or more than a decade, Marina Sirtis has been synonymous with Star Trek,
taking the role of Star Trek: The Next Generation's resident
empath and ship's counselor, Deanna
Troi, and molding it in her own image. Sirtis has continually taken her character in new directions--as evidenced by her scene-stealing, zany streak
in Star Trek: First Contact and her romantic-comedian role in Star Trek: Insurrection. She will soon appear in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Pathfinder," donning her uniform once more
to join fellow Next Gen'er Dwight Schultz (who played the
Everyman's crew member, Reginald Barclay) in an episode that could alter the starship Voyager's destiny.
How did the producers let you know they were interested in having you
on board for this episode?
Sirtis: They called my manager, or my agent, and
asked if I would be interested in doing a Voyager. And so I said,
"Well, find out what the story line is," because there wasn't a script.
I've always really enjoyed Dwight, so I just thought it would be fun
to work with him again.
When did you find out what the story actually was?
Sirtis: Not until I got the
script, which usually is about 10 minutes before you start shooting [laughs]. I got it about a week before we started shooting, a few days
before. I didn't really want to be a hologram or anything. It was
great that I wasn't, that I was a real person. And I was on Earth with
Dwight's [character, Barclay]. Basically, Barclay is trying to make
contact with Voyager. He's become obsessed with this whole idea of
contacting Voyager. My concern, or Troi's concern, is that he's losing
touch with reality again and that we're going to have a relapse into
the old [holo-obsession] disorder. I think it's a really good story.
If you look at it in terms of Voyager history, this episode is going
to be the start of them coming home. So it's kind of a landmark
episode, I suppose.
Did you ever expect your character to have the opportunity to appear
on Voyager?
Sirtis: Well, no, I didn't, because very early on in Voyager, they
did ask me to do one, but it was a very short scene, it was like a
half-page scene or one scene--I didn't even see the script--where I
was a hologram in this tiny little scene. And I really didn't want to--it was too soon after Next Gen had finished, and I wasn't sure that
I wanted to go back on one of the other shows in such a minor role. So
I had turned that down, and I wasn't sure if they'd ever ask me to do
another one. But, of course, they're bigger people than I am [laughs].
Actually, I spoke with [producer] Brannon [Braga] about it, and he
quite understood my feelings, and I think it's great that they
eventually came up with something that I could do. Which was actually
really nice, because in the movies I've kind of gone away from what
Troi used to be in the series. And this is going back to the
nurturing, kind, psychologist Troi, not the wacky, zany person that
she's been in the last two movies. There was one particular scene that
was very emotional, where you get this kind of quiet that goes over
the crew and everyone is really into it, and it was lovely to have
that feeling again, as Troi, having that effect on the crew.
Did it feel a little strange doing a Voyager episode where you used to
film Next Generation?
Sirtis: You know what? It was like wow, this is like stepping
back in time. They're our old stages, so it was really like going
home. It was a different experience than, say, if I was working with
the Voyager crew, where I would have been the guest star on their
show. And I would have felt like that. I'm not saying it's a bad
thing, but I didn't have that experience at all, because they weren't
there. And so it was me with my old [production] crew--I knew two-thirds of the
people there. And Dwight. I was like Princess Marina again, you know,
it was fabulous [laughs].
What's the focus of this episode?
Sirtis: It's basically a Barclay episode. He's in it all the way through; it's his episode. We did all of my
scenes in two days, because they were all in one set. And it was nice,
because we did them in order as well, which was great--and very
unusual. But because of the location and not having to move around and
just being in that one set, we could start at the beginning and work
our way through the story lines.
Given the emotionally charged nature of those scenes, I would think
that that was actually to your benefit.
Sirtis: Oh yeah, I mean it's always
great; that's why I like to do theater, there's always a beginning, a
middle, and an end--and there's an arc. So it was almost like doing
a play, because there was a definite arc of the relationship, and the
story, and a denouement at the end. It was very cool.
There you were on your old soundstages, at your old haunt, did you
have the urge to walk around and see what's there now?
Sirtis: I had a little sneak look around. Thinking, "Now, what's behind this" [laughs], "Oh, that wasn't there," "Oh, they have corridors that are different from
ours." And of course I had to walk through various corridors to get to
my set.
Were you tempted at all by the captain's chair, now owned of course by
Kate Mulgrew, a.k.a. Captain Janeway?
Sirtis: No, I didn't, I didn't. Patrick
[Stewart] had always trained us very well not to sit in his chair when
he wasn't there, so maybe the training has lasted. So, no, I didn't go
and sit in Kate's chair. It actually didn't even occur to me.
That brush with flying the Enterprise in Star Trek: Generations didn't
sink through enough, eh?
Sirtis: Yeah, I've
noticed they get me off the bridge as quickly as possible in the
movies now, and send me down to the planet as fast as they can. Maybe
they never want to take the chance of me being the only one on the
bridge who can drive the ship again, I don't know.
Do you have any thoughts on Star Trek: Insurrection not performing up to
expectations?
Sirtis: Well, I don't want to go into that, you know, odd-number
thing--although it's hard to not wonder about it. I thought
Insurrection was a really good film. I think it was a film that Gene
Roddenberry would have been proud of.
What have you heard about the next Star Trek movie?
Sirtis: We've heard nothing about
another movie. We haven't even heard that there's going to be another
movie, so as far as we're concerned at this point in time, we're done.
We've done our contractual three
pictures, and we haven't heard anything else, so....
Star Trek isn't the only science fiction coal you have in the fire, so to
speak. You're also going to appear in Earth: Final Conflict. Was it out of talking with Majel Barrett
Roddenberry that this role came up?
Sirtis: Well, ever since the show started,
Majel and I had been in contact, we're very good friends, and I had
told her I'd love to be on it. She knew I would like to be on it, and
I knew that she wanted me on it.
Tell us about your character on the show.
Sirtis: Her name is Sister Margaret. She's the
leader of a cult; they're like nuns, but they're not. And they are
devoted to the Taelons, absolutely besotted with them. She discovers
this kind of energy merging ceremony, or she develops it, and so she
has this master plan to mingle the two species, but she also has a
secret personal agenda that we don't know about until the end of the
show. She's very weird and strange and edgy.
What else is on tap for you in the future?
Sirtis: Well, I'm shooting a movie
in England next summer, which is called Meg Foster. It sounds strange,
but it's like a film noir teen movie. I know that sounds a bit like a
contradiction in terms, but it's a very interesting concept to make a
dark teenagers' film. I'll be playing the evil bad person in that,
too. That's the only thing that's a definite right now.
