Star Trek: Picard season 3 reunited the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but one legendary actor found filming to be “quite depressing.” Under showrunner Terry Matalas, Star Trek: Picard season 3 was the most acclaimed of the Patrick Stewart-led series, as TNG‘s iconic heroes reunited one more time aboard the USS Enterprise-D to save the galaxy.

When Star Trek: Picard was first designed, Patrick Stewart was adamant that he didn’t want to repeat what he’d already done on Star Trek: The Next Generation. After some TNG guest stars trickled in throughout Picard’s first two seasons, Sir Patrick changed his mind. The result was the most crowd-pleasing and enjoyable season of Star Trek: Picard, which made fans’ dreams come true.

However, Marina Sirtis appeared on The Show People Podcast with Andrew Keates and described reuniting with her beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates as less fun than she had hoped. Sirtis, who plays Counselor Deanna Troi, blamed “mobile phones” for wrecking the “whole atmosphere” and the “sense of community” on set. Read Marina’s quote and watch the clip on Instagram below:

Marina Sirtis: “I have to be honest. I was so looking forward to it, I really was. Because we laughed for seven years on TNG. Absolutely laughed. But what’s happened since then? Mobile phones. Everyone is stuck behind their screens. I’ve come all the way from bloody England, and you can’t come out from behind your scenes to freakin’ talk to me? So yeah, it really changed the whole atmosphere on set. Very, very different. No one talks. Everyone’s looking at their screens. The sense of community is gone because you’re not talking. I found it quite depressing, actually.”

The camaraderie and rambunctiousness of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s cast is the stuff of legend. Many tales have been spun of the fun that Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and Marina Sirtis had while filming TNG for seven years, plus their four feature films.

Star Trek: The Next Generation forged lifelong friendships among the actors. It’s understandable that Marina Sirtis expected a resumption of their trademark festivities in between takes, and that she was disappointed by how much has changed with the advent of smartphones, which reduced the “sense of community” on set.

Marina Sirtis’ screen time as Counselor Troi in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was limited since she had to travel to Los Angeles from her home in London. Picard season 3 filmed in late 2021 and early 2022 while COVID-19 was still a concern, and that also likely contributed to the change of atmosphere on set that Sirtis experienced.

Known for her straight talk and bluntness, Marina Sirtis also recently said that the hoped-for Star Trek: Legacy spinoff was “never gonna happen.”

Given that Star Trek: The Next Generation’s cast has only spoken about how wonderful it was to be back together on Star Trek: Picard after 20 years, it’s sobering to hear that Marina Sirtis’ experience being back with her TNG mates on set wasn’t as fulfilling as she hoped.

Release Date

2020 – 2023

Network

CBS All Access, Paramount+

Showrunner

Michael Chabon

Directors

Jonathan Frakes, Hanelle M. Culpepper, Akiva Goldsman, Joe Menendez, Lea Thompson, Michael Weaver, Terry Matalas, Deborah Kampmeier, Dan Liu

Writers

Matt Okumura, Kiley Rossetter, Christopher B. Derrick