Yaphet Kotto as Jean-Luc Picard?
Wesley Snipes as Geordi?
Jenny Agutter as Dr. Crusher?
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But the very first description written for Yar in preparation for auditions was very different.
So different, in fact, that she wasnt even called Tasha Yar.
Macha has an almost obsessive devotion to protecting the ship and its crew and treats Capt.
Picard and Number One as if they were saints.
If a space-fairing Latina warrior with muscles and an attitude sounds familiar, it should.
Macha Hernandezs description also matches Vasquez, the standout space marine fromAliens.
While the other marines struggled to shake off their cryosleep (save for Al Matthews Sgt.
Every single line that Vasquez delivers is an all-timer.
When the xenomorphs descend upon the marines and overwhelm them, Vasquez shouts Lets rock!
and starts blowing them away.
Especially while Roddenberry was in charge?
Its hard to see how even a TV-softened version of Vasquez could work onTNG.
Part of the answer is in the casting announcement.
Macha is loyal to the Federation and Picard.
Beside Goldstein, another early frontrunner to play the character that would become Tasha Yar was Marina Sirtis.
No, the English daughter of Greek parents isnt at all Latina.
But for television producers of the 1980s, brown hair was enough to signify unspecified Latin descent.
And Goldstein isnt actually Latina either despite playing a Latina woman inAliens.
Marina [Sirtis] was reading for Tasha.
Instead, the show rewrote the character as the Ukrainian-descended Tasha Yar.
With the Hernandez connection severed, most callbacks to Vasquez disappeared as well.
Even better, the other attempt to pull fromAlienswas much more successful.
Roddenberry and the otherTNGcreators loved Lance Henriksens gentle but still uncanny take on an android as Bishop.
With time and the right casting, would Macha Hernandez have also become a distinct and beloved character?
Maybe under Yaphet Kottos Picard and alongside Wesley Snipes LaForge.
