When she was three years old, Sirtis says, the teenage sons of her babysitter sexually molested her. Sirtis suffered from an eating disorder , which emerged due to the trauma of the assault. After suffering from the disorder for 20 years, she went into therapy in the s and was able to manage the trauma and learn to eat healthily again.
While still in secondary school, Sirtis secretly auditioned for drama school against her parents' wishes, ultimately being accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In , at the age of 21, Sirtis graduated from Guildhall and began her career by joining the Connaught Theatre. She later became a naturalized US citizen.
Sirtis started her career as a member of the repertory company at the Connaught Theatre , Worthing , West Sussex, in Before her role in Star Trek , Sirtis was featured in supporting roles in several films. In the film Blind Date , she appears as a sex worker who is murdered by a madman. Other early works include numerous guest-starring roles on British television series. She also played the flight attendant in a Cinzano Bianco television commercial starring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins , in which Collins was splattered with drink.
In , Sirtis relocated to the United States. When casting Star Trek: The Next Generation , Gene Roddenberry was inspired to ask Sirtis, whose appearance he considered "exotic", to audition for a role after seeing the film Aliens with Bob Justman , which featured the prominent Latina character Vasquez, played by Jenette Goldstein.
Sirtis' character was going to be named Lt. Macha Hernandez, the Security Chief. Sirtis recalls that on the day she received the call offering her the role, she was actually packing to return to Britain because her six-month visa had expired. Deanna Troi is a half-human, half- Betazoid. Her Betazoid abilities allow her to read the emotions of others. Her position on the Enterprise-D is ship's counselor, looking after the crew's well-being and serving as trusted advisor to Captain Picard, with a position next to him on the bridge.
