In one of tne podcasts there is some discussion about Butrick and Alley's experiences on TWOK. They really gloss over it, even mentioning legal reasons in the case of Alley, and that's it. Can anyone throw some light over these two actors experiences?
Starlog #84 (July 1984) has an interview with Nimoy promoting STIII. All it says is "the original actress' salary demands proved excessive" and then Nimoy talks about the challenges of finding a new actress for the part.
I read another interview somewhere (I'm forgetting where) where someone involved with the production said that her reps were asking for more money than DeForest Kelley was getting. (Not that Alley's people would've known what his salary was, of course.)
* This is my (paraphrased) summation from actual conversation with Paul Winfield (after filming ST II but before its release):
"I can tell you that Lieutenant Saavik gets along with Admiral Kirk much better than she did with William Shatner."
I was a bit flummoxed by this statement. At the time he seemed to be aluding to romance? (Later, there were more rumours that Alley and Shatner did not get along.) Not long after the movie came out, a set of ST II playing cards was released, several with Saavik and David in clinches, seeming confirming that Nick Meyer encouraged some scenes to be filmed to suggest a strong attraction between those characters.
Later, the ABC TV premiere of ST II had additional and alternate scenes. The Saavik/Kirk elevator scene was shown as a set of alternating individual closeups, rather than the wide shot used in the theatrical. They seem to be flirting with each other. Watching this scene, I was reminded of Winfield's anecdote.
There were also very strong rumours that Saavik/David (and Alley/Butrick) were being groomed as the new young leads for the series of (Nimoy-less) telemovies that may have been spun-off from ST II. But all that ended once Nimoy indicated his willingness to return... as the director of ST III.
Between II and III, some of the Shatner news zines were very critical of the David Marcus character, but they seemed more accepting of the character (and actor) after Marcus was killed off.
* This is my (paraphrased) summation from actual conversation with Bjo Trimble (at a convention in Australia, responding to early media reports, of the day, that Alley was not returning to the role of Saavik):
Alley was upset, but very quickly was offered the lead role in a play, which she decided to accept. ("The Glass Menagerie", IIRC.) Bjo reminded fans that in the early part of an actor's career, a lead role in a big play is probably more important than a supporting role in a sequel movie.
Contractually, Alley had to be invited back to the role in ST III. But the contract did not specify at what amount. Paramount made an offer at less than her ST II salary, arguing that "sequels always made less money". Her agent made a counter offer, embedded with room to negotiate down as expected - as any good agent would do. But Paramount never responded to the counter offer. The contract's clause had been fulfilled.
Nimoy was then free to recast. And it seems that the new director was keen to reimagine the Saavik character as full Vulcan, ignoring the scripted lines in ST II (cut from that film anyway). The makeup even added the Vulcan eyebrows. (It also seems to confirm rumours that popped up much later that Alley and Nimoy did not get along.)
Over time, though, the story about Alley's agent demanding "as much salary as Shatner (or Kelley) received..." seems to be what has survived. But it was a traditional counter offer.
