Why One Star Trek Actress Left & Later Returned To The Series

When actor Denise Crosby was first auditioning for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" back in 1986, she was more interested in the role of Counselor Deanna Troi — the half-Betazoid psychiatrist on the Enterprise-D — than in chief security officer Tasha Yar. The story goes that Crosby landed the role of Troi and Marina Sirtis was cast as Tasha Yar. Show creator Gene Roddenberry, however, swapped their roles at the last minute, and both actors took to their new roles incredibly well.

Crosby projected a steely toughness as Yar, easily fitting into the new show's ensemble. Yar was even given prominent roles in the episodes "The Naked Now" and "Code of Honor." She also delivered a notorious antidrug PSA in the episode "Symbiosis" and seemed interested in the matriarchal planet seen in "Angel One." There was no reason for Yar not to continue on the series indefinitely. As such, when Yar was killed suddenly and randomly by the tar monster Armus in the episode "Skin of Evil," it came as a shock to Trekkies. One of the show's main characters was, without any heroism or ceremony, killed off halfway through a random episode.

Yar's death raised the stakes for "Next Generation" — anyone could die at any moment — but it also felt perfunctorily swift. Like the character wasn't being respected.

It turns out Crosby asked to be written out of the show. She didn't necessarily want Yar to be killed, but the actor was unhappy with the way "Next Generation" was going. She realized after a few months that she was mostly just assigned to stand in the background and support the male characters in front of her. Not content to be what she called the "token hot blonde," Crosby decided to quit. She talked about why she walked away from "Star Trek" in a 2024 interview with IGN, as well as why she decided to return.

It should be remembered that the first season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was chaotic and difficult. Roddenberry vied for complete control over the series and often butted heads with other producers and writers. There were stories that Roddenberry's personal lawyer was re-writing scripts behind everyone's backs. Crosby wasn't fond of the whirligig production, but more than anything, hated that Yar wasn't being given anything to do. Because she was young, already rich, and had no kids or husband, Crosby felt she was in a good spot to walk away from her contract, even if "Star Trek" was a lucrative opportunity for her.

She convinced Roddenberry to let her leave after she aired her grievances. Yar was departing the show. Sadly, during all the season 1 chaos, there was even talk that Sirtis might be fired, and one of the producers really hated Gates McFadden — who was ultimately fired at the end of the season. Crosby felt terrible about adding to the chaos, saying:

"And now they're like, 'Oh my God, there's no [...] women. [...] So now we've got to keep Marina and Gates we'll recast' [...] It kind of wreaked havoc. That wasn't my intention. My intention was to get somebody in the room and tell me, 'What is this going to be? What is this character?' It's such an incredible opportunity. You have so much here, but I'm not going to just be the token hot blonde on the show."

Crosby pointed out that Roddenberry, for all his vision, was still kind of stuck in the miniskirted world of the 1960s "Star Trek" and seemingly had no problems with another mostly-male TV series. But, Crosby pointed out, in 1991, "Gene passed. And it shifted. There was a shift when [showrunner] Michael Piller came onto the show [in season 3] and things changed."

Of course, "Skin of Evil" wouldn't be the last time Trekkies saw Yar. In the third season of "Next Generation," Yar was resurrected thanks to a time travel paradox in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." In the episode, the U.S.S. Enterprise-C flies forward in time 22 years, fleeing a crucial battle with the Romulans. Because the Enterprise-C abandoned the battle, however, a war broke out, and the timeline shifted. The Enterprise-D suddenly becomes a warship, and Tasha Yar is still alive. It was a clever way to get Yar back on the ship.

Crosby loved the script for "Yesterday's Enterprise" and frequently jokes that Yar had to die in order to get a good story. She recalled getting a call from executive producer Rick Berman and being skeptical of his offer to bring Yar back, stating:

"Rick Berman called me at home. It was a long time since I talked to him. Out of the blue. And he said, 'We have this episode that brings Tasha back.' [...] It was such a shock; never saw that coming. And I said, 'Okay, ew. That sounds weird.' And he goes, 'But it's really good, the script. Will you read it?' I said, 'Absolutely. Of course.' Read it over the weekend. And I called him Monday. I said, 'Oh my God, this is so good.' This is what I wanted! It's ironic."

Crosby was brought back later when the alternate timeline version of Tasha went back in time, had a child with a Romulan, and the child grew up into a bitter half-Romulan commander named Sela ... also played by Crosby.

As for leaving the show in the first place, Crosby says she has no regrets. She felt it was the right thing to do at the time and had every reason to believe that Tasha Yar would eternally be a background character. Perhaps Yar would have been expanded in later seasons, but Crosby was fine with the way things played out. After all, "Yesterday's Enterprise" is considered one of the best episodes of the series.