READING RAINBOW was conceived as summer program to address what teachers call the Summer Loss Phenomenon. A child, when they’re learning how to read and really developing that proficiency, they take that three-month summer vacation and their reading comprehension skills suffer.

So READING RAINBOW’s original mission was to be on TV where the kids are during the summer, and lead them back towards literature and the written word. Twenty-six years later, we were still making episodes.

Question: Kellie, how did it feel to be part of the ground-breaking series LIFE GOES ON?

Kellie Martin: When I started it I think I was 12, maybe 13. And I was so clueless on my first audition, I asked the casting director if a boy who really has Down’s Syndrome was going to be playing Corky.

So I had no idea. I really had never met anybody with Down’s Syndrome. I had no idea what that was going to be like. I had no idea what the impact of the show was going to be.

And really, I was so proud of that show. What the show did to make families who have a special needs child feel like they’re not alone. And to show all of the things that Chris Burke, who plays Corky, was able to achieve. It’s just mind blowing.

And then when LIFE GOES ON changed. It kind of altered its course a little bit and started addressing HIV/AIDS, in a very real way. We were the first show to have an HIV positive character as a regular -- and to really follow that story through. I don't think there will ever be another show that does that sort of thing that I will be a part of.

Question: Kellie, can you tell us about your thoughts on the importance of education for young entertainers?

Kellie Martin: I really think, especially in the world of entertainment, when you’re young, you can get caught up in it so easily and not really see what the end of the tunnel is going to be like. And I really feel it could be gone so quickly. All the things that you have today as a hot young actor or singer or whatever, and you’re 18, could just be gone tomorrow and what do you have then?

And I think for me it was just really important. It doesn't have to be an Ivy League university, but to go to college and to get your education wherever that may be, I think that you really, really should try do it. College is important for absolutely everybody.

Question: Can you talk about some of the positive messages from the movie about how technology can help the world?

Kellie Martin: Well I play a nano-biologist, which first of all, I was very excited to play, because I have not notoriously been good at science. So it’s kind of fun to do that.

I think that we are living in a world where technology abounds and where it can really enrich our lives. And this family in the Jensen Project that I'm a part of is definitely a science family. And they’re people who want to make the world a better place using their science and their minds.

Question: Kellie, why is your character away from the Jensen Project for 16 years?

Kellie Martin: Basically, my character, Claire, is a nano-biologist and she is a bit of a savant. I mean she’s doing amazing work. And I think that -- this isn't what the movie actually tells you, but what I infer is that they knew about -- the Jensen Project knew about her work, and invited her to become a part of the Jensen Project 16 years ago.

And that’s where she developed this nanobot and did more research. She is basically on the cusp of something great and she basically gets blocked down for it by one of her mentors. She leaves the Jensen Project all together, goes to start the family, and becomes a teacher at a local college.

Question: LeVar, is your character the leader of the Jensen Project? Is he a good guy or a bad guy?

LeVar Burton: Yeah, Kendrick James, in addition to being one of the scientists, spent ten years in the NSA as a security expert. And so he is the de facto Chief of Security of the Jensen Project in addition to his other scientific studies.

Good guy. Good guy.

Question: If this program is a back-door pilot, how will it look as a series?

LeVar Burton: Every week there’s another nefarious entity trying to coup the Jensen Project’s work and turn it to their own evil devices. There’s plenty of opportunities for cloak and dagger and high tech espionage. That’s what the series is about, on a surface level.

On a deeper level, it’s getting to know both of these families. The family of which Kellie is a part, and the larger family of the Jensen Project itself.