Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Deanna Troi
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00:00Hey folks, before we start, just want to say a really quick thank you to Squarespace, who
00:03are sponsoring this video.
00:05She's everyone's favourite Betazoid, and she's actually just a little bit deadly.
00:10She's Deanna Troi, and today we're going to go through all these cool little tidbits
00:13about her.
00:14But, before we watch this video, make sure that you check out the original article by
00:18the wonderful Jack Kiley.
00:20Yous are stunning, yous are wonderful, I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are
00:2410 things you didn't know about Deanna Troi.
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01:58Number 10.
01:59The role first went to Denise Crosby.
02:01Before filming began on Star Trek The Next Generation, the producers were set on casting
02:04Denise Crosby in the role of Deanna Troi, and at the same time, Marina Sirtis was reading
02:09for the part of Masha Hernandez, who later became Natasha Yar.
02:13Crosby admitted that she had difficulties with her fit for the role, not quite grasping,
02:16as she once stated, the gobbledygook and weird concept of a Betazoid.
02:20It was Gene Roddenberry who eventually swapped the roles.
02:22It was decided that Sirtis was a better fit for the part of the empathic Troi.
02:26In Crosby's words, citing Roddenberry however, she, the actress, was just this kind of American
02:31golden girl compared to the more exotic otherworldly element that was wanted for Troi.
02:35In any case, the switch happened not a moment too soon.
02:37When Sirtis got the call confirming she'd got the part, her US visa was due to expire
02:41that very day.
02:43The actress was packing her bags, a little dejected, for a return to her hometown of
02:46London.
02:47Thankfully, the rest is history.
02:48Had Roddenberry not changed things, perhaps Troi, and not Yar, would have met her end
02:52at the hands, gloopy pseudo-appendages, of the grumpy old prank bait, Armas.
02:58Number 9.
02:59Character Constructs, Not a Total Recall What you may not know is that the character
03:03of Troi first took reference from prior Trek, and Aylea in particular from the motion picture.
03:08Think Deltans and Betazoids and their mental capabilities.
03:12The latter was already a carryover from the abandoned Project Star Trek Phase 2.
03:16Aylea's relationship with Will Decker was then the model to build that between Troi
03:20and Riker.
03:21Both Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby also originally considered Troi to be Spock-like.
03:25The character description for Troi in the TNGC's Bible does make passing reference
03:30to Spock, but this is merely to flesh out the Counselor's telepathic abilities.
03:34Troi was ultimately meant to be her own person, her role nonetheless second in importance
03:38only to the Captain and First Officer, according to the series Bible once more.
03:42There seems to be some confusion surrounding the original intent for the character, however.
03:46In conflicting descriptions of Roddenberry calling Troi both the brain on the show and
03:50sexy and not very bright, it is difficult to know what to think.
03:53Apparently Roddenberry initially wanted Troi to have three, or even four depending on the
03:57source, breasts before DC Fontana thankfully convinced him otherwise.
04:02Sirtis would later note that, with the costume changes of Season 1, when Troi got cleavage
04:07she lost her brain matter, and only really gained some back when she regained the uniform.
04:13She nearly didn't make it past Season 1 of TNG.
04:17Given the pandemonium behind the scenes, it is a wonder anyone made it past the first
04:20season of TNG.
04:21We all know what happened to Natasha Yard, Denise Crosby, and Dr. Crusher Gates McFadden.
04:25What you probably didn't know, however, is that it was Troi who was originally on
04:28the chopping block.
04:29Several fairly significant changes had already been made to the character between the pilot
04:33and the rest of the season.
04:34The extent of Troi's powers was reduced with regards to her telepathic capabilities,
04:38and she also changed outfit and hairstyle.
04:40No longer was she dressed in that god-awful Cosmic Cheerleader uniform, with the ugliest
04:45go-go boots ever designed, as Marina Sirtis herself famously described it.
04:49The writers struggled with the character and empathic abilities.
04:52According to Sirtis, she was often simply written out of scenes where Troi's presence
04:55could have been problematic for the plot, as Captain Jemmy once said, what I wouldn't
04:59give for a Betazoid right now.
05:00This led the writers to consider nixing the character before the end of the first season.
05:04It was only with the departure of Crosby and McFadden from the show that Troi was given
05:08leave to remain.
05:09Sirtis found this out straight from the horse's mouth at Jonathan Frakes' wedding during
05:13the break between seasons, when Gene Roddenberry approached her to announce that the first
05:17episode of Season 2 would focus on Troi.
05:207.
05:21Marina Sirtis Hated All That Chocolate
05:23In TNG at least, Troi seemed to accumulate a lot of serious and dark scenes, some of
05:28which we've already discussed.
05:29She loses her empathic powers, is rapidly aged by a malicious alien ambassador, has
05:33her body taken over by a criminal imposter, is transformed into an amphibian, must do
05:37the acting job of her life aboard a Romulan starship, and that's not to mention having
05:41to negotiate the difficult relationship she has with her mother.
05:43Of course, her role as counsellor requires her to be more earnest than most, but there
05:47are lighter moments for Troi.
05:49One now-famous example is her adoration and borderline addiction to chocolate.
05:53Well, it is a galaxy-class starship, sorry.
05:57In the episode The Game, Riker finds Troi tucking into a bowl of chocolate upon chocolate
06:01upon chocolate.
06:02She proceeds to explain to him, in the minutest of detail, the fine art of the confectionery's
06:07consumption.
06:08Remember, it's the whole experience.
06:10What you may not know, however, is far from never having met a chocolate she didn't
06:13like, was that Marina Sirtis hated having to eat it.
06:16Contrary to the popular belief, the actress does like chocolate, but eating that much
06:20take after take would be too much for anybody.
06:22Apparently, she would ask the crew to use a type of chocolate she didn't like, and
06:25then she would spit out what she ate into a bucket.
06:286.
06:29Her Changing Accent Has an Origin Story
06:31The original casting call for Troi, not without a few uncomfortable of-the-time aftertastes
06:36and cliches in all its pan-European vagueness, states that Diana is probably foreign, anywhere
06:41from Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Icelandic, etc., with looks and accent to match.
06:46Marina Sirtis, who was born in London, East and then moved North, to Greek parents, is
06:50fluent in Greek, is skilled at accents, and was tasked at creating a Betazoid one for
06:55Troi.
06:56She opted for a mixture of Eastern European and what she drew from the accent of an Israeli
07:00friend.
07:01The problem with this is that when we met Troi's Betazoid mother, Lwaxana, she sounded
07:05for want of a more precise description, American.
07:08Sirtis was then told that Diana got her accent from her father, but when we meet him, he
07:13also sounds generic American.
07:15The actor hails from Texas, so that didn't fit either.
07:17Understandably a bit frustrated, Sirtis eventually just switched to something more mid-Atlantic
07:21as the series and films progressed, at times closer to her native North London, and at
07:26other times more American.
07:27The actress stated that if she could change one thing about her time on TNG, it wouldn't
07:31give Diana a foreign accent, even though her mother is a Betazoid.
07:355. She might have married Riker in Season 7 of TNG
07:39All good things must come to an end, naked on Betazet, or it could very well have turned
07:43out this way before the series finale.
07:45In the actual Season 7, we got to see a relationship between Troi and Worf, but it was all a bit
07:50weird and never really went anywhere as Worf was transferred to Deep Space Nine.
07:53The two were married with kids in a parallel universe that Prime Worf stumbles into, and
07:57Troi even killed Worf in an empathic hallucination that mirrored events which took place when
08:01the Enterprise-D was under construction.
08:03In an interview, Marina Sirtis shared her views on the relationship.
08:06I didn't like the fact that he totally became un-Klingon-like when he was with Troi, I liked
08:10better the relationship he had with Dax over on Deep Space Nine.
08:13Furthermore, she felt that Troi-Riker made a much better couple, and I think we can all
08:17agree with that.
08:18In fact, the idea of the pair tying the knot in TNG's final season was popular among
08:22the writers until producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller phased the suggestion down
08:26in flames.
08:27Perhaps Riker wasn't emotionally ready enough to be parted with his beard at that stage.
08:31To paraphrase the Beatles, all you need is metaphasic radiation.
08:35Number 4.
08:36Marina Sirtis was directed by Jonathan Frakes in an episode of The Orville.
08:39Seth MacFarlane's The Orville is a great piece of science fiction in its own right.
08:43Season 4, anyone please?
08:44MacFarlane makes no secret of his love for Star Trek as a source of inspiration.
08:47He even appeared in Enterprise, and there was that hilarious episode of Family Guy when
08:51the Next Generation cast.
08:52These aren't Star Trek questions, what the hell?
08:55Many veteran Star Trek writers and producers such as Bran O'Braga, Joe Manosky, and David
08:59A. Goodman have worked on The Orville, and Jonathan Frakes has called his show Star Trek
09:02with Comedy.
09:03Marina Sirtis appeared in The Orville's second season episode, Sanctuary, in the role
09:07of a shipboard schoolteacher, directed by Jonathan Frakes.
09:10It was hard not to see a bit of TNG reunion for the pair, or even for the quasi-return
09:15of Troi in a different guise.
09:16Sirtis said of the experience,
09:17Just being on The Orville, everything looks like The Next Generation.
09:21It was almost like stepping back in time with Jonathan directing.
09:23Frakes has also likened the directing style of The Orville to that of the TNG.
09:27In this standout episode of the programme, the parallels are evident, and Sirtis, as
09:31schoolteacher, plays a counselling role to the young Moklin, Topa, and parents Bortus
09:36and Clyden.
09:37Number 3.
09:38We don't know much about Picard season 3, but Troi will be in it a lot.
09:42Now, warning, these are very possible spoilers ahead.
09:45Troi was often sidelined in The Next Generation as the Captain They're Hiding Something
09:49character.
09:50Worse, in the films, Sirtis was relegated to an almost bit-part role.
09:53The actress has admitted that she was often decorative, and was ultimately fine with that,
09:57wishing nonetheless that she had suggested more storylines, particularly between other
10:01women, for Troi to the writers.
10:02In an interview for the Blu-ray release of the films, Sirtis also laments that she tried
10:06and failed to make Troi funny during TNG's run to the point where she even asked her
10:11agent only to find her dramatic roles after the series ended.
10:15Fortunately, she was delighted with the now legendary drunk scene in First Contact, and
10:19changed her mind about doing comedy.
10:20What can we say?
10:21The limited amount of information we have is that Troi will be a big part to play in
10:25the third and final season of Star Trek Picard.
10:27In the words of Sirtis herself during a red carpet news interview, we are in it, we are
10:31in it, a lot.
10:32The actress has also stated that, having felt discarded by Nemesis, the cast was cherished
10:36on Picard.
10:37And, whilst executive producer Terry Metallus has ominously warned us that the safety of
10:41the characters is not guaranteed in Season 3, Sirtis says she would gladly return to
10:46the role in another spin-off.
10:47Death of a character is certainly no hindrance in any case, especially with the multiple
10:50time periods of the shows.
10:522.
10:53Marina Sirtis had a few mishaps on set.
10:58The character of Deanna Troi was accustomed to witnessing disaster, destruction, and injury.
11:03After all, she did, under orders, fly the Enterprise-E at full impulse into the scimitar.
11:07She also unexpectedly found herself in command in an episode quite literally called Disaster.
11:11The woman behind the role, Marina Sirtis, equally had a couple of noteworthy accidents
11:16on set which you might not be aware of.
11:17One on-set mishap befell Sirtis during the filming of Generations.
11:20During the battle scene with the Klingons, consoles were blowing up left and right.
11:23When Troi goes to replace an injured officer at the con, Sirtis actually sat on a piece
11:27of degree from the explosions and burnt her bottom.
11:29Thankfully, she wasn't badly hurt.
11:31Another such incident occurred during the filming of the next-generation episode, Powerplay.
11:35In a scene on the surface of the planet, O'Brien, Riker, Data, and Troi are thrown violently
11:39backwards by an EM discharge just before they can be beamed back onto the ship.
11:43Whilst the other three actors had stunt doubles perform this for them, Sirtis wanted to do
11:47the stunt herself, with the encouragement of the director.
11:49She committed to it so much that, when she landed on her back, she damaged her coccyx
11:52and was in pain for months.
11:54Fair play to her.
11:55Couple of rounds of Frère Jacques won't make you forget that.
11:57Number 1.
11:58She has appeared in 5 series, 4 films, and on a stamp.
12:02One of the most prolific characters of the franchise, Marina Sirtis starred as Troi in
12:05the next generation and has appeared in Voyager, Lower Decks, Picard, and Enterprise, whatever
12:10your thoughts on that last one.
12:13She is beaten only by Jonathan Frakes as Riker in that regard, who also appeared in the episode
12:17Defiant of DS9.
12:19Sirtis is the only woman to appear as the same character in as many series, however,
12:23she is among great company as one of only 6 actresses to appear in two series finales
12:28– we'll let you figure that one out for yourselves.
12:30Troi was, of course, in each of the TNG movies.
12:34A recent highlight, aside from Picard, are her appearances in Lower Decks, where she
12:38is often the foil for the bombastic Riker.
12:41What you may also not know, unless you are already a fabulously fidelious fellatist,
12:46is that Deanna Troi is one of the 18 characters, including the likes of Janeway, Kirk, Picard,
12:52Sisko, Archer, Spock, Reed, Burnham, to have been commemorated on a set of UK first-class
12:57postage stamps in November 2020 as a celebration of Star Trek.
13:01You'd be mad to post them, of course, but it would make for some epic snail mail.
13:05That's everything for our list today, folks.
13:06If there's anything else that we missed, let us know in the comments below.
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13:21Thank you so much for watching, and of course, don't forget to check out Jack's original
13:25article over on whatculture.com.
13:27You can catch us on Twitter at Trek Culture, you can catch us on Instagram at trekcultureyt,
13:31catch myself at seanferric on Twitter, at sean.ferric88 on Instagram, and at seanferric
13:37on Hive.
13:38Look after yourselves, don't talk to you again, make sure that you live long and prosper,
13:41have a wonderful few days, make it so.