What Happened To Star Trek's Counselor Troi?

As Counselor Deanna Troi on the sci-fi TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, British-American actor Marina Sirtis played one of the most iconic female characters in the Star Trek franchise. Although her role was originally slated to be cut after the show's first season, Sirtis managed to keep her job as Troi, appearing in 176 episodes from 1987 to 1994. Fans fell in love with the cerebral and compassionate empath, and Troi eventually became one of the show's most popular characters. But what has Marina Sirtis been up to since The Next Generation was canceled? Along with frequent appearances on the fan convention circuit, Sirtis still acts regularly. In fact, she's had roles in dozens of other films, TV shows, and video games over the last two decades. If you've been wondering whatever happened to Counselor Troi, then keep on reading to catch up with this talented actress and find out what she's up to today.

Although Star Trek: The Next Generation came to a close in 1994, that wasn't the end of Sirtis' work within the popular sci-fi franchise. She reprised her role as Counselor Troi in the feature films Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) alongside much of the original ST:TNG cast. Deanna Troi also popped up in several other Star Trek productions, including three episodes of Star Trek: Voyager from 1999 to 2000, and also in the emotional 2005 series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise, which also featured her former co-stars Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner. Although the Enterprise finale marked her last appearance as Deanna Troi, Sirtis later returned to the Star Trek franchise yet again in a different role. You might recognize her as the voice of the Enterprise's computer in the fan-created web series Star Trek Continues from 2013 to 2017.

After The Next Generation, Marina Sirtis tried her hand at voice acting, joining the cast of the Disney animated series Gargoyles. From 1994 to 1996, Sirtis voiced Demona, the lead antagonist of the series and one of the show's most popular characters. Demona was originally pitched as the leader of the Gargoyles, but she was changed into a villain with a thirst for vengance against the humans that slaughtered her clan. According to Sirtis, she put a lot of thought into Demona's evil nature and hatred for humankind, because the gargoyle's anger came from "a real place of pain and betrayal." While many fans who approach Sirtis at conventions are fans of her work in both Star Trek and Gargoyles, she says that quite a few prefer Demona over the "passive" and "girly" Deanna. Sirtis wasn't the only TNG actor that ended up on Gargoyles; some of her former co-stars also voiced characters on the show — including Jonathan Frakes as David Xanatos, Michael Dorn as Coldstone, and Brent Spiner as Puck.    

Once Sirtis proved her voice acting chops with her role on Gargoyles, other shows and video games were soon lining up to cast her in their projects. From 2011 to 2013, she provided the voice of antagonist "Queen Bee" and several other characters in the Cartoon Network animated series Young Justice, which adapts the stories of many young superheroes from the DC Universe. Sirtis has also lent her voice to a number of other animated characters, including delusional dog/goddess Samantha on Adventure Time, Cosma in OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and other voices in episodes of Family Guy and The Cleveland Show. Along with these roles for television, Sirtis has also voiced characters in several video games, including as Deanna Troi in two Star Trek games and Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Matriarch Benezia in 2007's Mass Effect, and most recently as Elena Dragunova in 2014's XCOM 2: War of the Chosen.   

After taking some away from traditional sci-fi with her role in Gargoyles and appearances in mystery-themed productions like Gadgetman and Diagnosis: Murder, Marina Sirtis returned to the science fiction genre with a role in the Showtime series The Outer Limits. In the 1999 episode "The Grell," Sirtis played Olivia "Liv" Kohler, wife of High Secretary Paul Kohler (Ted Shackleford). After generations living as slaves, the alien Grell species rebel against their human masters. Paul and his family are caught in the crossfire when their plane is shot down by the rebels. But when their Grell slave Jesha shows loyalty to the Kohlers and their children instead of turning them over to the rebel leaders, Paul and Olivia are forced to rethink their bigoted worldview. This episode also has an interesting connection to Star Trek — after directing "The Grell," Jorge Montesi went on to direct 20 episodes of the sci-fi series Andromeda, which was produced by Gene Roddenberry's widow Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, who played Deanna Troi's mother Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation.

In 2000, Marina Sirtis made an appearance in another popular science fiction franchise when she guest-starred as Dr. Svetlana Markov on the Showtime series Stargate SG-1. In the episode "Watergate," the SG-1 team is dispatched to Russia after Stargate Command learns that the Russians have set up their own Stargate Program. The Russian Stargate is "stuck" open on an aquatic planet, and Dr. Markov requests SG-1's assistance in shutting the gate. When they arrive, the SG-1 team find that much of the Russian Stargate personnel have been mysteriously killed, and they are unable to shut down the gate from the Earth side. After traveling through the gate in a mini-sub, Markov and the SG-1 team learn that the oceans covering the new planet are actually microscopic alien beings made of water vapor, who can "infect" and control other beings — like the commander of the Russian Stargate operation. Once they're discovered, the aliens retreat back through the gate and allow it to be closed it for good.

In 2001, Marina Sirtis landed a role much closer to "home" when she appeared in an episode of the popular British hospital drama Casualty. In the episode "Something from the Heart," she played MP Jane Taylor, a politician with strong and controversial opinions about the country's National Health Service. Taylor is having an affair in secret with businessman Mark Fletcher (Shaun Scott), which comes to light after she meets her lover at a hotel and he's gravely injured and trapped when a gas explosion rocks the building. Although she gives a false name while being treated at Holby City Hospital, Taylor's recent appearances in the news and her concern for Fletcher mean that her secret may not stay hidden for long — especially when a curious tabloid reporter starts snooping around. This wouldn't be the last time Sirtis appeared in a British hospital drama — seven years later, she guest-starred in a 2008 episode of the Casualty spinoff series Holby City.  

Marina Sirtis picked up a minor role in the 2004 Academy Award-winning drama Crash, directed and co-written by Paul Haggis. Based on a real-life carjacking incident from Haggis' life, Crash follows the interweaving lives of several different people over the course of two days in Los Angeles, played by an ensemble cast that also included Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton, Michael Peña, and Ryan Phillippe. In Crash, Sirtis plays Shereen, the wife of distrustful and paranoid Persian shopkeeper Farhad (Shaun Toub). Sirtis doesn't have a lot of screen time in the film, but her scenes cause some important developments. After Shereen is accosted, Farhad and their daughter Dorri (Bahar Soomekh) buy a gun and hire a locksmith, who's unable to fix the door on their shop. When their shop is later vandalized and defaced with racist graffiti, Farhad goes to the locksmith's home with his gun to take revenge.  

In 2006, Marina Sirtis played a recurring role during a three-episode arc as Gina Richards on the long-running UPN/CW sitcom Girlfriends, starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Jill Marie Jones, and Persia White. In the season six episode "It's Raining Men," Sirtis plays a high-paid professional matchmaker William Dent (Reggie Hayes) hires to help find him a love connection. William's been struggling to get back into the dating scene after numerous failed relationships, and at first, Gina strikes out in finding him a match. But after she convinces William to relax his strict requirements (like "must resemble Lt. Uhura from Star Trek") she finally finds him a near-perfect match. However, that match just happens to be William's old girlfriend, Monica. Although they didn't end things on the best of terms before, William and Monica rekindle their old flame and end up engaged by the end of the two-part season six finale.

In 2009, Marina Sirtis landed a starring role in the science fiction thriller TV movie Annihilation Earth from Syfy. She stars as Paxton, who leads a secretive U.N energy project called EVE. The project uses three high-powered particle colliders, which provide most of Europe's energy. When someone covertly accesses the project mainframe using the codes of Raja (Colin Salmon), Paxton removes the scientist from the team despite his protests of innocence. Later, a terrorist posing as a reporter steals biometric data from David (Luke Goss) and uses it to break into the EVE facility in France and cause a huge explosion that kills millions of people. A massive earthquake hits the Middle East the next day, and Raja warns David that he believes someone has discovered the "Doomsday Equation," a mathematical code that could destroy the world if used in the remaining particle colliders. Over the next 48 hours, David and Paxton's decisions will determine the fate of the planet — and of humankind itself.

Marina Sirtis plays a supporting role in the 2015 investigative thriller A Dark Reflection (also known as Flight 313: The Conspiracy). This British indie film was directed and produced by former British Airways pilot Tristan Loraine and collaboratively funded by volunteers and members of airline unions and passenger groups. Loraine claims the film is based on his own experiences as an airline pilot and that he made the Erin Brockovich-esque movie in order to expose an alleged cover-up involving toxic cabin air in commercial jets.

The film stars Georgina Sutcliffe as investigative journalist Helen Eastman, who starts to dig for answers when her boyfriend Joe (TJ Herbert) is fired from his job as an air traffic controller after an in-flight incident. Joe believes there was something wrong with the airplane run by Jaspar Air — owned by Charles Jaspar (Nicholas Day) and his wife Maggie (Sirtis) — and Helen is soon chasing down a pattern of plausible deniability that points to a major conspiracy lurking just under the surface.

From 2013 to 2016, Marina Sirtis played a recurring role on the police procedural drama series NCIS as Mossad director Orli Elbaz. Elbaz takes over the position as Israel's top spy from Eli David (Michael Nouri) in the show's tenth season, and subsequently appears in episodes during season 11 and the season 13 finale. Elbaz didn't just succeed David as the top Mossad official — the pair have something of a long history, which includes an affair that broke up Eli's marriage to his wife Rivka. According to Sirtis, she didn't have to read for the role and was positively thrilled to have been offered the part by NCIS creators Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill. For Sirtis, the opportunity to play such a strong woman and "awesome character" really appealed to her "because that's who I am," and Elbaz represents that perfectly since she "can kick anyone's ass...I love that about her."

In 2016, Sirtis played a supporting role in the Hallmark Channel TV movie My Summer Prince. This family-friendly rom-com focuses on young PR assistant Mandy Cooper (Taylor Cole), who joins her boss Deirdre (Lauren Holly) on a mission to help rehabilitate the image of the rebellious royal Prince Colin (Jack Turner). The pair fly to small-town Greenbriar, Idaho after Colin manages to turn a photo op into a potential prison sentence by defacing a public landmark. When Deirdre gets ill, it's up to Mandy to handle the scandal and Prince Colin herself, and things get even more complicated when she finds herself falling for him. Thankfully, Mandy gets some assistance from Penelope Sheridan (Sirtis), a longtime staffer of the royal family with some experience in reining in Colin's behavior. My Summer Prince offers Sirtis a chance to explore her comedic chops, and many of the movie's funniest moments come from her performance.