You actually shared very little screen time with Denise Crosby in season one or with Marina Sirtis during the six years you worked with her. How ironic was it to direct Crosby in House of Gold , which you did last year for EST/LA?
McFadden: Denise was fantastic in the show. It was one of my best experiences. She and I didn’t have one scene together when we were on Star Trek , not one moment where we’d actually had a scene between us. The women never did anyway. We had become such good friends. We have so much in common. It’s so funny that it’s happened completely after Star Trek , because we didn’t get those opportunities on Star Trek . We’re sorry that didn’t happen because we think it could have been very interesting. I adore Denise. I think she’s an amazing actress. She’s certainly amazing to direct. She’s so flexible and gifted. And we laughed. We had a wonderful time. She recently did a reading of a new Nicholas Kazan play that she was devastatingly good in. She’s really, really developed over the years into quite an extraordinary actress, I think.
I wonder if the same guy – Maurice Hurley-- was ultimately responsible for this mistreatment.
That was my understanding of why she left as well and also agree that she was a great character and bringing her back for yesterday’s enterprise was a particular delight, leading to the romulan storyline i believe?
About this… it might be apocryphal but i’m sure i read somewhere that patrick stewart was so convinced the show would be cancelled that he didn’t unpack his suitcase for several months after moving to LA. Given how ropey that first season is and the pressure of it being the first new trek since kirk i wouldn’t be surprised.
I remember hearing/reading that somewhere, too… I think he might have mentioned it in that documentary where all the captains get interviewed by Shatner? But it’s been a while since I’ve seen it:
Oh yeah, maybe. I don’t recall seeing that but it would have been written about. Maybe also the story about frakes being chosen for riker because they thought women would then tune in for a bit of that old sex appeal, not expecting picard would be held up as the sex symbol. Because of course the show was helmed mostly by men so it’s both patronising and clueless about what women viewers want.
