How Majel Barrett Roddenberry Won Over The Deep Space Nine Cast
Majel Barrett Roddenberry became one of the most consistent parts of Star Trek’s golden age, voicing the ship’s computer and starring as Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. It was actually a big deal when she came to DS9 for the first time in the episode “The Forsaken” because, in addition to her being a pre-established character, she was the wife of the late, great Gene Roddenberry. It could have been a tense cameo appearance, but according to series stars like Armin Shimerman, she instantly won everyone over and “really looked like someone coming home to roost.”
Majel Barrett Was No Diva
Speaking of Shimerman, he described how much he “looked forward” to acting with her on Deep Space Nine. Fortunately, it sounds like the experience lived up to his expectations, and he described how “it was great working with” her and that “she was sweet, she was kind, and she was funny.” It sounds like he was worried that she might have a little trouble fitting in at first, but the Quark actor described how “she was so at home on these sets.”
Obviously, Armin Shimerman really loved everything about his experience of working with Majel Barrett Roddenberry, and his opinion was shared by everyone working on Deep Space Nine. According to him, “the crew adores her, and she was so considerate.” Perhaps borrowing a bit of bluntness from his Ferengi character, Shimerman then said the quiet part out loud: “considering her position in the cosmology of Star Trek, she was a very, very considerate person.”
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Shimerman was pointing out that Majel Barrett Roddenberry, as the wife of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, could have been a complete prima donna (if not an outright tyrant) when she came to Deep Space Nine. She was the wife of the ultimate Trek authority, and after his untimely death in 1991, essentially carried his authority whenever she was on set. Instead of flexing that authority to get her way, though, she immediately impressed everyone with her kindness and grace.
A Great Performance
As much as everyone was impressed by Majel Barrett Roddenberry’s kindness, though, they were equally impressed by her talents as an actor, which is why she was invited back to Deep Space Nine for two more later episodes. In “The Forsaken,” Odo actor Rene Auberjonois enjoyed how she brought the relationship between his shapeshifter and her telepath to brilliant life. “Through his relationship with Lwaxana, the audience was introduced to an aspect of him that made him endearing, and they really connected with him,” he said.
On top of that, Majel Barrett Roddenberry impressed Michael Piller, who was the showrunner and co-creator of Deep Space Nine. According to Piller, “Majel was at her warmest and most wonderful as Mrs. Troi.” Elaborating, he noted how “she goes from being the woman you can’t imagine being stuck in an elevator with to the best companion you could possibly ever have.”
The latter comment refers to the plot of “The Forsaken,” in which a flirtatious Lwaxana Troi follows Odo into a turbolift in which they are stranded thanks to a bizarre system failure. Odo increasingly freaks out because his shapeshifting self will have to revert to a liquid form, and he tells Troi that nobody has ever seen him this way. This causes her to take off her wig and say nobody has ever seen her like this, and this is enough to cause Odo to turn into his liquid form in her lap in a sweetly intimate moment.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget Majel Barrett Roddenberry’s Deep Space Nine episodes because the show is remembered more for things like its Dominion War arc. Still, she was one of the best parts of the early show and helped to bring out the best in the show’s regular actors. And thanks to the actors and showrunner Piller, we now know that Roddenberry herself just as impressive as her character when it came to winning over every single actor and crewman that she encountered.
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