When a franchise like Power Rangers lasts for decades, fans become invested in more than just the fun fight scenes and where the classic characters end up. They also become intrigued with just how the show is made and the experience the actors have on set. Luckily, actors, writers, and crew members who work on shows within the franchise typically maintain their relationships with the fans with convention appearances where lots of behind-the-scenes stories can come out.
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy is the first series for the franchise in what's become known as the Post Zordon Era. While the first six seasons (and four series) largely had the same cast members and were spawned by Zordon choosing teens to fight evil, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy takes the show in a new direction. Creatively, it's one of the most lauded of the Power Rangers series, which is part of the reason fans are always interested in learning more about the show.
The Power Rangers Actors Auditioned Repeatedly
The casting directors in the Power Rangers franchise must be pretty serious at finding just the right Power Ranger. When actors are asked about their audition process years later, there's one thing they tend to have in common: a lot of callbacks.
Amy Miller, who played villain Trakeena in Lost Galaxy, revealed at Morphicon in 2012 that after her initial audition, she didn't think she would get the part. She had three more callbacks to read lines again! Likewise, Reggie Rolle, who played the Green Ranger, had six callbacks after his initial audition.
The Green Ranger Married Trakeena
Fans of Amy Miller today might better know her as Amy Miller Rolle when she appears on the convention circuit to chat with fans and sign Trakeena-related memorabilia. That's because she married actor Reggie Rolle.
While Miller played Trakeena during the Lost Galaxy run, Rolle starred as Green Ranger Damon. The two met and dated while filming the show. They married after the series concluded and had three kids.
The Yellow Ranger Was Recast
Fans of the series will remember the Yellow Galaxy Ranger Maya being played by Cerina Vincent. Much like the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series recast Audri DuBois after filming already began, Lost Galaxy recast their original Yellow Ranger - Erin Simms.
Simms filmed the first episode of the series, but just how much more she filmed beyond that is unclear. The actress has spoken about her experience on set, saying how much she loved learning martial arts and performing stunt work, but admitted that her head wasn't really in the acting game at that point, and she ended up leaving the series. Today, Simms is still a part of the industry as an actress and screenwriter.
The Yellow Ranger Was Originally Male
Lost Galaxy also has another Yellow Ranger piece of information in common with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series. There's a reason both Maya and Trini's Yellow Ranger uniforms don't include skirts like their Pink Ranger teammates.
The Power Rangers franchise borrows a lot from the Japanese Sentai franchise. In the case of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, footage from Seijuu Sentai Gingaman was incorporated. Gingaman had a male Yellow Ranger, so the uniform didn't contain a skirt. That's exactly what happened when the original series used existing footage (from Zyuranger) as well. While Power Rangers Megaforce would eventually add skirts to uniforms that didn't originally have them, the early series of the franchise did not.
Valerie Vernon Left The Show For Medical Reasons
Valerie Vernon played original Pink Ranger Kendrix in the series, but about half way through the Lost Galaxy episodes, Kendrix sacrificed herself to save Pink Space Ranger Cassie. Vernon elected to leave the series.
That's because Vernon was diagnosed with leukemia during the middle of her time on the series. She had to undergo a rigorous therapy to combat it. Fans will notice, however, that Vernon's name is still listed during the credits for the entire run of the series as that allowed Saban to continue paying Vernon even though she was no longer playing the Pink Ranger. Vernon's recovery allowed her to eventually reprise the role.
Cassie Could Have Been The Pink Ranger
Introduced as the Pink Ranger successor in Power Rangers Turbo, Cassie became the Pink Ranger for Power Rangers In Space as well. She almost played a much larger role as a Galaxy Ranger too.
When Kendrix sacrificed herself to save Cassie, the original plan was to have Cassie step in to fill her spot on the new team. Actress Patricia Ja Lee even filmed a little bit for the series beyond the crossover episodes featuring her old team. It wasn't meant to be, however, as rumor has it, pay negotiations broke down. Instead of Cassie, Karone (formerly Astronema) became the next Pink Ranger.
The Premiere Script Featured A Nod To Zordon
Scripts can go through a lot of changes from their initial writing to filming, so it's no surprise that scripts from Power Rangers that have made their way online aren't exactly what fans are familiar with. One of those original scripts is that for the first episode of Lost Galaxy.
The script also had an outline for the entire season attached, which definitely went through some changes as well. One of the points in the outline, also referenced in dialogue in the script, is that Zordon was responsible for the creation of the Galaxy Rangers. It was Zordon who actually put the Quasar Sabers into stones on Mirinoi to wait for the destined heroes to find them. Though that plot point was cut, fans of the comic book adaptations now know it's entirely possible that he did just that since Zordon was revealed to be a warrior in his own right before the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers teamed up.
Kai Was One Of The Oldest Power Rangers
The first few seasons of the franchise brought in actors in their teens or just in their early twenties to play the titular heroes. With Lost Galaxy, the casting directors had the freedom to look for more experienced actors, or even just slightly older actors.
Archie Kao, who played Blue Ranger Kai in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was one of the oldest actors to play a Power Ranger at the time. He was approaching 30 when the show began filming. Of course, Jason David Frank, who joined Mighty Morphin Power Rangers at 19, would return to the franchise at 30 to play a Ranger again, and even reprised his role again a decade later.
Terra Venture Soldiers Use Familiar Armor
The space colony Terra Venture isn't just protected by the Power Rangers. There's also a military force on board. Some fans might not have realized, but their military uniforms weren't made for the show, and they weren't borrowed from the existing Gingaman costumes.
Instead, they were repurposed from a movie. They're the same uniforms used in Starship Troopers. Lost Galaxy also isn't the only television show to use them. The short-lived Joss Whedon series Firefly also used them.
The Rumored Ancient Rangers Would Never Appear
For years, there has been a rumor that an ancient group of Rangers would appear in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, but that story changes forced the writers to abandon the idea. The rumor was prompted by the fact that Saban purchased footage from Gosei Sentai Dairanger early in the franchise. While very little footage from that particular series was used, fans found it suspicious that no footage of the five person team surfaced. They have long insisted that the plan was to use the footage for those "ancient" Power Rangers.
The rumor was finally put to rest by Den Of Geek who interviewed Power Rangers writer and producer Jackie Marchand. Marchand worked on numerous Rangers series, including Lost Galaxy. She confirmed that using the Dairanger footage was never a plan for Lost Galaxy. The footage had actually been purchased for use with the original series, and by the airing of Lost Galaxy, it looked much older than anything else they were using.