Fantastic Voyager: An Interview with Jeri Ryan

By Anthony Van Pyre and Jerry Seward

Jeri Ryan portrays Seven of Nine, a human who was assimilated by the Borg as a small child on UPN's STAR TREK: VOYAGER. When Captain Janeway severed Seven of Nine's link to the Borg Collective, she was forced to remain on the VOYAGER and adapt to human society. As a member of the starship's crew, she must try to conform to Starfleet rules and regulations. "Seven of Nine is confused by the complexities of human interaction," Jeri explained at last November's VISIONS convention in Chicago. "Torn between her past as a Borg and her future as a human, Janeway plays an integral role in helping Seven of Nine adapt to her new reality."

The 29-year-old Ryan, a self-admitted Army brat, grew up near bases ranging from Germany to Hawaii. She was born in Munich, Germany and after relocating to bases in Kansas, Maryland, Georgia, and Texas, her family settled down in Paduch, Kentucky when she was 11. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1990 as a National Merit scholar with a B.S. in theater, she moved to Los Angeles.

As a former series regular on NBC's DARK SKIES, Ryan portrayed Juliet, a mysterious government agent fighting the alien Hive. Prior to landing the role on DARK SKIES, she guest-starred on several television series, including WHO'S THE BOSS, MATLOCK, REASONABLE DOUBTS, MELROSE PLACE, and TIME TRAX (in the episode "Out for Blood"), and has appeared in a number of TV movies and independent films. "I'd love to play Hamlet one day," she said.

She said the STAR TREK: VOYAGER cast is great. "It's nice to work with people who all get along and don't have egos."

Robert Duncan McNeill (Lieutenant Tom Paris) welcomed her to the VOYAGER family by sending her a stack of TREK-related reference books. "He sent me the ENCYCLOPEDIA, the CHRONOLOGY," she said, but following the advice of the rest of the cast not to look up words that make up the show's "techno-speak," she tossed the books in the trash. "I guess they figured it would drive me crazy to try to understand all of the words.

"We have a lot of fun," she said. "Tim Russ (Tuvok) is probably the biggest practical joker. He likes to freak out guests. Garret Wang (Kim) and Robbie are both very charming."

Did she watch the various STAR TREK series before she was hired for VOYAGER? "I haven't watched faithfully. I've just never been into science fiction. I had never seen the Borg," she admitted.

"Executive producers Rick Berman, Jeri Taylor, and Brannon Braga talked to me for an hour and a half," she recalled. "They said to disregard everything I knew about the Borg, that Seven of Nine was something completely new. She wasn't the Borg Queen and she wasn't the typical Borg drone. My research was mainly composed of panic because I had watched all of the episodes with the Borg and FIRST CONTACT and now was told to ignore all of that. Rick Colby, who directed the first episode I was in, gave me the image of a Prussian general."

While physically demanding, her original Borg look, which involved various latex prosthetics and a corset, helped her play the character. "It was pretty easy to act like a Borg with all the make-up on. Latex is very flexible, so it wasn't that hard to feed into the whole Borg thing."

The shapely actress was concerned at first about all of the attention paid to her anatomy. "The focus on my physical traits was really frustrating. But now people see that I can act and that Seven is a well-written character."

But Ryan ultimately defends Paramount's publicity campaign. "To be perfectly honest, they viewed this as a way to break STAR TREK into the mainstream media.

"I don't want to play a bimbo or a victim. I respond a lot to emotion. That clicks with me and hits home. I think you can have a woman who's overtly sexy, but still be very smart."

When asked what happened to the silver suit which Seven originally wore, she answered, "It's in the STAR TREK archives. That original costume was so thin, you could literally see goosebumps. What I'm wearing now is much more forgiving."

Don't expect Jeri Ryan to follow in the footsteps of other STAR TREK actors by directing any episodes. "Robbie and Tim will. I won't. I know where my talents are."

Her favorite episode is "The Gift." "It was fun getting in Janeway's face."

Ryan promises some good storylines are in store for VOYAGER fans. "There's one where I'm a French chanteuse in the 1940's on the holodeck." She added that Janeway and Seven will develop a mother-daughter bond as upcoming episodes unfold.

"I think Seven will become more and more human," Ryan said, but doesn't see her ever using her real name, Annika. "She'll always use the name Seven of Nine. That's the one semblance of Borgness she'll have."

Working in Los Angeles, but commuting back and forth from her home in Chicago, Jeri Ryan is married to investment banker Jack Ryan and has a three-year-old son named Alex.

A family, a great job, adoring fans. What more could a girl ask for? "I've been really lucky."