June's Space Babe is
Kirstie Alley as the half-Vulcan/half-Romulan Lieutenant Saavik in 1982's
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. One of the most memorable later additions to the original
Star Trek canon, Lt. Saavik was introduced as the protégé of Captain Spock, who presumably identified (if not empathized) with her dual heritage. Fresh from the Academy and eager to prover herself, Saavik was instrumental in the defeat of the 20th Century genetic warlord Khan... and then she was replaced by another actress (Robin Curtis) in the next two
Trek features.
Although she had appeared uncredited in an episode of
Quark as a nameless handmaiden (at least, according to the IMDb - I have to go check that out myself when I get a moment), it was
Star Trek II that launched the lovely Ms. Alley into a long and successful acting career that continues today. After
Khan, she appeared in a number of TV episodes, miniseries and features until landing a co-starring role on the popular sitcom,
Cheers. Reportedly afraid of being typecast, she declined to return to the role of Saavik in subsequent
Trek features.
Savik's half Romulan thing was never mentioned in any movie so I throw out that part of her character. She's just Vulcan.
ReplyDeleteLeonard Nimoy came my city just after Star Trek 3 was released for his lecture college campus lecture "Confessions of a Trek Lover" and told us that Kirstie wasn't in Trek 3 because "She was too expensive. She wanted more money than some of the cast members who have been with the franchise since the TV series." It's a shame because she was sorely missed in 3.
ReplyDeleteI've also read that she asked for too much money for the 3rd one, so was replaced. Star Trek TMP cost a lot more than planned so budgets were cut for the subsequent movies. It's the reason James Horner replaced Jerry Goldsmith too
ReplyDeleteI think Saavik's half-Romulan heritage was only mentioned in the novelization but not the actual film, and therefore isn't considered Trek "canon." Being half-Romulan would certainly explain her show of emotion during Spock's funeral.
ReplyDeleteChristopher, I always wondered what happened to her in the later films. I still think the big reveal in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country would have been more powerful with her as the actor. Especially when Spock seemed to be crying when he said, "She does not know."
ReplyDelete- Maurice Mitchell
The Geek Twins | Film Sketchr
@thegeektwins | @mauricem1972
Actually Tim, the scene where Kirk and Spock discuss her half-Romulan heritage in the corridor after the Kobayashi Maru simulation was filmed, but cut.
ReplyDeleteOne can find it on Youtube at:
http://youtu.be/7rKw66EU5Fc
This was the best Trek movie hands down. I wish Kirstie would have come back for the other instalments. I know some people loathe Robin Curtis, but she doesn't bother me that much.
ReplyDeleteRight after Wrath of Khan, Kirstie also was lead actress in the short-lived Glen Larson series Masquerade, so she didn't have a sustained drought before Cheers.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I loathed Robin Curtis, but her version of Saavik just seemed utterly bland and colorless. No life, no spark to her. Couldn't they have found another actress with the spunk Kirstie put into Saavik?
In ST III Leonard Nimoy was either unaware of the Half-Romulan concept for Saavik or simply abandoned it. Kirstie added an undertone of constantly holding back emotion - perhaps explosive Romulan emotion. Robin Curtis has stated that Leonard kept telling her to be "dryer and less emotional" in her scenes. So something was dropped somewhere. Two things bugged be about Robin Curtis - the goofy hairstyle and her (acting) blandness.
DeleteIf that's true, Nimoy managed to cement the reputation of the odd-numbered films being the inferior ones. (Although movie #9, Insurrection, wasn't bad.) Yeah, the hairstyle was typically 80s. I also didn't like that Saavik suddenly sported upswept Vulcan eyebrows when Kirstie didn't.
DeleteI especially liked the scene in the elevator with Kirk. Even her facial expressions shouted out alien species. She just had that exotic alien look down pat- in fact defined it.
DeleteAs it turned out she played it so well that really no actress but her could reprise the role.
It's hard to believe Kirstie Alley ever looked this good, or this thin for that matter. I really loved her in Star Trek III and was disappointed she wasn't used in later films but as I recall from an article back then (it might have been in Starlog, I can't remember) she said that yes, money was an issue but not that she had asked too much but that the producers had offered her less money than what she got in Trek III so she passed on the role.
ReplyDeleteKirstie had played the alluring, exotic non-human with non human thinking role to perfection. No actress could possibly replace her as Saavik.
ReplyDelete