In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Power Play” (February 17, 1992), the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves visiting the surface of a seemingly uninhabited moon from whence a distress call was emanating. Data (Brent Spiner), Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) are able to fly down in a shuttle, but violent energy storms prevent them from taking off again. They can only beam up once Chief O’Brien (Colm Meany) visits the surface and enhances their transporter pattern.
Just as they are prepping to return, however, they are all knocked unconscious by a bolt of energy, getting thrown to the ground. Data, Troi, and O’Brien are then eerily possessed by free-floating balls of energy that drift into their bodies from a cloud above. It isn’t until later that those watching at home learn that the heroes have been taken over by the dead crew of a crashed ship, the U.S.S. Essex, lost many years before. There are further mysteries besides.
The episode provides some fun acting challenges for Sirtis, Spiner, and Meany, as they get to play bitter, violent ghosts, finally corporeal again after many years as energy spheres. Curiously, they are all cruel, impatient, and eager to hurt others. This is in contrast to the gentle, collected characters they typically play.
An additional issue arose for Sirtis, however. When Troi was struck by the bolt of energy described above, the actor decided she could handle the stunt herself. She threw herself onto her back from a standing position, but landed directly onto her coccyx. Her injury was detailed in a 2021 article on Grunge, where the actor addressed the rumors that her tailbone was actually broken. Luckily, it was a mere sprain, not a broken bone. Still, ouch.
The Power Play incident
The director of “Power Play” was David Livingston, and he recalled the day Sirtis injured her tailbone with tragic clarity. He said that Sirtis, perhaps wanting to prove that she could do a simple stunt like throwing herself onto the ground, insisted on doing it herself. Even simple stunts like that are typically handled by professional stunt performers, so this was a rare opportunity for Sirtis. After all, as the ship’s counselor, she rarely had an opportunity to get involved in action scenes.
By Livingston’s recollection, Sirtis was the only actor in the scene who insisted on doing the stunt herself. The other three actors all had stuntmen step in. She threw herself back onto her coccyx, which, according to a Channel 13 news report, she heard crack. She claimed she couldn’t sit normally for a week.
According to the Grunge article, however, Sirtis remembers the circumstances a little differently. The actor claimed that it was Livingston’s idea for her to do the stunt, and he was the one who convinced her it would be the easiest thing in the world. Who could say why Livingston allowed the three other actors in the scene to be replaced with stunt doubles, but not Sirtis? She was hurt, albeit not to a degree where she had to stop working.
Sirtis, however, did eventually clear up the severity of her injury, and doesn’t seem to bear any ill feelings toward “Star Trek” or Livingston. According to Grunge, Sirtis took to Twitter in 2013 to answer a few questions about her time on “Next Generation,” and she clarified that her tailbone was “Hurt, not broke” in the fall.
Luckily, Sirtis made a full recovery.
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