Star Trek's Marina Sirtis Hated The Troi-Worf Romance Storyline More Than Fans Think
"Star Trek" has played host to quite a few fan-favorite love stories between starship crew members over the years, but not every single one of them has been a hit either. Arguably the most notorious of the bunch is the brief romance between Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi and Michael Dorn's Worf throughout Season 7 of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The pairing of these two particular characters proved controversial with the community, with many considering it to be an ill-informed pivot from the more popular couple of Troi and Jonathan Frakes' William T. Riker. As it turns out, fans aren't the only ones who don't particularly like the Troi and Worf love story.
In an interview included in "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years," an oral history of "Star Trek" written by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, Sirtis gave her brief thoughts on how she felt about Troi ultimately splitting up with Worf and reconciling with Riker. "I'm glad ['Star Trek: Nemesis'] began with the wedding of Troi and Riker, thanking God that it wasn't Troi and Worf," the actor said. "I would have killed myself. I never liked that relationship. We pretend that it never happened. Michael Dorn was subtexting his ass off, but a lot of it ended up on the cutting room floor."
Sirtis thought the love story was a disservice to Troi and Worf
Sirtis has long been candid about her negative feelings toward the pairing of Troi and Worf in "Star Trek: The Next Generation," but why exactly was she so opposed? According to the star, the romance felt like a betrayal of both parties. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" executive producer Rene Echevarria said in "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years" that Sirtis always maintained Riker as Troi's ultimate love. Sirtis also felt that Worf's tender side was out of character. "I didn't like the fact that he became totally un-Klingon-like when he was with Troi," she said in a video interview.
Despite Sirtis' strong opinions on the matter, Michael Dorn has a far less negative view of the Worf-Troi fling. StarTrek.com asked the actor in an interview if he disliked any of Worf's storylines in "The Next Generation." "People may expect me to say the Worf-Troi romance, but I actually liked that," he explained. "I felt that was a good thing because Troi was so not like Worf. That worked for me, but Marina didn't, of course."
All told, "Star Trek" appears content to let the romance between Troi and Worf stay firmly in the past. However, contrary to Sirtis' assertion that no one acknowledges the pairing, the franchise still makes the occasional reference. "Star Trek: Picard" included a lighthearted moment in which Riker gets rather testy after seeing Troi and Worf have a heartfelt reunion. It seems the Troi-Worf tryst remains canon, even if it's dead and buried.