The introduction of the character of Seven of 9 within the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager had a big impact on the present, and was a giant media even that put a giant deal with Jeri Ryan and her shiny, skin-tight costume. Ryan she shared some candid ideas on the ST: CHI conference in Chicago final weekend when the topic of her introduction to Star Trek got here up, and talked concerning the development of the character by way of the sequence in addition to what it was like returning in Picard.
“It wasn’t a enjoyable expertise.”
Throughout her panel with co-star Tim Russ (Tuvok), Jeri Ryan was requested by a fan about “the background story Seven of 9 being made extra horny,” and the way she felt concerning the introduction of the character. The actress, who had been making a reputation for herself in Hollywood on the time with visitor and recurring roles on a number of exhibits, mentioned she understood what the producers of Voyager had been after:
“So the character was added to interrupt Star Trek into the mainstream media. That was the publicity angle of the character. They usually made no bones about that. They had been very clear about that from the start, with me. And there was an enormous publicity push, so I knew that.”
Ryan mentioned that she initially turned down the function, however the casting director for Paramount saved urgent, telling her agent the function “is de facto going to be particular.” Ryan advised the Chicago crowd that what received her hooked was one of many scenes they despatched over for the audition:
“One among which was the ‘You want to copulate’ scene with Harry Kim, which in fact they used [in ‘Revulsion’]. And the opposite scene, which, in fact, was by no means shot, was one of the vital superbly written scenes that I’ve ever seen earlier than or since for any audition. And it was a scene between Seven and Chakotay, of Seven having her first reminiscence of laughter. And it was stunning. And based mostly on that scene, I noticed the potential for this character, perhaps. And I used to be ready to attract on my son, who was two and a half time on the time. And when he was a child and heard himself laughing first the primary time and stunned himself. And so I may see what this might actually be, what the potential of this character was.”
Ryan talked about how seeing that potential within the character helped get her previous any issues over the costume:
“I used to be concerned in all of the costume fittings, all the discussions. I knew what this was. And I used to be okay with the costume. I knew it was horny. I knew what they had been going for. I used to be okay with that as a result of the way in which the character was written. And keep in mind, this was the ‘90s, guys. As a result of the way in which the character was written, she was the whole antithesis of this. She was not that [catsuit]. So due to how she was written, and since it was so against approach the bodily look of the character was, I used to be all proper with it. Would I be as we speak? No, I wouldn’t. However then, no matter. So, yeah, it was a bit—they had been very open about that.”
The signature silver catsuit was a centerpiece to the media rollout. Even the official Star Trek: Voyager journal centered on it, and Ryan and her catsuit had been featured on many journal covers within the fall of 1997.
Official Star Trek: Voyager Journal from 1997
On stage in Chicago, Ryan mirrored extra on this early interval for her on Voyager and the way she now has a fair higher understanding after speaking with sequence star Kate Mulgrew:
“I feel it most likely was not dealt with effectively. I’ve had plenty of discussions—I had an extended dialogue with Kate [Mulgrew], really, on the cruise, the COVID cruise [Star Trek: The Cruise IV, in 2020] We talked for like three hours. It was beautiful. It was actually, very nice. However listening to it from the way in which she skilled it and the way in which issues had been dealt with from the producer facet of it and the community facet of it and the studio facet of it, it wasn’t dealt with properly. I don’t suppose it was dealt with effectively. Yeah, I feel it may have been—it ought to have been a really totally different scenario throughout, for all events, I feel. And it will have been very totally different expertise, as a result of it wasn’t a enjoyable expertise in any respect.”
The 2020 Star Trek: Voyager forged reunion from Star Trek: The Cruise IV seen in To The Journey (455 movies)
“A really wealthy character”
This isn’t to say that Ryan has regrets about taking over the function; she was very clear to the gang that because the sequence progressed, she discovered herself an increasing number of engaged with Seven:
“No, I used to be very fortunate. There have been stunning developments for my character. It was a really, very, very wealthy character.”
Later when a fan requested a query about if she’d ever had particular points with how her character was portrayed in a script, she introduced up the notorious early scene with Harry Kim for instance of how issues started to vary on the present:
“Very early on with Seven—and I feel we sort of all got here to that very same conclusion collectively on the similar time—we began bringing her too human, too quick. And all of us sort of backed off a bit. Like that ‘want to copulate’ scene we talked about, it was WAY too informal, WAY too quick. After which we REALLY backed off quick and he or she went again to being actual, nearly robotic once more. As a result of it was simply approach, approach, approach too quickly to be that informal. I feel all of us sort of got here to that very same level , that there’s going to be nowhere to go if she will get there this quick.”
Jeri Ryan at ST: CHI 2025 (Photograph: TrekMovie)
Ryan attributed Seven’s development as a personality to Voyager govt producer and showrunner at the moment Brannon Braga, saying:
“Mainly each phrase I uttered on Voyager was written or rewritten by Brannon Braga. This was very a lot his character. She was his imaginative and prescient. She was his child. She actually form of got here absolutely fashioned out of his mind and he by no means made a misstep, actually, I feel, with the way in which he developed her. It was superbly written. So there was by no means a second the place I needed to go, ‘Oh, I don’t suppose she would say that.’ As a result of he knew what her thoughts was. So I used to be very fortunate with the way in which she was written.”
In fact, Braga and Ryan had a really shut relationship throughout these years, and finally grew to become a pair.
In 2020, Jeri Ryan returned to the function of Seven for Star Trek: Picard, showing in all three seasons. In Chicago, she talked about how she’d initially had some points with how in another way the character was written within the present:
“With Picard, it was totally different. It was onerous. I had a more durable time discovering her at first. I used to be so used to that voice being so particular for therefore lengthy. And there have been just a few instances the place I used to be like, ‘Okay, I’m not solely certain that that is…’ However they had been very open to suggestions and enter with issues like that.”
Jeri Ryan as Seven of 9 and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard (“Absolute Candor”) (Trae Patton/Paramount)
Extra from Chicago
There may be nonetheless extra to come back from what went down at ST:CHI, like William Shatner really speaking about Star Trek. And take a look at these different articles based mostly on interviews and panels from Chicago:
Unique: The Inside Story Of The TNG Incident That Ended Star Trek Desk Reads For 3 A long time
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