Gene Roddenberry Stopped Denise Crosby From Getting A Beloved Star Trek Role

A fun piece of trivia, culled from Larry Nemecek's invaluable sourcebook "The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion": the character of Tasha Yar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was originally conceived as a Latina character named Lieutenant Macha Hernandez, intended to be the tactical officer on board the Enterprise-D. Lieutenant Hernandez was largely inspired by the military grunt character Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) from James Cameron's "Aliens," a film that was still new at the time. Indeed, Goldstein was briefly considered for the role but was quickly turned down when it was revealed she wasn't Latina. After some further development, Hernandez was changed to Tanya, then Natasha, then just Tasha Yar after casting had begun. The character went from being a tactical officer to a security chief. 

A wide swath of actresses auditioned for the role of Tasha, including Rosalind Chao, Marina Sirtis, Julia Nickson, and Bunty Bailey, who was the woman in the "Take On Me" music video. For a moment, Chao was the frontrunner 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 so happens, Crosby was already on the showrunners' radar, as she had already auditioned for — and was one of the finalists for — the role of Counselor Deanna Troi, the Enterprise's empathic psychiatrist. As Trekkies can now tell you, Marina Sirtis — one of the Tasha Yar hopefuls — would be cast in the role of the British-sounding Counselor Troi. Sirtis and Crosby would essentially swap parts. 

This swap, it seems, was encouraged by show creator Gene Roddenberry himself. The casting directors looked for actresses to play Yar and Troi at the same time, wanting to make sure the two performers didn't look alike. Sirtis and Crosby looked good opposite each other, it seems, but Roddenberry felt they should trade parts. 

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

The story of the Roddenberry-mandated Crosby/Sirtis swap was made public at least as long ago as a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" oral history printed in EW in 2007. When talking to StarTrek.com, Crosby was asked by the interviewer if that was merely a widespread rumor, or if it was true. Crosby wasn't savvy to some of the casting details going on way back in 1986, but she did recall reading for Counselor Troi ... and then being asked to read for Tasha Yar. In Crosby's words: 

"As far as I know, that is true. We were in a series of auditions at a certain point and, if I can recall, my agent said, 'Now they want you to take a look at this character. They're going to switch you.' We were still auditioning. I think we had to go in five different times and somewhere, maybe after the third audition, we finally got to [audition for] Gene Roddenberry. I'm sure Marina got the same call, but my agent said, 'Gene Roddenberry likes you very much, but he wants you to now read this role.' The next time I went in, it was for Tasha." 

So it does certainly seem that Roddenberry requested Sirtis and Crosby make the trade. In the EW history, Crosby recalled that Troi was initially described as being a "cool, Icelandic blonde. Almost Spock-like." Sirtis, it should be noted, had dark brown hair, providing a visual "balance" to the blonde Crosby. It's a small detail, but small visual differences like hair color can indeed be important for casting directors. 

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

Trekkies may not be able to see anyone in the "Next Generation" roles than the people that were ultimately cast, but a little imagination can produce a world where Crosby plays an intense Spock-like Counselor Troi and Marina Sirtis plays an aggressive security chief. We came close to that world.