Playing Dax In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Took A Toll On Actress Terry Farrell

The character of Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" belongs to a species called the Trill. Many Trills are capable of conjoining with long-lived, surgically implanted, worm-like symbionts that live in their abdomens. The symbionts get passed from host to host during their lifetimes, sharing a consciousness with each one. Dax is partially a 22-year-old woman, but, thanks to her symbiont, also possesses the memories and personalities of seven previous hosts, including — most recently — a rowdy old man named Curzon. Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) was friends with Curzon and was thrilled to meet Jadzia, the next incarnation in his friend's life. He affectionately called her "old man." 

When "Deep Space Nine" began, the writers focused heavily on Dax's relationship with the young, idealistic Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig), an insufferably flirt. Dr. Bashir would frequently proposition Dax, and she, with the patience of a centuries-old sage, would rebuff him. For the first few years, Dax was depicted as wizened, but demure, rarely given stories of her own. It wouldn't be until later in the series that Dax would be presented as something more of an action star. She would tool around with old Klingon friends, and could handily best them in hand-to-hand combat. She was also frequently seen playing cards with Ferengi into the wee hours. She would eventually marry the Klingon Worf (Michael Dorn). 

Farrell was happy about the uptick in stories, although it eventually started to tire her out as an actress. Eventually, Farrell asked that her role be reduced, which led to the controversial decision to kill her off at the end of the show's sixth season. Farrell discussed her fatigue in a 2011 interview with StarTrek.com.

Because Dax's consciousness was carried on by the symbiont in her belly, the character of Dax was able to live on in a new character, Ezri, played by a new actress, Nicole de Boer. Farrell, however, was given the short end of the stick in that scenario, as it would require Jadzia to be killed. Farrell did, however, ask that her role be reduced because the shooting schedule on "Deep Space Nine" was exhausting. 

In her vision, Dax's role could have been merely shrunk to a guest role. "I didn't want to die," she said, "I would have been so happy if they just would have let me be ... recurring [in] the final season, so I didn't have to be in every episode." Farrell cited that the shooting schedule was rough, saying:

"I was just really tired. I was tired of waking up at four in the morning. I was tired of all the minutiae. I'm sure a lot of the other actors feel this way, too. When you're number five (on the call sheet), you're waiting for that schedule to arrive and it becomes frustrating. You want to feel like you have your life again, and I'd definitely put my life on hold because I didn't know how to balance a schedule constantly changing all the time. It was really hard for me." 

It wasn't just being worn out that made playing Dax distasteful. In the oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Farrell also noted that executive producer Rick Berman treated her poorly, too often talking about her body and her figure.

It seems Berman — who served as executive producer and co-creator and wasn't the "Deep Space Nine" showrunner — felt that Dax should do little more on the show than to provide a Gene Roddenberry-like cheesecake factor. Farrell is tall and beautiful, and Berman would visit the set where he would, according to the actress, comment constantly on her breasts. It seems that fatigue wasn't the only reason to walk away from "Star Trek." She said: 

"The problems with my leaving were with Rick Berman. In my opinion, he's just very misogynistic. He'd comment on your bra size not being voluptuous. His secretary had a 36C or something like that, and he would say something about, 'Well, you're just, like, flat. Look at Christine over there. She has the perfect breasts right there.'" 

Gross. And, quite sadly, the show's other co-creator Michael Piller didn't see or merely didn't acknowledge the sexist comments. For Berman, it was all about how she looked, and Farrell didn't like that. Luckily for Farrell, such lascivious behavior began to diminish in later years. She continued: 

"Michael Piller didn't care about those things, so he wasn't there when you were having all of these crazy fittings with Rick Berman criticizing your hair or how big your breasts were or weren't. That stuff was so intense, especially the first couple of years."

Berman never harassed or abused actors, but he was kind of slimy toward Farrell, it seems. One can understand that the shadow of those early comments cast a pall on her entire "Deep Space Nine" experience. 

These days, Farrell still attends "Star Trek" conventions, and relates her days on "Deep Space Nine" in great detail. It was, at the end of the day, a great job for her.