A myth. The episode with Locarno was by staff writers, wouldn’t have needed any extra fee to re-use the same character. Ro was already semi-regular character too, same deal.
I think Ron Moore, one of the staff writers for that season of TNG, mentioned this in a recent interview.
Ask the writers. (I guess they didn’t want actual blood on Paris’ hands, or decided it didn’t make sense for him to be back in the fleet, which is what Lower Decks have done with Locarno)
In interviews the producers of Voyager have said they felt Locarno’s actions in that episode made him “irredeemable”. (TNG Season 5 DVD-special feature, Memorable Missions Year Five: “The First Duty”)
According to Robert Duncan McNeal, Larcarno gave the impression of being a good guy who made a mistake when in reality deep down he was a bad guy, whereas Paris was the other way around.
Paying royalties to a scriptwriter for writing a very minor character is dumb in this case. The same reason we have a Kira Nerys and not Ro Laren.
A myth. The episode with Locarno was by staff writers, wouldn’t have needed any extra fee to re-use the same character. Ro was already semi-regular character too, same deal.
I think Ron Moore, one of the staff writers for that season of TNG, mentioned this in a recent interview.
So then why get the same actor to play the identical role with a different name, instead of using a character that was planned?
Ask the writers. (I guess they didn’t want actual blood on Paris’ hands, or decided it didn’t make sense for him to be back in the fleet, which is what Lower Decks have done with Locarno)
Per Memory Alpha,
According to Robert Duncan McNeal, Larcarno gave the impression of being a good guy who made a mistake when in reality deep down he was a bad guy, whereas Paris was the other way around.
The story I heard with Ro on DS9 was Michelle Forbes didn’t want to commit to a full-time TV gig, wanting to pick up more movie roles.