‘Star Trek: Picard’ – What Marina Sirtis Hated Most About Returning, and Her Favorite Part
Star Trek: Picard reunites The Next Generation Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) with many of his old crew members. The show has confirmed appearances from Data (Brent Spiner), Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis) along with new characters in the continuing adventure of Picard.
The cast of Star Trek: Picard gave interviews before they presented a panel for the Television Critics Association. Showbiz Cheat Sheet will bring you more of the Picard cast including Stewart himself before the show premieres January 23. Sirtis revealed to reporters what she hated the most about reprising her role and what she loved the best.
This was the best part about ‘Star Trek: Picard’ for Marina Sirtis
If you watch any of the Next Generation DVD bonus features, you’ll find Sirtis complaining about her costume. It’s understandable, the 2360s and ‘70s were not kind to female crew members. Fortunately, as Star Trek: Picard approaches the year 2400, women’s fashion is more favorable.
“The thing that I was most thrilled about was that I didn’t have to wear a spacesuit,” Sirtis said. “I don’t fit in it anymore. That’s the problem. 15 pounds ago I fit in it. Not anymore.”
It’s not ‘Star Trek: Troi’
The Next Generation fans will be happy to find out where some of their favorite characters have been since Star Trek: Nemesis. They’ll certainly find out all about Picard himself, but only tidbits about characters like Troi.
“We kind of find out a little bit,” Sirtis said. “We don’t find out everything.”
Marina Sirtis wears the same wig from ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ on ‘Picard’
When Marina Sirtis flew to Hollywood to film her scenes for Star Trek: Picard, she realized the wardrobe department had not prepared her Next Generation costume. Luckily, she kept it from the previous movie.
“I called and I said, ‘You do know that I wore a wig and black contact lenses,’” Sirtis said. “They went, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘Do you know what? I think I stole them so I think I have them. So let’s just get the contact lenses cleaned because they’ve been sitting in a lens case for 15 years, and I have the wig.’”
Counselor Troi fans have Sirtis to thank for preserving her hair and eyes.
“I’m a bit of a tea leaf as they say in England,” Sirtis said. “I’ll have that, thank you very much, which was really good that I did. Trust me, they wouldn’t have had time to make a $10,000 wig. I was in England doing a play anyway. I wrapped on Saturday and was at Universal on Monday having traveled from England on Sunday. I wasn’t even here. It would’ve been like wig, contact lenses, what? It was lucky that I did pilfer them.”
Marina Sirtis felt like Carrie Fisher returning to ‘Star Wars’
When Patrick Stewart first agreed to do Star Trek: Picard, he thought he wouldn’t be able to bring his costars along. When they found roles for Troi, Riker and Data, Marina Sirtis was happy to be included.
“As Carrie [Fisher] said when she went back to Star Wars, I remember seeing her on the Today show,” Sirtis said. “The interviewer said to her, ‘Was it a difficult choice to resuscitate Princess Leia?’ Carrie said, ‘I’m a 60-year-old actress in Hollywood. People aren’t exactly throwing scripts at me’ which is kind of the place I’m in.”
That is an unfortunate reality of Hollywood that will hopefully improve, but Sirtis was happy her comeback was with old friends.
“I think it’s different for boys but for women it’s very different,” She said. “So yeah, it’s not like I’m ducking the scripts that are coming my way, so it is a job as well as being fantastic to work with my pals again.”
The #1 Thing Marina Sirtis hated the most about ‘Star Trek: Picard’
Star Trek: The Next Generation aired in the ‘80s and ‘90s in standard definition when most televisions were 20 inches. Even her Star Trek films were shot on 35mm film. She shot Star Trek: Picard in HD and was not a fan.
“Really, the man who invented high definition cameras, and it was a man because a woman would never have f*cking invented it, right?” Sirtis complained. “May he rot in hell for all eternity.”
For the record, Sirtis looked wonderful in real life, let alone high definition, but she also joked with Spiner being protected by a layer of gold makeup.
“It’s all right for you, Mr. Android,” Sirtis said. “The rest of us look like something the cat dragged in.”
