Chase Masterson almost played Jake Sisko’s girlfriend but ended up as Leeta in Deep Space Nine, a character that made a lasting impact.
Leeta’s relationship with Rom, brother of Quark, continued even after Deep Space Nine, leading to Ferengi negotiating Federation membership.
Deep Space Nine’s season 3 saw key additions with Leeta and Eddington, and the arrival of Kasidy Yates, Captain Sisko’s great love.
Best known for playing Leeta, the wife of Rom (Max Grodénchik) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chase Masterson almost played the girlfriend of Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton). Leeta debuted in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 22, “Explorers”, where she was introduced as a potential love interest for Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig). Bashir and Leeta’s relationship lasted for a year before she found true love with Rom, the brother of Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman). Rom and Leeta continue to make a positive impact in the post-DS9 years of the Star Trek timeline, successfully negotiating Federation membership for the Ferengi.
While Chase Masterson joined the cast of Deep Space Nine in the latter stages of season 3, she originally auditioned for an earlier episode. In Star Trek: DS9 season 3, episode 6, “The Abandoned”, Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) disapproves of Jake’s relationship with a dabo girl from Quark’s Bar named Mardah (Jill Sayre). Chase Masterson originally auditioned to play Mardah in “The Abandoned”, but was turned down for the role by director Avery Brooks for reasons that would eventually make her such a memorable addition to the DS9 cast.
Rom & Leeta: Star Trek DS9’s Weird But Great Love Story Explained
Ferengi Rom and Bajoran Leeta from Star Trek: DS9 have a weird but great romance built on defying expectations and mutual support for each other.
Chase Masterson Almost Played Jake Sisko’s Girlfriend In Star Trek: DS9
It’s interesting that Chase Masterson makes her Star Trek: Deep Space Nine debut in “Explorers”, because it’s a spiritual sequel to “The Abandoned”. Both DS9 episodes are about Sisko coming to terms with his boy becoming a man, and both episodes begin setting up Jake’s future career as a writer. Masterson was cast as Leeta in“Explorers” on the strength of her audition to play Mardah in “The Abandoned”. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Ira Steven Behr remembers why Avery Brooks turned down Chase Masterson for the role of Jake’s girlfriend:
“Avery was directing that episode, and when Chase came in, he was like, ‘For my son?! For me
, maybe! But for my son ? Get her out of here!’ Chase had played it full throttle, with kittenesque sexuality. But we kept her in mind, thinking she could make a fun character.”
It’s also worth pointing out that there’s a 13-year age gap between Jill Sayre, who was cast as Jake’s girlfriend, and Chase Masterson, who auditioned for the role. While the Sisko subplot in “The Abandoned” was all about the Deep Space Nine commander disapproving of the age gap between Jake and Mardah, Masterson’s casting would have made this gap insurmountable. The much smaller gap between Cirroc Lofton and Jill Sayre therefore made them a more believable couple in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3.
Leeta was named after pre-production coordinator Lolita Fatjo, who would later get engaged to Rom actor Max Grodénchik.
Leeta Was One Of Three Important Additions To Star Trek: DS9 Season 3
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has the largest number of regular and recurring characters in the entire franchise, and season 3 is when the DS9 cast begins to expand. Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington (Kenneth Marshall) was introduced in the season 3 premiere, “The Search”, who would betray Starfleet to the Maquis in DS9 season 4. Leeta was the next major recurring character to be introduced in DS9 season 3, though she would only become a semi-permanent fixture from season 5 onward. As well as introducing Leeta, DS9 season 3, episode 22, “Explorers” also teased the arrival of another key character.
In “Explorers”, Jake reveals that he doesn’t want to leave Deep Space Nine until his father finds himself a girlfriend. Unlike some Star Trek captains, the list of Sisko’s love interests is surprisingly small, which caused concern for his son, who worried his father would be lonely. Jake therefore suggests his father go on a date with an unnamed freighter captain, who would be introduced in the following episode, “Family Business”. That freighter captain would turn out to be Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson Jerald), who became Captain Sisko’s great love in the remainder of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Cast
Avery Brooks , Rene Auberjonois , Cirroc Lofton , Colm Meaney , Armin Shimerman , Alexander Siddig , Nana Visitor , Michael Dorn , Nicole de Boer , Terry Farrell , Andrew Robinson
Release Date
January 3, 1993
Seasons
7
Writers
Michael Piller , Ira Steven Behr , Ronald D. Moore
Rom is a recurring character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is played by Max Grodénchik. Rom is a Ferengi, the son of Keldar and Ishka. He is Quark's younger brother, and the father of Nog.
(Max Grodénchik) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chase Masterson almost played the girlfriend of Jake Sisko
Jake Sisko
Jake Sisko is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He appears in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) and is portrayed by actor Cirroc Lofton. He is the son of Deep Space Nine commanding officer, Benjamin Sisko.
Chase Masterson (born 26 February 1963; age 61) is an actress who played Leeta in numerous episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during the final five seasons.
Summary. Captain Sisko's fewer love interests reflected his solid and dependable nature on "Deep Space Nine". Sisko's romance with Fenna had a positive impact on him, four years after Jennifer's death. Sisko's enduring love for Kasidy Yates prevailed through imprisonment and galactic war.
Bell. Felecia M. Bell is an American former actress best known for her roles in Days of Our Lives and General Hospital, as well as her portrayal of Jennifer Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Jake is introduced as an adolescent, played by Thomas Hobson, who moves to the Deep Space Nine station three years after the death of his mother aboard USS Saratoga in the Battle of Wolf 359. In the season two episode "Shadowplay", Jake's age is stated as 15. This puts him at about 20 by the end of the series.
Rom eventually married Leeta, a Bajoran Dabo girl employed at Quark's bar, after a period of doubt about her love after having been burned in his first marriage.
Kasidy Danielle Yates was a Human woman who was the second wife of Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko. The two wed in late 2375. She gave birth to Sisko's daughter, Rebecca Jae Sisko in September of 2376.
He was taken to the Celestial Temple, where according to the Prophets, his work had only begun. He would later contact his wife Kasidy in a vision, explaining where he had gone and of his new role, but that he would return to her one day, no longer bound to linear time.
An expatriate American living in Paris in the 1920s, Jake works as a newspaper correspondent. A wound suffered in the war has rendered him impotent and unable to consummate his love for Lady Brett Ashley, an English war widow.
In Unity, now part of the First Splinter timeline, Yates gives birth to a daughter (who is named Rebecca Jae Sisko (β)) and is reunited with Benjamin Sisko. In Raise the Dawn, Kasidy and Rebecca go to live with Sisko on the USS Robinson.
Did they ever meet? As shown in the pilot of DS9, Sisko “met” Picard for the first time when Picard was Locutus at Wolf 359. After that their first “true” meeting occurred when Sisko assumed command of DS9.
Cisco later forgives Barry when he changes history in "Invasion!" by rescuing a Dominator, creating an altered Present Day where the Dominators plan to wipe out all metahumans with their meta-bomb. His own time meddling allows him to sympathize with Barry.
He didn't die; he ascended. At the final episodes of Deep Space Nine, it's revealed that Sisko's mother was a Prophet (i.e. wormhole-alien) who took human form, and married his father; and that's why he was the emissary.
In the comments, someone said that it was "well known" that the cast didn't really all get along, and for that reason, some of them would have never agreed to do a DS9 movie. The commenter also mentions you can tell this from the interviews, as well as knowing people who worked on the show.
Meanwhile, his second in command Major Kira Nerys was a seasoned veteran of the Bajoran resistance despite only being 26 in 2369. Science Officer Jadzia Dax's age was a bit more complicated, as her host body Jadzia was only 28, while the Trill symbiote Dax was over 350 years old.
The actress who played Jadzia Dax - Terry Farrell wanted the freedom to do other work in much the same way as other actors on the show did, such as Andrew Robinson (Garak) and Marc Alaimo (Dukat) and even Colm Meaney (O' Brien).
Turned down the chance to work full-time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) so that she could spend more time with her family. But, she instead agreed to do recurring roles in episodes each season.
Introduction: My name is Tish Haag, I am a excited, delightful, curious, beautiful, agreeable, enchanting, fancy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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