MARINA SIRTIS INTERVIEW
FEW ACTORS have travelled further than Marina Sirtis to become a star, metaphorically speaking that is. After moving to Hollywood to further her career she explored the final frontiers of space for seven years. But after 35 years in Tinseltown the star of Star Trek: The Next Generation has decided to listen to her heart and move back to her first love, England, which she has always considered home.
She says losing her husband Michael, who died in his sleep just before the pandemic, prompted her to come home.
Marina, 67, says: “The timing was terrible, because he died and then we had Covid. So I was literally on my own in my house for a year with my two dogs. I thought, ‘I’m going home’ and I came home. I just couldn’t be happier. I mean, I was 35 years in Hollywood…you get less for murder!”
And she explains: “I’m first generation British. My parents were both Greek and immigrants.
“I was always way more patriotic towards England than my English friends, so even though I was living in America, my heart was always here.
“Whether it’s my Spurs or whether it’s fish and chips on a Friday – whatever it was, my best friends were still here.
“I’m still friends with girls I went to school with that I’ve known since I was 11 years old.”
Marina had a strict Greek patriarchal upbringing in Haringey, North London, and was forbidden to leave the house after school as a young girl.
“I came home from school and that was it. I wasn’t out the door again.
“That’s why I think I got so obsessed with football, because my parents would let me go to the Spurs.they thought I’d be safe surrounded by 35,000 people.
“They were my saviour. Spurs saved my life. I had a very unhappy childhood and all I had to look forward to was going to Tottenham.”
While still at secondary school she
By
secretly auditioned for drama school against her parent’s wishes. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama aged 21, to work in theatre.
A decade later she moved to Los Angeles to further her career, taking whatever work she could, but her dream was nearly derailed by the experience of appearing in two Michael Winner films – The Wicked Lady and Death Wish 3.
Marina said the reality of filming with the controversial director had been traumatic. She says: “He can rot in hell for eternity. He tortured me. It was awful.
“When people say you know, ‘now that we have #metoo, why didn’t you say something?’ Well, because I wanted to work.
“I wasn’t going to let some idiot ruin the dream I’d had since I was a child because they couldn’t behave themselves appropriately.”
And she says the TV industry was no better back then: “Oh, please.
“If you look back to when I became an actor, if you couldn’t handle being sexually harassed, well then, find a different career.
“It wasn’t on a daily basis but a lot. I would say dozens of times, not on the fingers of one hand.
“You know, it was so much part of the deal. It was so accepted. You just took it in your stride.
“And it wasn’t just women. It was gay men as well who were targeted by gay people in the business.
“It’s about power. So whoever has the power, if they are abusive with it, then you know, whether it’s a man or a woman, you’re on the receiving end.”
Landing her iconic role as ship’s counsellor Deanna Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation, alongside Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-luc Picard, made her a star. Marina jokes: “It took me 11 years to become an overnight success!
“My mother finally approved of me when trading cards for Star Trek came out and she could put my picture in her wallet.