Star Trek: Robin Curtis Reflects On Emotional Return As Saavik After 40 Years

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Robin Curtis recently shared her experience returning to the role of Lieutenant Saavik, a character she first played in Star Trek four decades ago. She reprised the role in the 2024 short film 765874 – Unification, directed by Carlos Baena. The film, a production of Roddenberry Entertainment and OTOY, also featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, with Sam Witwer performing the role on set.

The fan film 765874 – Unification fulfilled many Star Trek fans’ wishes by imagining a universe where Captain Kirk doesn’t die in Star Trek Generations. In this alternate reality, Kirk travels to the timeline created by J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies and finds Spock (Leonard Nimoy) nearing the end of his life. The film allows the iconic duo to share a heartfelt reunion that never happened in the official Star Trek storyline.

At the recent TrekTalks 5 event, which raised over $86,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition, Robin Curtis joined fellow Star Trek actors Tim Russ and Gabrielle Ruiz for a discussion led by Charlynn Schmiedt. Curtis spoke about how meaningful it was to revisit her character, Saavik, in the Unification storyline decades after her abrupt departure on Vulcan in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. You can read a quote from Robin below:

It was incredibly emotional, and I wasn’t prepared for that at all. I had no idea what to expect when the Roddenberry Archives and OTOY contacted me and asked me to come to Los Angeles. They had a project in mind, but I didn’t know it involved revisiting my character, Saavik, so many years later.

When I finally saw the complete look – the dress, the costume, the makeup, and the hair – I burst into tears. I really did. It was emotional because my character, Saavik, had been abruptly left behind on Vulcan at the end of Star Trek IV. I was glad they hadn’t completely erased her, but it was disappointing to see a potentially interesting storyline – like the idea of Saavik and Spock having a child – never developed.

After all these years, it’s incredibly moving to be recognized and presented this way. Seeing myself, I realized Saavik—my character—has lived a full and wonderful life, a life filled with purpose, love, and everything that truly matters.

And then we shot this moment with Kirk and my son steps behind me. In other words, pretty much as you all saw it in the movie is how I experienced it on set. I didn’t quite understand. We were definitely playing Let’s Make Believe… It was miraculous. Honestly, it was lovely. It was such a gift to me to give the character a finality, a coda, so to speak. And I will be grateful to them to the day I die that they gave Saavik that. And who knows? Maybe they’ll pull me out of the ether again.”

Watch the entire 9-hour TrekTalks 5 telethon on YouTube below:

The film Unification explores the hopeful themes Star Trek is known for. It begins with Captain Kirk, brought back to life, reconnecting with Saavik and her son, Sorak (played by Mark Cinnery), who is revealed to be Spock’s child. This storyline delves into an idea originally considered for Star Trek IV: that Saavik became pregnant with Spock’s child after experiencing pon farr with him in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, a moment that saved his life.

Robin Curtis recently reprised her role as Saavik to recreate a scene that was cut from the movie Star Trek IV. The scene featured Captain Kirk, with his voice provided by John Champion, a sound-alike hired by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Originally included in early versions of the script, the scene was removed because director Leonard Nimoy didn’t want to portray the storyline of Saavik being pregnant with Spock’s child, and it was never filmed.

As a longtime Trek fan, I always found the Saavik recast interesting. Kirstie Alley really made an impression in The Wrath of Khan, but then Robin Curtis stepped in. I thought Curtis did a great job making the character her own in The Search for Spock – Nimoy really leaned into a more classic Vulcan vibe for her. It was a shame, though, that we didn’t see much of her after that quick scene in the beginning of The Voyage Home. It felt like a missed opportunity, honestly.

Fans were delighted to see Saavik return in 765874 – Unification, nearly forty years after Robin Curtis last played the character. Though Robin Curtis described the episode as a “what if” scenario, seeing Saavik alongside Spock’s son provided a satisfying conclusion for a character who, despite not being used often, left a lasting impact on Star Trek.

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2026-04-11 04:59