Star Trek producer Rick Berman had an unusual combination of pop culture figures in mind to describe Deep Space Nine’s Jadzia Dax.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producer Rick Berman told Lt. Jadzia Dax actress Terry Farrell that Farrell should play Dax like “Grace Kelly and Yoda.” Early in DS9‘s production, many now-familiar aspects of DS9’s cast of characters were still being fleshed out, but even then it was clear that joined Trill Jadzia Dax was going to be a particularly complex character, especially compared to the straightforward series lead, Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Episodes like DS9 season 1, episode 8, “Dax”, expounded on the nature of the Trill as a joined species, confirming that DS9‘s Trill were very different to their earlier appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The inherent complexity of the Trill meant that Jadzia Dax could embody seemingly disparate archetypes, with several lifetimes of personalities as part of the symbiont. An apt model for Dax’s host, Jadzia, was actress Grace Kelly, who rose to fame as a Hollywood movie star in the 1950s, and was also known as Princess Grace after her 1956 marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Kelly’s poise and glamour are obvious inspirations for the equally-poised and beautiful Lieutenant Dax. Less clear, however, is how Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) from the Star Wars saga fits into the picture describing Jadzia Dax.

DS9’s Dax Actress Says Star Trek Producer Wanted Her to “Be Like Grace Kelly and Yoda”

Terry Farrell “didn’t know what to do with that note.”

On The Delta Flyers podcast, Terry Farrell joins Star Trek: Voyager actors Robert Duncan McNeill and Garrett Wang to discuss the ins and outs of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes from a production standpoint. Farrell explains that DS9 director Paul Lynch helped her feel comfortable as science officer Jadzia Dax, and contrasts Lynch’s directorial style with a perplexing note from producer Rick Berman. Read her quote below, and listen to The Delta Flyers, starting at the 19:15 timestamp.

Terry Farrell: ” Rick Berman said, ‘I want you to be like Grace Kelly and Yoda.’ … I didn’t know what to do with that note. Someone else might have taken that note and had an ‘aha’ moment, ’cause somewhere in his head that made sense. But I couldn’t do it. … First of all, Grace Kelly, that’s hair and makeup looking elegant, and [how you’re] holding yourself. But Yoda? You don’t even write me like Yoda, I don’t know what that means.”

Why Did DS9 Producer Rick Berman Compare Jadzia Dax to Yoda?

Dax and Yoda have some things in common, but it’s still a weird note.

The comparison between Jadzia Dax and Grace Kelly is fairly understandable, but why would DS9 producer Rick Berman suggest playing Dax like Star Wars’ Jedi master Yoda? As a joined Trill, Jadzia is host to the 300-year-old symbiont, Dax, who has accumulated the knowledge of Dax’s Trill hosts by the start of DS9, and Dax’s previous host, Curzon, was a lifelong mentor for Benjamin Sisko. The 900-year-old Yoda is an important guiding figure for generations of Star Wars characters, so the comparisons between Dax and Yoda aren’t completely out of left field, but if Farrell only remembered Yoda for speaking in riddles, it’s an ineffective note.

Using cultural touchstones like Grace Kelly and Yoda as shorthand led to confusion, since Berman and Farrell had different interpretations of Kelly and Yoda as pop culture figures. On The Delta Flyers, McNeill, a director himself, opines that it’s far better to be transparent with directing actors, and eliminate the guesswork that comes from using examples that aren’t necessarily universal. Berman may have intended to let Farrell know that he wanted Jadzia Dax to be Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s wise mentor, like a deeply intuitive old guru wrapped in the body of a beautiful young woman, but “Grace Kelly and Yoda” is a strange way to say that.