In the entertainment industry, conventional wisdom holds that adding children to a set is a risky proposition. Does anyone remember Wesley Crusher? Nevertheless, Star Trek Voyager they have seen fit to take that risk, and it has paid off in spades. The five appearances of the Borg Children have become the most memorable and popular episodes in an otherwise undistinguished sixth Voyager season. SPACE.com caught up with Scarlet Pomers and the Young Borg at Fantasticon, an annual Los Angeles science fiction convention devoted to raising funds to support the Motion Picture and TV Fund's primary medical facility, the Country House and Hospital.

Latex subtext

Behind the serious stares of the juvenile acquisitions from the Borg Collective are child actors. Naturally, they have hobbies, hopes and plans for their future. Kurt and Cody Wetherill, who portray Azan and Rebi (respectively), aren't very talkative without a script. When asked about their hopes for their futures, they replied very seriously. Both would like to continue their careers in entertainment, but while Cody has a great desire to be an archaeologist, he is a realist. He said he wants to continue acting because "archaeology really doesn't pay much." According to the twins' mother, the children had become very close on the set and still keep in touch with one another outside of work. They were all eager to act together again, and were ready for callbacks, should any come.

Marley McClean, who portrays Mezoti, is a mature pre-teen who enjoys acting and has no plans to quit. She said, very practically, "with a good acting class, anyone can be an actor." She plans to continue her education and hopes for many call backs onto the Voyager set.

Manu Intirayni is a mature young adult who portrays Borg teenager Icheb. He is very practical and down-to-earth. "While the actors have long days, often with 8-12 hour shoots, they get to go home when the director yells 'cut,' " he said. "But those behind the scenes -- the editors, the directors and producers -- have to keep on working. It's like their job has just begun. I'd much rather go home. I think I'll just be an actor."

And the grand dame of the Voyager kids, Scarlet Pomers, who plays a recurring role as non-Borg Naomi Wildman, says she loves acting. She also loves anime and pizza. Her favorite anime series is Sailor Moon, but she prefers to watch it in English subtitles so nothing is lost from the original Japanese.

Neelix of Nine wants to live!

While they are actors, they still are children, and idle time is filled with school, reading comics or books, and play. Scarlet has the distinction of being one of the series regulars, and most often, the only child on the set. With "Child's Play," Scarlet had the opportunity to act and be with other children her age. She shared a story about how the onset teacher stepped out of the room while the children were mixing and matching heads from cutout figures. "Seven of Nine's body ended up with Neelix's head," she said with a giggle. The children spoke of a special attachment to Ethan Phillips, who portrays Neelix. Addressing his antics on and off camera, Kurt (Azan) said he "makes funny faces behind the camera to try and get you to laugh." Scarlet added that he made the children necklaces out of fake veggies from Neelix's kitchen.

Spoiler and other things that smell

Manu (Icheb) spoke of his upcoming feature role in an episode of Voyager [probably "Imperfection"].

The plot he is involved in will revolve around him trying to convince the Doctor that he is old enough to decide whether he should donate his "cortical node" to Seven of Nine. Manu also told the Fantasticon guests that he fully intended to be available for more episodes.

Since so little notice is given to the actors -- each call so far was no more than 10 days from shooting -- he was unable to tell us if any additional episodes will feature the Borg Children.

During their first appearances as Borg, the children had to endure 3-4 hours in makeup. But once "assimilated" into Voyager, makeup was down to as little as a half hour.

The one thing that bothered Marley (Mezoti) about her costume was the smell. Manu added that you didn't have to see the Borg, "you could smell them coming."