Star Trek’s Most Lusted After Actress Got Cast Thanks To Real Life Superpowers

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 26 seconds ago

Here’s a question sci-fi nerds have been debating for about 60 years: who’s the hottest actor in Star Trek? Many Original Series fans would name the late, great Uhura actor Nichelle Nichols (unless, of course, they preferred Susan Oliver as the glamorously green Orion slave girl). Strange New Worlds fans, meanwhile, might name Jess Bush, whose Nurse Chapel is cute enough to make even a Vulcan blush. For those of us who grew up during the Golden Age of Star Trek, though, there’s only one answer: Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Because Sirtis was so beautiful, you might think this is how she landed the role, especially since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was known to be easily swayed by a woman’s appearance. But her beauty wasn’t the real secret to getting the coveted role of Deanna Troi; instead, she utilized the same superpowers that her exotic alien character would be known for. You see, Sirtis only got the role because a director told her to use the empathy she had unknowingly been exhibiting throughout the audition process.

Sorry, Fellas: She Already Knows What You’re Thinking

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Marina Sirtis plays Deanna Troi, an alien from the planet Betazoid. Full-blooded Betazeds like her mother are fully telepathic and can read your mind as easily as they can read a book. However, Deanna had a human father, so she is only half-Betazed. Instead of outright reading thoughts, she is only capable of reading emotions. This superpower is typically referred to as an empathic ability, differentiating it from the telepathic abilities possessed by full Betazeds.

Originally, Marina Sirtis had no plans to audition for Deanna Troi. As weird as it is for fans to imagine, she originally read lines for Tasha Yar, the no-nonsense Security Chief that would ultimately be played by Denise Crosby, who originally auditioned to play Troi. The producers were originally quite happy to have these women play the roles they originally signed on for, but Gene Roddenberry himself suggested that Crosby should play Yar and Sirtis should play Troi. On the DVD special features for The Next Generation Season 1, Crosby said that Gene looked at the two women and decided that “Troi should be this exotic, otherworldly creature” and not an “American golden girl.”

Alien Superpowers Save The Day?!?

However, Sirtis needed more than her astounding beauty to get the part of Deanna Troi. She was given only an hour to memorize lines for three scenes, and she was understandably nervous about having to audition for a completely different character. As mentioned in the book Trek: The Next Generation, she ended up getting some life-changing (and very Troi-like) advice from director Corey Allen. “You have something personally that the character should have… an empathy, so use it.’”

It’s good advice, but Sirtis wasn’t entirely sure if it really applied to her. While Deanna Troi might have world-class empathic abilities, the actor later admitted to Starlog that she found Allen’s advice “funny” because she considered herself more of a hot-headed Worf-type and didn’t have that much empathy in real life. Still, his advice gave her the confidence she needed to close herself in the room, learn her lines, and read her part with confidence. In an interview with Star Trek: The Magazine, she admitted that she leaned into the “emotional” aspects of her lines and started “playing it like it was a Greek tragedy,” which allowed her “to get my teeth into it.”

While Marina Sirtis worried she didn’t have the empathy required for Deanna Troi, she ultimately ended up getting the part. To her credit, she played the role remarkably well, often rising well above the frankly awful writing that her character was given. She became a mainstay of the franchise, appearing in Voyager, all four TNG movies, and two seasons of Star Trek: Picard. She never would have gotten this role, however, if a director hadn’t believed she possessed the same superpowers as her exotic alien character!