Star Trek: Voyager producer Rick Berman stated that Jeri Ryan wasn’t his first choice to play Seven of Nine, because he favored another Star Trek actress for the role. Seven of Nine was introduced in Voyager season 4 and became a firm favorite that continues to make a positive impact on the Star Trek franchise in the 2020s. As an actor and former Miss Illinois, Jeri Ryan’s good looks were seen by many as the reason for her casting in the role, to the distaste of Captain Janeway actor Kate Mulgrew. However, Jeri Ryan repeatedly proved that she had incredible range as an actress, and continued to add new depths to Seven across three seasons of Star Trek: Picard.
Of the many actresses who auditioned for the part of Seven of Nine in the Star Trek: Voyager cast were Babylon 5 star Claudia Christensen and Xena: Warrior Princess‘ Hudson Leick. Brannon Braga, who originally created the character, later told Cinefantastique that the role of Seven of Nine came down to three actresses. Of these three, Jeri Ryan was a clear favorite, although she was not at the top of Rick Berman’s list. Berman later reflected on his own preferences in the book The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross. Read his quote and preferred casting choice below:
Star Trek’s Jeri Ryan Felt “More Connected” To Seven of Nine in Picard Season 3 Than Voyager
Seven of Nine’s story arc in Star Trek: Picard allowed Jeri Ryan to connect more with the character than she had on Star Trek: Voyager.
How Would Star Trek: TNG’s Susan Gibney’s Seven of Nine Differ From Jeri Ryan’s?
Susan Gibney is best known in Star Trek circles for playing Doctor Leah Brahms in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Brahms was at the center of one of TNG‘s more controversial storylines, in which Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) fell in love with an idealized, holographic version of the scientist. Geordi was later confronted about this by the real Leah Brahms, but didn’t appear to learn from his mistakes. Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine was often objectified by characters, including Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), and became a love interest for Star Trek: Voyager‘s EMH Doctor (Robert Picardo).
It’s interesting to ponder if Susan Gibney would have objected to these aspects of Seven’s story in Star Trek: Voyager, after already exploring them in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Seven was far more than a sex object, something which has thankfully been readdressed with her Star Trek: Picard arc. However, everyone from Jeri Ryan to Rick Berman is unequivocal about her sex appeal being a key part of her casting. If Star Trek: Voyager had cast Susan Gibney as Seven, her desire to escape the objectification she experienced on Star Trek: The Next Generation may have brought out more interesting sides to Seven’s character, and lifted her beyond the puerile “Barbie of Borg” label doled out by fans of the time.
