When Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan hit theaters in 1982, fans thrilled to all kinds of new additions to the cinematic universe: the beautiful maroon uniforms, the design of other Starfleet vessels, and, of course, new characters. One of the most fascinating was Lieutenant Saavik, a Romulan-Vulcan hybrid and Spock's protégé. Played by the late Kirstie Alley, she was introduced as a cadet aboard the Enterprise, with Spock as captain.
In 1984, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the direct sequel to The Wrath of Khan, premiered; however, fans saw a new actress in place of Kirstie Alley. Robin Curtis now played the sometimes temperamental Saavik. Reviews of the movie aside, fans were surprised by the switch. How did it happen? Who was involved? Let's take a look behind the scenes at this Trek switcharoo and what it meant for the timeline.
Kirstie Alley and her role in The Wrath of Khan
Kirstie Alley was the first actress to play Saavik, and she gave her character curiosity, objectives, and loyalty to Spock. However, behind the scenes, the value of her presence came into question after The Wrath of Khan became a smash hit, earning $97 million worldwide. As the early steps of production began on The Search for Spock, Kirstie Alley and her agent made a salary request that left Paramount executives and director Leonard Nimoy shocked! The amount of the increase would've made her the highest-paid actor in the cast, including DeForest Kelley!
Ultimately, Nimoy turned down the salary increase and Alley refused to budge, causing her exit from the production. While some might say that Alley got too big for her pointed ears, she did earn a fortune later on when she joined the cast of the sitcom Cheers in 1987, successfully replacing Shelley Long (although the role was a different character).
Exit Alley, enter Curtis
Alley's exit left Nimoy and the Search for Spock's producers in a serious bind: Saavik had a major role in The Search for Spock, and to leave her out would've meant costly rewrites. To save money, they recast the role of Saavik and the role ultimately went to Robin Curtis, a relatively unknown actress.
Curtis' interpretation of Saavik is an interesting one. She plays the character with a lively, almost playful edge that was absent in Alley. Curtis is also more polished, where Alley's Saavik has something of a rough edge to it, which makes many fans wish we'd gotten more backstory on the character overall.
The debate over who played the more realistic Saavik remains alive and well in Star Trek forums, which is pretty amazing considering The Search for Spock first hit theaters more than 41 years ago!