The Star Trek On-Set Mistake That Set Marina Sirtis’ Bottom On Fire

The fact that the incident had left Sirtis with a huge hole in her uniform — not to mention one heck of a fright  —  didn’t save her from getting snapped at for ruining the take. It also meant the set would have to be quickly rebuilt, forcing everyone to stick around for another five hours, which Sirtis said made her the target of everyone’s ire for the evening. When the reshoot finally came around, Sirtis was understandably nervous. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 1994, she said, «On the next take, I went over to the chair, and in what [was supposed to be] a life-or-death situation, I stopped and wiped down the seat. It gave [the crew] a good laugh.» She’d also had to remind the frustrated director that they could cut that part from the film. 

While the good-spirited Sirtis was able to find humor in the experience, it was a frustrating exclamation point on another example of Hollywood’s mistreatment of women. Recalling her excitement after discovering Troi would finally get her chance at the helm, Troi told Dublin Comic Con that she called up her best friend Michael Dorn (Worf). «I said Dorny! Dorny! I get to drive the Enterprise!» But her enthusiasm had waned when she got to the script’s ending. 

Listing some of the people who got a chance to captain before Troi, Sirtis lamented, «The first bloke — it was the blind dude … then it was the child. Then it was pretty much any chick in red who happened to be passing.» And until Troi got behind the wheel, Sirtis noted, the Enterprise came out just fine. «Never a scratch on it until Troi got to drive!» she laughed. «To be fair, that planet just came out of nowhere.»