Her character's a lot bigger, she's going to be a lot more important character in the movie,
and we'd like to pay her less money than we paid her for the first one. *Laughter* And it was
like... So I queried it, and I said "How does that make any sense?". (right)
And then it was like OK we get it, you don't want to do it.
Www I, I mn, mn, you lost me on that ss, du, eh, go back.
Gene Roddenberry had finally agreed to do another Star Trek series.
It was a project that had both hands tied behind it's back. Uhm it was science-fiction
and virtually no science-fiction was working on television at that point.
It was a sequel, sequels weren't working at that point, and it was going to be syndicated,
it was not going to be on the network. There was some contention
because the studio wanted a two hour pilot and Roddenberry only wanted to do a one hour pilot,
and s,since I was like the lowest ranked vice president in the group,
it was like let him, let him do it.
So I went to the first meeting. During the course of this meeting
both Gene and his trusted lawyer and companion, a guy named Leonard Maizlish eh
they spent a lot a time sort of glancing around the room, and whenever they glanced at me I kind
of, if, if, if one of my colleagues was being a little bit overly grumpy, or a little bit
overly eh definitive in what they wanted I would sort of raise an eyebrow a little bit.
The next day I got a call from Maizlish. Leonard said Gene and I would like you
to quit your job and come work for us. The studio people who I was working for
looked at it as oh this is great we'll have somebody on the inside.
I then joined the staff of what was going to become Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Eh there were two fellows who were producers under Gene, one named Bob Justman who stayed
for the first year and one named Eddie Milcus who had a some kind of an argument,
disagreement maybe would be a better word, with Roddenberry and left just
about the time that I, I came aboard. I didn't know anything about Star Trek.
And fortunately we had Gene Roddenberry still with us, so eh and he was always available
to ask questions, and uhm he was you know, he gave us just a huge uhm uhm
reign to to do whatever we wanted, and make this uhm make this ours. So it worked out.
Denise Crosby and Marina Sirtis came in & read for the roles of Tasha and the role of... ehhh...
Tasha Yar... and ha haha. You get these names suddenly start slipping out of your
eh out of your head. Eh Marina played,
of Counsellor Troi, and, but they read for the roles in the opposite direction,
and when we brought them to Roddenberry he said "I like both of them, but let's have
the dark haired English one play Troi, and let's have the other one eh play Tasha Yar.
Captain Jean Luc Picard I wish I could say you've been like a father to me,
but
I'm gonna die if I'm standing on this you know, br... up on this console and just watching
Patrick's bald head. *Laughter* You know, and going, you know, aye aye Captain.
Are you alright sir?
Sir?
I struggled with the whole writing of my character of Tasha Yar. I mean I,
I think that they had a great idea that they didn't really uhm
know what to do with it. Yeah I mean you know I, my experience for the most part was just,
you know how tight can they make my uniform look *Laughter* and how great my tits looked,
you know I mean, that that was basically the, the *Laughter* Those words were actually said to
me. (God) So uhm I found it, you know not a great place to be for me in that, in that environment,
but you know that's Hollywood, it's, I'm certainly not the only actress.
Jesus man, can't you do anything? Stop screwing around.
Get this done by the time I get back.
I'm gonna take a crap.
Crap my ass.
Just do it man. I mean it.
As a matter of fact, truth be told, what was going to happen was they were gonna let Marina go
at the end of first season, and they let Gates go, so I essentially was gonna be the only one,
and then I left, and then they were like "Oh God, OK now what do we do?"
So it changed, and that's from Marina telling me, I did not know that.
This is a deep clean, something most teeth have never felt,
something you can feel now. Introducing colgate baking soda and peroxide with tartar control.
Feel the deep clean of baking soda peroxide and tartar control tingling deep in tiny crevaces
between teeth and along the gum line. You and your dentist will agree it's a deep clean that's
truly monumental. New colgate baking soda and peroxide. Feel the colgate deep clean.
Worf was not gonna be, he was gonna be. Uhm, and then he was like on my
shoulder. (yeah) Like who are you? and I'm security, but who are you?
When they hired him I think it was just eh basically to see how it would turn out. Eh
but once he, they saw him on film, and they saw how, how I was portraying him, they probably
discovered that boy the character is wide open, you know, he can, he can do just about anything,
and eh his presence is, is felt immediately. Immediately you're drawn to
the size, you're drawn to the makeup, you know the whole, the whole 9 yards.
You know the original concept for Counsellor Troi was very much a kind of Icelandic
uhm co... eh cool, mysterious kind of unemotional character, and was descriptively tailored more
for, you know how I looked and how I could, would, would play her. The the description for Tasha Yar
was uhm eh like a little fire plug, you know dark and uhm eh, you know tough, and kind of I
think based more around the, the, the character of uhm eh Vasquez I think her name. Aliens.
One of the great eh scenes that I ever read sadly was never filmed, and that was my audition
scene for Tasha Yar. It was a scene in which she was, she was uhm sent to counsellor Troi for
actual counselling. She was very eh upset, and she was struggling with her position on the bridge,
she felt unentitled to it, and undeserving. Perhaps yes it would've, it would've changed
to my you know benefit eh but, but who, who, who could've possibly have seen that?
Yesterday's Enterprise opened the door for me thinking about Sela,
and I'm the one who came up with the idea of Sela, because I uhm what my original idea was that Yar,
and it Sela would be Yar and Castillo's child, so that's the idea I pitched. Story arc would
be that she would eventually find out about her mother, and be maybe perhaps a bridge to peace
with the Romulans, so that's what I pitched to Rick Berman, and he kinda went "Interesting,
let me think about it and I'll get back to you", so I thought OK well you know typical Hollywood,
you'll never hear from him again, and then he, he called me up like months later and
he said "You know we're gonna go with that idea, but we're gonna change it a little bit
so that Tasha was you know captured by a Romulan General and, and has a child.
Have you been thinking about Tasha Yar all these thirty years? You have been haven't you.
It brought up a hard time because there were a lot of rumours that, that I was,
I was sort of turning up my nose at television, and turning up my nose at, at, at
that job, and it just certainly wasn't true.
So prove it.
Well if you like it so much why don't you taste it?
Come on be nice.
Aratatatatooey. This ain't starting man. Fucked up again it ain't starting. I'm gonna kick
your ass, kick your ass, come on now, come on everybody this ain't starting, come on
motherfucker. Come on, you fucked up again you asshole.
Sloan what are you doing?
Paper work.
What is it my breath? Shoot figures or something I need somebody.
I'll go.
You're it.