Gene Roddenberry stopped Denise Crosby from getting a popular Star Trek role

A fun tidbit taken from Larry Nemecek’s invaluable sourcebook.The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion“: The character of Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation was originally conceived as a Latina character named Lieutenant Macha Hernandez who would serve as a tactical officer aboard the Enterprise-D. Lieutenant Hernandez was largely inspired by military grunts. The character Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) from James Cameron’s “Aliens,” a fledgling film at the time, was briefly considered for the role but was quickly rejected when it became apparent that she was not Latina Hernandez became Tanya, then Natasha, and finally Tasha Yar after the casting began.

A variety of actresses applied for the role of Tasha, including Rosalind Chao, Marina Sirtis, Julia Nickson and Bunty Bailey, who played the woman in the “Take On Me” music video. For a moment, Chao was the frontrunner for the role, although she was eventually replaced by Denise Crosby, a then-rising star in Hollywood and star of “Eliminators.”

Coincidentally, Crosby was already on the showrunners’ radar, having already auditioned for and been one of the finalists for the role of Counselor Deanna Troi, the Enterprise’s empathetic psychiatrist. As Trekkies can now tell you, Marina Sirtis – one of the Tasha Yar hopefuls – would be cast in the role the British-sounding counselor Troi. Sirtis and Crosby would essentially trade parts.

This swap was apparently encouraged by the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry, himself. The casting directors were looking for actresses to play Yar and Troi at the same time and wanted to make sure that the two actors did not resemble each other. Sirtis and Crosby seemed to look good opposite each other, but Roddenberry thought they should switch roles.

This was confirmed by Crosby himself an interview with StarTrek.com from 2012.

The story of the Crosby/Sirtis swap ordered by Roddenberry was published at least a long time ago an oral history of Star Trek: The Next Generation published in EW in 2007. Speaking to StarTrek.com, Crosby was asked by the interviewer if this was just a common rumor or if it was true. Crosby wasn’t familiar with some of the details of the 1986 cast, but she remembered reading for Counselor Troi… and then being asked to read for Tasha Yar. In Crosby’s words:

“As far as I know, that’s true. We were in a series of auditions at one point, and as I recall, my agent said, ‘Now they want you to look at this character. They’re leaving.’ to swap you.’ I think we had to audition five more times, and at some point, maybe after the third audition, we finally got to audition for Gene Roddenberry. I’m sure Marina got the same call, but my agent said, “Gene Roddenberry likes you a lot, but he wants you to read this part now.” The next time I went in, it was for Tasha.

So it appears that Roddenberry asked Sirtis and Crosby to complete the deal. In the EW story, Crosby recalled that Troi was originally described as a “cool, Icelandic blonde. “Almost Spock-like” was described. It should be noted that Sirtis had dark brown hair, which gave the blonde Crosby a visual “balance.” It’s a small detail, but small visual differences like hair color can actually be important to casting directors.

Crosby, of course, would eventually leave the show in its first season.

Trekkies may not see anyone in the Next Generation roles other than the people who were ultimately cast, but a little imagination can create a world in which Crosby plays an intense Spock-like advisor Troi and Marina Sirtis plays an aggressive security chief. We came close to this world.