Marina Sirtis

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Birthday:

29 March 1955, London, England, UK

Height:

160 cm

Marina Sirtis was born in London, England, to Greek parents, Despina (Yianniri), a tailor's assistant, and John Sirtis. Her parents did not want her to become an actress. As soon as Marina completed high school, she applied to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama secretly. After her graduation, she worked in musical theater, repertory and television. In 1986, she moved to Los Angeles, California. For six months, she auditioned for parts but was unsuccessful. Just before she planned to go back home, she got the part of Counselor Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). After the series ended, she reprised her role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). In 1992, Sirtis married Michael Lamper, a rock guitarist. She occasionally attends Star Trek conventions so that her loving fans can meet her, and she can meet the fans. Show less «

I was originally cast to be the brains of the Enterprise. Somehow, I became The Chick. There's a little ugly girl inside of me going "Yay! I...Show more »

I was originally cast to be the brains of the Enterprise. Somehow, I became The Chick. There's a little ugly girl inside of me going "Yay! I'm a sex symbol!". Show less «

On her character Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987): We knew that she ate chocolates and that she worked out, but that was...Show more »

On her character Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987): We knew that she ate chocolates and that she worked out, but that was really boring. I wanted to know what she did when she went on the holodeck. We basically never saw her off-duty or going on holiday. We knew she was a psychologist -- and a pretty good one -- but that was all we knew about her. Show less «

On being typecast after Star Trek: I've been getting a lot of science fiction scripts which contained variations on my Star Trek character a...Show more »

On being typecast after Star Trek: I've been getting a lot of science fiction scripts which contained variations on my Star Trek character and I've been turning them down. I strongly feel that the next role I do, I should not be wearing spandex. Show less «

On the Star Trek uniforms: We hate our uniforms. We've said it a gazillion times. It's like a chant that we have to say every day. They're h...Show more »

On the Star Trek uniforms: We hate our uniforms. We've said it a gazillion times. It's like a chant that we have to say every day. They're hot, they're uncomfortable, and we can't wait to get out of them. But even when we get to wear something else, it's usually something hot. So I'm in a nice leather jacket in the mountains, on a day when the temperature turns out to be ninety degrees! (1998) Show less «

On her scene in Star Trek: Generations (1994) where she's piloting the Enterprise: It was a fascinating sequence. What was funny was that my...Show more »

On her scene in Star Trek: Generations (1994) where she's piloting the Enterprise: It was a fascinating sequence. What was funny was that my chair caught fire and burned my bottom. When we did the next take, I stopped in the middle of all the confusion and made sure there was nothing burning on my seat before I sat on it again. I think they had to cut that take out of the movie. (1994) Show less «

On Star Trek conventions: I have the best time. My stand-up material is pretty well-set now. The traveling part gets me down, but the actual...Show more »

On Star Trek conventions: I have the best time. My stand-up material is pretty well-set now. The traveling part gets me down, but the actual convention part I still love. I come home after a weekend at a convention, and you have to scrape me off the ceiling. I'm so up and high and full of self-confidence, and I thank the fans for making me feel that way. Sometimes, I think I should be paying the fans money to let me be there. I bet they would like that, too. I probably get more out of it than they do. (1994) Show less «

Besides Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), I would have to say that most of my other favorite things that I've done have been theater pr...Show more »

Besides Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), I would have to say that most of my other favorite things that I've done have been theater projects. Playing Ophelia in "Hamlet" is one of my favorites. Esmeralda in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and Magenta in "Rocky Horror" are my other favorite stage roles. (1994) Show less «

I wasn't a Star Trek (1966) fan, yet I knew who all the characters were. That goes to show what an impact the show had - not just in enterta...Show more »

I wasn't a Star Trek (1966) fan, yet I knew who all the characters were. That goes to show what an impact the show had - not just in entertainment but in life. I knew who Chekov was and I knew who Kirk and Spock were, although I probably had never seen the show. I don't know about the others, but I was a little scared, not so much when we were filming but when it came time for the first show to go on the air. We were being scrutinized so closely, especially by the press, and by the fans who were not happy about there being a new show at all. They were quite happy watching their reruns of the original Star Trek and were quite miffed that we were trying to replace their idols. So I felt like I was jumping into an abyss sometimes. Show less «

What they told us about Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) when we first started was that we were guaranteed 26 episodes, so that was the...Show more »

What they told us about Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) when we first started was that we were guaranteed 26 episodes, so that was the longest job I've ever had. And that was basically it - we didn't know what the premise of the show was going to be and we waited, week by week, to see a script. We knew that we weren't going to be taking over from the original cast, that it was going to be a whole new entity, but that was it. I remember I went to see Gene Roddenberry to ask him about my character, about her background and things like that. I'd done a history for her; her likes, dislikes, upbringing, things like that. And he just said, "Yeah, yeah, that's fine." I don't know if it was that he wasn't interested or whether I'd hit the nail on the head, but that was it. I don't think they told us much about it at all. Show less «

On the series finale of Enterprise (2001): Enterprise: These Are the Voyages... (2005) was a good episode but not a great finale. They shoul...Show more »

On the series finale of Enterprise (2001): Enterprise: These Are the Voyages... (2005) was a good episode but not a great finale. They should have done a 2-hour one, you know, like we did. Then I would've gotten double the money - that would've been good" (August 20, 2005). Show less «

On her role in Crash (2004): I don't want to get any letters or postings on my website about how bad I look in this movie.

On her role in Spectres (2004): It was the first time really that I got to be a mom, and I thought it was about time, really, because I real...Show more »

On her role in Spectres (2004): It was the first time really that I got to be a mom, and I thought it was about time, really, because I really am old enough to be someone's mom. It was just a little bit of a shock going from never having been a mom to being a mom of a teenager. There was no kind of toddler stage for me, you know, mom of toddler, or mom of baby. (2004 interview, Spectres DVD) Show less «

On the sets of Star Trek: When we ever had problems with potentially dangerous or unhealthy conditions on the set, Patrick (Stewart) was the...Show more »

On the sets of Star Trek: When we ever had problems with potentially dangerous or unhealthy conditions on the set, Patrick (Stewart) was the first to complain. He went to SAG and made sure people came out and tested for toxins when the smoke machine was used. (2003) Show less «

Her thoughts on why Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) failed at the box office: I think the fans want to see the whole team in action, while that wa...Show more »

Her thoughts on why Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) failed at the box office: I think the fans want to see the whole team in action, while that was very much Picard taking center stage. Also, I didn't think Tom [Hardy] was at all convincing as a young Patrick [Stewart]. Don't get me wrong - he's a great, great actor and a really lovely guy, but he didn't look a bit like Patrick at all. They should have cast James Marsters. They auditioned him, you know. I think, physically, he was much more suitable for the part. (SFX magazine, September 2006) Show less «

I'd be happy if I was still playing her [Troi] now. No, really. Being on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) was the best experience of my...Show more »

I'd be happy if I was still playing her [Troi] now. No, really. Being on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) was the best experience of my life. (SFX magazine, September 2006) Show less «

Her thoughts on how fans hated the series finale of Enterprise (2001): It wasn't so much the fans as the cast. They were all lovely to work ...Show more »

Her thoughts on how fans hated the series finale of Enterprise (2001): It wasn't so much the fans as the cast. They were all lovely to work with on the set. Although I did hear they weren't at all happy with their show ending with what was essentially an episode of The Next Generation. (SFX magazine, September 2006) Show less «

On the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episode Star Trek: The Next Generation: Genesis (1994): I was sitting in a cold bath, all latex...Show more »

On the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) episode Star Trek: The Next Generation: Genesis (1994): I was sitting in a cold bath, all latexed up as a lizard or something, thinking, "They really don't pay me enough for this!". (SFX magazine, September 2006) Show less «

On Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett: And personally - really the Roddenberrys kind of adopted me when I came to the States. I mean I was l...Show more »

On Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett: And personally - really the Roddenberrys kind of adopted me when I came to the States. I mean I was literally fresh of the boat when I got Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), and they made sure that I had somewhere to go on the holidays, and that I wasn't sitting on my own in my apartment at Christmas. So... I actually used to call her "Mom". And when my own mother died, and I saw Majel soon after, I said to her "You know, you have to take care of yourself, because you're the only mom I've got left now..." So, it was very sad when I lost my other mom, too. Show less «

On remembering Majel Barrett after her death: Well, Majel was amazing. When we first found out that she was going to be my mom on the show, ...Show more »

On remembering Majel Barrett after her death: Well, Majel was amazing. When we first found out that she was going to be my mom on the show, we were all a little nervous, because we were very, very badly behaved on the set. We had way too much fun. And the boss' wife was coming, you know? But we soon found out that she was nuttier than the rest of us, really! And she really fit in with this madcap atmosphere on the set. She was a delight. And actually what really made me happy was that as she did more and more episodes, especially toward the end of Next Gen and when she went on to DS9, they gave her episodes where you could really see what a great actress she was. She wasn't just the Auntie Mame of the galaxy, you know? She really was a gifted actress, and I was so happy that she got the opportunity to show that. Show less «

On her most memorable moment from working on Grey's Anatomy (2005): I think my most memorable moment was Patrick Dempsey calling me an icon!...Show more »

On her most memorable moment from working on Grey's Anatomy (2005): I think my most memorable moment was Patrick Dempsey calling me an icon! Can you imagine? I was so taken aback. Here I was on his set as a guest. It was a very generous thing to do (April 12, 2011). Show less «