Nicholas Meyer previously directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which introduced Kirstie Alley as Lieutenant Saavik, the Vulcan protégé of Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Saavik became popular with Star Trek fans, but Alley did not return for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Instead, director Leonard Nimoy recast Saavik with Robin Curtis, who also appeared briefly in Nimoy's follow-up, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Star Trek VI's tale of political intrigue and the assassination of Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) required a traitor from the ranks of Starfleet. Initially, Nicholas Meyer and his co-writer, Denny Martin Flynn, intended for Lt. Saavik to betray the Federation and side with the conspirators. In the final product, Star Trek VI had two notable Starfleet traitors after Kirstie Alley didn't come back for Meyers' sequel.
Kirstie Alley Not Returning As Saavik Led To Admiral Cartwright Becoming A Traitor In Star Trek VI
Star Trek VI Couldn't Afford Kirstie Alley
But I remained intrigued by the idea of a character from previous Star Trek adventures, someone we had come to trust, turning out to be one of the conspirators. I settled on Admiral Cartwright, already portrayed by the intensely sympathetic Brock Peters in Star Trek IV. Peters, also an accomplished singer, had played villains before, notably in The Pawnbroker, but as far as Star Trek audiences were concerned, he was Federation true blue.
In Star Trek IV, Admiral Cartwright was one of the flag officers at Starfleet Headquarters who warned Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) not to come to Earth when the Whale Probe was inadvertently attacking the planet. Cartwright had a minor role, but he made an impression among Star Trek fans. Cartwright becoming a traitor in Star Trek VI was, indeed, shocking.
A third Starfleet conspirator was Colonel West, played by Rene Auberjonois just a couple of years before he was cast as Constable Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Why Robin Curtis Didn't Return As Saavik In Star Trek VI
Valeris Was Created Instead Of Robin Curtis Reprising Saavik
Despite Robin Curtis portraying Lieutenant Saavik in two prior Star Trek movies, it seems that Nicholas Meyer did not seriously consider bringing Curtis back as Spock's protégé. Meyer cast Kirstie Alley in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and the director preferred her as Saavik. Conversely, Leonard Nimoy cast Curtis to replace Alley as Saavik in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and together, they adjusted the character to be more overtly Vulcan.
Lieutenant Saavik cries during Spock's funeral in Star Trek II, and the original concept for the character was that she was half-Vulcan and half-Romulan, although it's not overtly stated in the film and is not officially canon.
In 1991, however, Kirstie Alley played Rebecca Howe on Cheers, and she was the highest-paid actress on television. Star Trek VI's modest budget couldn't meet Alley's price. Without Alley, Nicholas Meyer decided it was better to create an all-new Vulcan character instead of bringing back Robin Curtis. Meanwhile, Kim Cattrall auditioned for Saavik in Star Trek II, and Meyer liked and remembered her. Meyer was glad to get the chance to cast Cattrall as Lieutenant Valeris in Star Trek VI.
Brock Peters Had Problems With His Dialogue In Star Trek VI
Peters Played A Nicer Character In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Playing a Starfleet traitor with racist beliefs toward the Klingons didn't come easily to Brock Peters, according to Nicholas Meyer. At the start of Star Trek VI, Admiral Cartwright protests the very idea of peace between the Federation and the Klingons. Cartwright called Klingons "the alien trash of the galaxy," and advocated bringing them to their knees, so that the Federation could "dictate terms." Meyer writes of how difficult it was for Peters to say Cartwright's incendiary dialogue:
His racist denunciation of Klingons—akin to Kirk’s own views—would be especially unnerving as Peters was an African American, and all the slurs against Klingons that he lays out at the Starfleet briefing are queasily akin to anti-black epithets from planet Earth centuries earlier. (In fact Peters’s big racist speech was so repugnant to him that he experienced great difficulty memorizing it; I had to film it in sections.)
