Star Trek: The Next Generation producers didn’t want cast to like one another

The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation are still friends

Star Trek: The Next Generation made its debut in 1987, and the series not only created a new legion of fans of the franchise, but it brought the entire cast of actors together as friends. Thirty-four years later, they still consider one another good friends, and while that isn’t an issue now, it seemed to be one while the series was still in production.

Marina Sirtis, who was Counselor Deanna Troi on the popular series, told Express that the producers of the series didn’t like the closeness she and her fellow actors had off-screen. According to the actress, producers didn’t want the cast talking to one another as they much preferred everyone to dislike one another so they [the cast] wouldn’t talk about things they’d heard about the show. That way, the producers could lie to one cast member without it getting back to another. But Sirtis said she and her fellow co-stars would always talk to one another about any show changes, and the producers couldn’t lie to them.

Marina Sirtis calls Star Trek: The Next Generation cast friends for life

Sirtis remains in contact with all of the main characters from the show, and the closeness is evident at Star Trek conventions when the stars take the stage. Her former colleagues were the first ones to lend support when her husband of twenty-seven years, Michael Lamper, died unexpectedly in 2019. The couple were together for thirty-one years before marrying in 1992.

"“The day he died, Lavar Burton [La Forge], Brent Spiner [android Data] and Michael [Dorn], all came over. Gates was brilliant.”"

The actress said she realized that when her husband died there were people who said they loved her and people who really did. She’s found that in the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and she considers them friends for life.