After reading the script, though, Nimoy said Alley’s agent called back, saying, “Look, we didn’t realize how large a role Saavik was going to have in this film. So we’re withdrawing our earlier figure. Here’s what we have to have now…” According to Nimoy, the figure Alley’s agent asked for shocked him and was higher than DeForest Kelley’s salary even decades into the franchise.
“We couldn’t agree to the price on either budgetary or ethical grounds, but Kirstie and her agent held firm,” Nimoy wrote. “We had no choice but to search for a new Saavik, and Kirstie went on to a wonderful career, which included numerous movies and the series ‘Cheers.'” For her part, though, Alley told StarTrek.com that she was being offered less than she had in “The Wrath of Khan” for a larger part. “I’m not trying to sound ungrateful at all, because what they paid me when you did your first job is fine,” Alley told the website. “But it wasn’t like it was a massive amount of money, trust me. It just wasn’t. And so that never made sense to me. Like, ‘You’re not paying as much as the first one, and it’s a bigger role?'”
Alley recalled that she didn’t simply pass on the film, but inquired about the pay cut. “I feel like what I said was, ‘Okay, I don’t get this.’ And when we queried it sort of gently, like, ‘Why would you offer someone less money for a bigger role?'” The actor told the outlet that she’s “heard rumors” about who was responsible for the lowball offer but wasn’t sure if they were true. “It still doesn’t make sense to me,” she admitted in 2016.