Why Kim Cattrall Almost Turned Down The Role Of Valeris In The Star Trek Franchise

While the 1991 sci-fi political thriller "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was still being developed at Paramount, the half-Vulcan-half-Romulan officer Saavik was originally going to play a sizeable role. Saavik, Trekkies can tell you, first appeared in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," and was played by Kirstie Alley in one of her earliest acting roles. Saavik was introduced as a protégé of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and displayed a lot of befuddlement over the emotional lives of the humans she was to work with. Saavik returned for "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" in 1984, but Alley was replaced by actress Robin Curtis, playing the part in a more stern and emotionless fashion. Curtis also appeared briefly at the start of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." 

Saavik was originally going to appear in "Star Trek VI" as well, but "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry objected to her role in the film's plot; the screenwriters posited that Saavik would betray the Enterprise crew, helping to perpetuate a Cold War. Roddenberry wanted her to be more honorable than that. Also, Robin Curtis dropped out of the franchise by then, and a third actress would be required to play the part. Nicholas Meyer wanted Alley to come back, but she had already moved on to "Cheers" by then. 

Kim Cattrall had originally auditioned for Saavik for "Star Trek II," but was no longer interested, refusing to be the third actress to play the same role. Instead, a new Vulcan character was invented for Cattrall: Valeris. Valeris was Spock's new protégé but was new enough to have shady motivations of her own.

Cattrall, speaking to Starlog Magazine back in 1992 (transcribed by the website Trekkie Feminist), also noted that "Star Trek" didn't always treat its female characters very well. She nearly turned down the role entirely.

While "Star Trek" is very progressive in many ways — depicting a future with no countries and beyond concepts like war and capitalism — Gene Roddenberry didn't always treat women very well. Notoriously, female crew members of the U.S.S. Enterprise wore miniskirts and stockings. There was even an original series episode that declared, in a detail happily ignored by Trekkies, that women aren't allowed to be starship captains. Cattrall only remembered the miniskirts, and initially refused "Star Trek." She recalled: 

"I just said, 'No, I don't think so. I'm beyond doing those kinds of roles.' I just felt that the way women were portrayed in those movies were either leg furniture, real b****es, or basically extras and you never really felt for them." 

Cattrall had also seen "Star Trek II" through "Star Trek IV" and didn't think much of the way Saavik turned out. Most of the major plot points were handled by William Shatner or another member of the main cast. Saavik, Cattrall felt, only had something vital to do in the third film, and still, it wasn't much. She continued: 

"I think Saavik is a sympathetic character ... but she doesn't really do much, except in 'Star Trek III' when she helps the young Spock go through his transition of becoming a man and his seven-year sexual [cycle]. So, I didn't really have a clear idea of what women would be like in a 'Star Trek' mode besides Uhura, and she's basically a telephone operator. Gorgeous, but I wanted more than that. And I thought, 'I'm not going to do ST movies unless they give my character more meat.'" 

The solution was to rid the story of Saavik and invent Valeris. And, much to Cattrall's relief, the filmmakers asked for her input on the character, helping them invent Valeris from the ground up. Indeed, the hairdo was Cattrall's idea, as was the inclusion of the suffix "Eris," the goddess of discord, into her name. 

Cattrall loved the look she created for the character, feeling it to be futuristic and retro at the same time. She also claims to have loved the ear tips she had to wear, often wanting to wear them home at the end of the day. It was terrible, she said, making phone calls with them on, however, as they would peel off and stick to the phone. And yes, the rumors are true: one night during filming, Cattrall snuck onto the Enterprise Bridge set and had a friend take photos of her wearing nothing but the ears. Reportedly, though, Leonard Nimoy found the photos and tore them up, not wanting them potentially leaked to the public and inviting scandal to Cattrall and to "Star Trek." 

Cattrall also noted that Valeris was a far more dynamic, interesting character than Saavik. The latter was a passive figure in her eyes. Valeris, meanwhile, had very clear goals. The actress said of Valeris: 

"She's much more dimensional than just a beautiful woman with backswept hair who wears funny ears and a sexy top. She's much more defined. She has more succinct desires and wants, and she's ambitious. With the other Saaviks, it was very difficult to tell what they wanted: they were very ambivalent. There's really nothing ambivalent about Lieutenant Valeris. She has a role in her life, and she wants to do well and fit in, sometimes a little too much. But she's very defined, whereas I felt both Saaviks weren't. They were just sort of carbon copies of Spock." 

Which, some might say, is a fair assessment. Cattrall was fantastic in the role, and a welcome addition to "Star Trek." Fun trivia: Cattrall clearly shot the Tony Maylam film "Split Second" immediately after her time on "Star Trek VI," as she still has the same wild hairdo.