Gene Roddenberry stopped Dennis Crosby from getting a babyface role in Star Trek

A fun piece of trivia, culled from Larry Nemecek’s invaluable book “Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion“: The character Tasha Yar in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was originally conceived as a Latina named Lieutenant Macha Hernandez, who was intended to be the tactical officer aboard the Enterprise-D. Lieutenant Hernandez was largely inspired by the grunt The military character Vasquez (Jennette Goldstein) from James Cameron’s Aliens, a film that was still new at the time, was quickly dismissed when it was revealed that she was not Latina, and after some further development, it was changed. Hernandez moved to Tanya, then Natasha, and then Tasha Yar only after casting had begun.

A wide range of actresses auditioned for the role of Tasha, including Rosalind Chow, Marina Sirtis, Julia Nixon, and Bonte Bailey, who was the woman in the “Take On Me” music video. For a moment, Chow was the favorite for the role, although she would eventually be replaced by Denise Crosby, a rising star in Hollywood at the time and star of “Eliminators.”

As it happened, Crosby was already on the showrunners’ radar, as she had already auditioned for — and been one of the finalists for — the role of Counselor Diana Troy, the institution’s sympathetic psychiatrist. As Trekkies can tell you by now, Marina Sirtis – one of Tasha Yar’s leads – will be cast in the role To British Chancellor Troy. Sirtis and Crosby will essentially swap parts.

This swap appears to have been encouraged by show creator Gene Roddenberry himself. Casting directors looked for actresses to play Yar and Troy at the same time, to make sure the two actresses did not look alike. Sirtis and Crosby looked good opposite each other, but Roddenberry felt they should swap parts.

This was confirmed by Crosby herself 2012 interview with StarTrek.com.

The Roddenberry-forced Crosby/Sirtis swap story has been publicized for at least a long time An oral history of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” printed in EW in 2007. When speaking to StarTrek.com, the interviewer asked Crosby if this was just a rumor going around, or if it was true. Crosby was unaware of some of the casting details that were going on in 1986, but she remembers reading for Counselor Troy…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 if I can remember, my agent said, ‘Now they want you to take a look at this character.’ They’re going to do it.” To switch you over. We were still auditioning, and I think we had to go at five different times and somewhere, maybe after the third audition, we finally got to (audition) Gene Roddenberry. I’m sure Marina got the same call But my agent said, “Gene Roddenberry likes you a lot, but now he wants you to read for this role and the next time I walked in, it was for Tasha.”

So it certainly looks like Roddenberry asked Sirtis and Crosby to make a trade. In EW’s history, Crosby noted that Troy was initially described as “a gorgeous Icelandic blonde. Almost Spock-like.” It should be noted that Sirtis had dark brown hair, providing a visual “balance” to Crosby’s blonde. It’s a small detail, but small visual differences like hair color can really matter to directors.

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

Trekkies may not get to see anyone more in the “Next Generation” roles than the people ultimately cast, but a little imagination could produce a world in which Crosby plays Spock-like Chancellor Troi and Marina Sirtis plays an aggressive security chief. We are close to this world.