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By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
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 a Deep Space Nine. It was really a big deal when she first came to DS9 in the episode “The Forsaken” because, in addition to being an established character, she was the wife of the late, famous Gene Roddenberry. It could have been a tense cameo appearance, but according to series stars such as Armin Shimerman, she won everyone over immediately and “she really looked like someone was coming home to roost.”
Majel Barrett Was No Diva
Speaking about Shimerman, he described how much he was “looking forward” to working with her Deep Space Nine. Fortunately, it sounds like the experience lived up to his expectations, and he described that “she was great to work with and she was sweet, she was kind, and she was’ n funny.” It sounds like he was worried 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 delighted with everything about his experience working with Majel Barrett Roddenberry, and his opinion was shared by everyone who worked on it Deep Space Nine. According to him, “the crew love her, and she was so considerate.” Perhaps borrowing a bit of bluntness from his Ferengi character, Shimerman said the silent part out loud: “considering his position in cosmology Star Trekshe was a very, very considerate person.”
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Shimerman is pointing out that Majel Barrett Roddenberry, as the wife of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, may have been a total prima donna (if not a total tyrant) when it came to Deep Space Nine. She was the ultimate Trek authority wife, and after his untimely death in 1991, she essentially carried his authority whenever she was on set. Instead of flexing that authority to get her, though, she immediately impressed everyone with her kindness and grace.
Great Performance
Although everyone was impressed by Majel Barrett Roddenberry’s kindness, they were nevertheless more impressed by her talents as an actor, which is why she was invited back to Deep Space Nine for two more episodes later. In “The Forsaken”, Odo actor Rene Auberjonois enjoyed the way he brought the relationship between his shapeshifter and telepath to fantastic 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.
Furthermore, Majel Barrett Roddenberry impressed Michael Piller, who was showrunner and co-creator of Deep Space Nine. According to Piller, “Majel was at her warmest and most wonderful as Mrs. Turn.” Elaborating, he noted that “she goes from being the woman you can’t imagine being stuck in an elevator with to the best companion you could ever have.”
The last comment refers to the plot of “The Forsaken,” where a flirtatious Lwaxana Troi follows Odo into a vortex where they are stuck thanks to a strange system failure. Odo freaks out more and more because his shape-shifting self will have to return to liquid form, and he tells Troi that no one has ever seen him like this. This causes her to take off her wig and say that no one has ever seen her like this, and this is enough to cause Odo to turn into his liquid form in her lap in a beautifully homely moment.
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget Roddenberry’s Majel Barrett Deep Space Nine episodes because the show is remembered more for things like it Dominion War arc. Still, she was one of the best parts of the early show and helped bring out the best in the show’s regular actors. And thanks to the actors and showrunner Piller, we now know that Roddenberry herself was just as impressive as her character in winning over every single actor and crew she encountered.
