Getting this Star Trek: The Next Generation actress back wasn’t easy

Star Trek: Lower Decks bringing back that Star Trek: The Next Generation character wasn’t easy.

Star Trek: Lower Decks brought famed Star Trek: The Next Generation character Sito Jaxa back into the fold for the final episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, completing a shocking set of events that also saw Nick Locarno return to the franchise. Not only did Lower Decks bring back these class Nova Squadron characters, but they also brought back the talent who brought them to life; Shannon Fill and Robert Duncan McNeill respectively.

For McNeill, that isn’t too hard. He would leave Locarno behind and embrace Tom Paris, the character made famous on Star Trek: Voyager. A character McNeill would also somewhat reprise on Lower Decks. McNeill is also a very in-demand director and producer, having done a lot of high-profile series and films in recent years.

Getting his contact info was easy, but not so much for Fill.

Star Trek: Lower Decks had a hard time getting Shannon Fill to return

Fill left acting behind not long after that episode of The Next Generation. She left the industry in 1995 and hasn’t acted since. So when Mike McMahan spoke to Inverse about how this all came together, he really emphasized how it wasn’t easy to land her, and how the entire plot depended on Fill coming in, saying;

"She doesn’t do conventions. There was no option not to get her. We had to get her. She hadn’t acted in 35 years or something like that. We tracked her down, and she’s an amazing human being. Truly. She drove down to L.A. with her daughter, and spending time with her even for just a little bit was amazing. I’m like, Shannon Fill has to do conventions. She is what you would hope Sito is, she’s a joy. I’m going to beg her to get out into the fandom a little bit more after this episode. I think people would love to see her and tell her how important her character was to them."

Considering how important she was to the story, it’s surprising that McMahan didn’t nail her involvement down ahead of completing the script. But what’s even more surprising, is that they were able to convince her to unretire for her cameo in the final episode of the season.

We’re grateful she came back one more time for the fans, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll later find out that Sita Jaxa isn’t actually dead, but the new leader of the Nova Fleet.