Star Trek: TNG had an ensemble cast, and more or less all of them got equal focus throughout the seven seasons. With a large main cast, some actors will definitely lose out on storylines. Actress Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar, reportedly did not want to just stand as a background actor and left the show in season one.
However, one must wonder if a different actor might have stuck on to the part, and the show itself might have been completely different. According to a casting memo, Crosby was not even in the top five list for the character, and one of the actresses who did make the list, Rosalind Chao, ultimately played Keiko O’Brien.
Star Trek’s casting memo includes Rosalind Chao for Tasha Yar and another character for Denise Crosby
The starting seasons of Star Trek: TNG have largely been considered the worst Star Trek had to offer. The show only grew its wings in the third season, and after that, there was no stopping its meteoric rise. Sir Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, and LeVar Burton became household names.
However, TNG was not just about its leading cast but also about its supporting characters. Several characters got their time in the light, but Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar had to leave the show and then return for that to happen. Tasha Yar was the chief of security aboard the Enterprise and had a tragic backstory.
While Crosby is synonymous with the role now, after having returned in later seasons, the actress was reportedly first chosen to play Deanna Troi. According to a casting memo released by Slice of Sci-Fi, Tasha Yar did not even have Crosby in the top five list and instead had a future Star Trek actor, Rosalind Chao, as a top contender.
Chao would later go on to play Keiko O’Brien, the wife of Colm Meaney’s Miles O’Brien in TNG and then later Deep Space Nine. Other top contenders for Tasha Yar included Lianne Langland, Julia Nickson, Leah Ayer, and Bunty Bailey. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry reportedly swapped Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby’s roles at the last moment.
Denise Crosby revealed why she left the role of Tasha Yar on Star Trek: TNG after one season
Even before she got a recurring role in Star Trek as Tasha Yar, Denise Crosby had a prolific career as a model, even posing n*de in Playboy, and having roles in Days of Our Lives, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. She already came from an affluent family and did not need the role in Star Trek.
Despite being cast in a main role, as Tasha Yar, Denise Crosby reportedly found herself being used as a background actor, just supporting the male cast in their conversations. Tasha Yar was the chief of security aboard the Enterprise-D, but she still had no agency in the show. Ultimately, she decided to leave the series after the first season.
Unfortunately, her timing was reportedly terrible as the makers were not huge fans of Gates McFadden, and Marina Sirtis was close to being fired. Crosby said (via IGN),
It kind of wreaked havoc. That wasn’t my intention. My intention was to get somebody in the room and tell me, ‘What is this going to be? What is this character?’ It’s such an incredible opportunity. You have so much here, but I’m not going to just be the token hot blonde on the show.
She then reportedly asked Gene Roddenberry to write her off the show. Tasha Yar was killed by a monster named Armus. Her exit likely saved Marina Sirtis’ job. Denise Crosby returned to the role in an alternative timeline in the show’s third season.
Star Trek: TNG is available to stream on Paramount+.
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