“We are not here… to have fun”: Patrick Stewart’s Ruthless Reply to One Star Trek: TNG Actor Who Was Unceremoniously Killed Off in Season 1

Patrick Stewart was a part of the Royal Shakespeare Company before he joined Hollywood in more prominent roles like Jean-Luc Picard in the iconic Star Trek franchise. This left a lasting impression on the actor on how to be serious at all times which led to some trouble on the sets of the 1987 series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Starring alongside an ensemble cast which included Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Denise Crosby, and several others, Stewart initially struggled with his co-stars. Because of their unseriousness, Stewart became a little stern and even rudely replied to Denise Crosby’s comments before her character was ruthlessly killed during the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Sir Patrick Stewart Had A Rude Reply For Denise Crosby!

Denise Crosby portrayed the role of Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation for quite a while before her character was brutally killed off in episode 23 of season 1 of the series. At the time, it was claimed that the writers wanted to give that shock factor to the audiences but the truth is more deeper than that.

From co-star feuds to rejection of ideas, Crosby had a lot on her plate while she was filming the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. On top of that, Sir Patrick Stewart, who portrayed the role of Jean-Luc Picard in the show also replied to her a bit rudely.

In his new memoir titled Making It So: A Memoir (via The Hollywood Reporter), Patrick Stewart wrote that while filming the 1987 series, the cast was very unserious. When he confronted the issue, he was laughed at by the cast and Crosby stated that the cast should have some fun sometimes.

On the TNG set, I grew angry with the conduct of my peers, and that’s when I called that meeting in which I lectured the cast for goofing off and responded to Denise Crosby’s, ‘We’ve got to have some fun sometimes, Patrick,’ comment by saying, ‘We are not here, Denise, to have fun.

Storming off from the meeting, Stewart went back to his trailer and was sulking for a while. On the other hand, the rude comment may have had an impact on Denise Crosby. As mentioned earlier, Crosby had a lot going on at that moment and this may have been part of the reason why she left the Star Trek series.

According to another report, there were multiple reasons for Crosby to leave the 1987 series. These reasons were indeed valid on Crosby’s side since according to her, she was unhappy with the role and how her character was treated.

Why Denise Crosby Left Star Trek: The Next Generation

In an interview with StarTrek.com, the Pet Semetary actress revealed that she loved the character of Tasha Yar and didn’t actually want to quit the show. However, the actress stated that she was unhappy with how the show was treating her.

In her interview, Denise Crosby talked about several things including how she didn’t know what to do with her hundreds of ideas, it wasn’t a pretty affair. Crosby felt that she was simply stage dressing and had no emotional touch to her character.

Although it was Gene’s idea to have the character die. He thought it would be so shocking. I was struggling with not being able to do much with the character. I had all these ideas and couldn’t do them.

She further continued,

I was just stage dressing. I chose to leave instead of just being satisfied with that.

Getting killed off in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Crosby departed from the franchise but made occasional appearances. The 1987 series ran for 7 seasons before the finale aired in 1994.

Star Trek: The Next Generation received a rating of 8.7/10 on IMDB and a whopping 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and was praised and loved by fans worldwide.

The show is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.