Jeri Ryan may have been hired because of her beauty, but Seven of Nine was one of the best characters in the entire Star Trek franchise.
Watching her strut around Voyager in her jumpsuit was mesmerising, and she was a very interesting character.
But did you know she had a secret enemy on set?
The game behind Jeri Ryan’s success.
When Jeri Ryan appeared on the set of Star Trek: Voyager in 1997, the series was on the brink. Ratings were falling, the stakes were high, and the producers knew they needed something or someone to turn the tide. Seven of Nine came along.
A former Borg drone cut off from the Collective, her character was a fusion of cold precision and buried humanity, a puzzle waiting to be solved.
And when she appeared in season four, the effect was instantaneous. Ratings soared – by a staggering 60 per cent. The network bet on her, counting on her striking presence to draw viewers in. And it worked.
But what they may not have expected was how good she really is. Not just a mesmerising figure in a tight-fitting uniform, but an actress of surprising depth. She didn’t just play Seven – she became her, layer by layer, allowing glimpses of vulnerability to shine through the steel.
One episode in particular stands out, in which Seven, shattered by a cascade of personalities, moves quickly from one personality to another. It was a performance that should have won her an award, a demonstration of talent beyond the sci-fi trappings of the series.
She was hired to save Voyager. And got something much bigger.
Why she turned down the role four times
Jeri Ryan, born Jeri Lynn Zimmermann, was born on 22 February 1968 in Munich, West Germany, and moved to Los Angeles after college to pursue acting full-time.
In 1997, she was relatively unknown when the creators of the TV series Star Trek: Voyager chose her for the role of Seven Nine. Surprisingly, Ryan turned down the role not once, but four times.
But why didn’t she want to join? In a January 2020 interview, Jeri Ryan revealed that when producers first approached her about Star Trek: Voyager, she had never watched the series. Curious, she decided to watch one episode – and quickly regretted it. She described it as ‘the worst hour of television’ she had ever seen.
They gave me a copy of the film First Contact, so I could at least see what the Borg was like. ‘They also gave me a copy of The Grand Encyclopedia of Star Trek, whatever that is, so I could add to my Star Trek knowledge,’ Ryan explains.
Only after relentless persuasion from executive producer Geri Taylor did she finally agree to take on the iconic role of Seven of Nine, a Borg drone freed from the collective consciousness of the Borg.
The fight that the camera didn’t catch
Jeri Ryan felt it even before filming began – a knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach at the mere thought of sharing a scene with her colleague Kate Mulgrew. It wasn’t nerves. Not stage fright. It was something heavier, an unspoken tension that hung in the air whenever they worked together.
Most of the cast of Voyager had noticed it. The friction between them wasn’t just a rumour, it was real, and for years it had gone unresolved. Ryan, the new girl, found herself in the spotlight as Seven of Nine, Borg’s undoubtedly striking former drone. Mulgrew, an experienced series lead, had spent years establishing Captain Janeway as a strong, independent figure, resisting every attempt to shoehorn her character into the novel. And now, suddenly, all eyes were on Seven.
For Mulgrew, it wasn’t something personal – at least not at first. She wanted to move Star Trek away from overt sexualisation, to make it intellectual, leadership and exploratory. But the network had other plans. They introduced Ryan, a beautiful and decidedly sexualised heroine, to revive the show’s ratings. And it worked.
The tension between them had lingered for years, like a quiet storm beneath the surface of the earth. Ryan kept her head down, giving performance after performance, while Mulgrew struggled with her own frustration.
Jeri Ryan and Kate Mulgrew at the 14th Annual Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas / Getty Images
Over time, however, something changed. Mulgrew, possessing the wisdom of hindsight, saw the bigger picture. She later acknowledged her resentment, acknowledged how much she had made Ryan’s life difficult, and acknowledged her role in their volatile dynamic.
And then she did something unexpected – she apologised.
‘You handled a very difficult role beautifully,’ she told Ryan. The past was a thing of the past. The tension, the cold stares, the unspoken disappointments – it was all behind them.
Since then, they’ve made appearances at Star Trek conventions, laughing, reminiscing and proving that even the deepest of rifts can be overcome. Looking at today’s photos, is it hard to believe that these two didn’t get along on set?
She burned her own costume
Seven of Nine’s iconic costume may have looked sleek and futuristic on screen, but behind the scenes it was a real nightmare. Seven of Nine’s corset was so tight that Jeri Ryan could hardly breathe when she wore it. Between shoots, she often had to lie down to regain her breath before getting in front of the camera again.
And because of the tight one-piece suit, Jeri Ryan couldn’t get in or out of it without the help of the costume shop. Because it was a one-piece suit with no zips, Jeri Ryan had to sew it up every time she put it on, and getting out of it wasn’t easy.
Even such a simple trip to the bathroom turned into a time-consuming ordeal, forcing her to ‘endure’ for long periods of time so as not to delay filming. A simple toilet on set turned into a 20-minute ordeal, leading to her own radio code: ‘Code Jeri-twenty.’
Ryan’s frustration with the outfit grew over the years, and by the time the filming of Voyager was over, there was only one thing left for her to do: get rid of it for good. Without a second thought, she burned the costume, never to squeeze into it again.
Invisible wall of shame
On the set of Star Trek: Voyager, where the magic of sci-fi meets the absurdity of pretence, actors often practised the fine art of the ‘force field’ – a skill that required throwing themselves at absolutely nothing and doing so convincingly.
Take, for example, the infamous moment in ‘The Gift,’ one of the early episodes featuring Seven of Nine. With all the seriousness of a Starfleet officer facing imminent doom, the actor was supposed to throw himself into the brig’s force field – only, of course, there was no force field. No shimmering energy barrier. No resistance. Just the cold, emotionless air of the film set.
‘You play a lot on nothing because there’s a lot of special effects, so you’re playing on a green or blue screen, which means you’re playing on nothing and you’re not reacting to anything,’ Ryan once explained.
The result? An impressively awkward performance in which they rushed forward but stopped mid-movement, arms flailing, face contorted in pain – while the film crew tried (and sometimes unsuccessfully) to stifle laughter behind the camera.
‘Force Field’ quickly became an inside joke. It wasn’t just about creating an illusion, it was about doing it with an honest face, knowing that in reality you look completely ridiculous.
But that’s the magic of science fiction. One day you’re fighting intergalactic threats. The next, you’re throwing yourself into the void and hoping the CGI team has your back.
What did Seven of Nine mean in Voyager?
If you ask Jeri Ryan herself, she has a lot to say about the character she fell in love with.
Seven of Nine wasn’t just another addition to the crew – she was a force for change. Before her arrival, Voyager had settled into a comfortable rhythm. Tensions between Starfleet and the Maquis had faded, and internal conflicts were almost non-existent. Everyone got along with each other. Perhaps even a little too well.
But then Seven appeared. A former Borg drone, cut off from the hive mind and for the first time forced to orientate herself to individuality. She wasn’t just a member of the crew, she was a challenge. A destroyer. And that, in Ryan’s opinion, was exactly what the series needed.
Looking back, Ryan reflects on what made her character so important not only to the series, but to the entire Star Trek legacy.
‘Humanity in general was one of the things that Seven allowed them to explore,’ she reflects. ‘She brought conflict to the series – something that was sadly missing. When the Maquis made peace with Janeway and company, it was just one big happy family.’
But it wasn’t just the conflict that made her character so compelling. Seven of Nine fits into the classic Star Trek archetype: the outsider who forces humanity to examine itself. Like Spock, Data, or Odo before her, Seven became a unique lens through which the series could explore deep philosophical questions about identity, morality, and free will.
Why Seven of Nine wore high heels
Have you ever wondered why Seven of Nine walked around Voyager in high heels? Fans have debated the practicality of this for years, but Jeri Ryan has a simple answer: everyone wore heels!
‘All the heroines wore boots with heels,’ she explains. ‘And if you’re going to walk in stockings, I want to see you walk on flat feet – that’s not going to happen!’
The heels weren’t so much a character choice as a design decision to create a sleek, elongated silhouette.
While they weren’t the most practical footwear for the former Borg drone, they certainly created a memorable look.
The hidden complexity of the role of Seven of Nine
We know that Jeri Ryan’s costume for Star Trek: Voyager was one of the most challenging parts of her work on set. But there was another challenge – one that isn’t as obvious when watching the show, but becomes hilarious when looking at behind-the-scenes photos.
Keeping a straight face.
‘The two biggest challenges with Seven were keeping a straight face and working with all these guys who were absolutely nuts,’ Ryan once admitted.
Seven of Nine, for all her Borg precision and stoic demeanour, was still human. She had emotions – like everyone else – but she didn’t know how to express them. Moreover, she was afraid to do so. Every emotion was carefully locked away, hidden beneath a surface of calm detachment.
‘There’s a fine line between being unemotional and being overly demonstrative,’ Ryan explained. ‘That problem was very interesting to play as an actor.’
Yet in the midst of all that restraint and subtlety, she was surrounded by a cast full of pranksters. While Seven stood still, delivering lines in her trademark controlled tone, chaos often unfolded behind the scenes. Keeping a straight face in the midst of it all? Easier said than done.
Despite the challenges, Ryan has often cited Seven as one of the greatest roles of her career. ‘The character was a real acting gift,’ she says. ‘Everything was new to Seven, everything was a discovery.’
For fans, Seven of Nine remains one of Voyager’s most fascinating and beloved characters. And for Ryan, she was both a challenge and a joy – whether she was battling the Borg or just trying not to crack up on set.
So now we’ve been given a glimpse of Jeri Ryan’s fantastic performance in Star Trek: Voyager! Her portrayal of Seven of Nine brought depth, strength and vulnerability to the series, making her one of the most iconic characters in Star Trek history.
Seven’s AI illusion
So, you clicked on this article because of this picture, didn’t you? There’s no shame in that – we all love colourful images. But here’s the catch: the picture isn’t real.
It is! What you’re looking at is the work of artificial intelligence, a digital illusion created by algorithms, not Hollywood magic. And if you look closely, the signs are there – the shape may look almost right, but something is… off.
The details don’t quite match the elegant Starfleet design we know from Voyager. Maybe it’s the fabric, the fit, or the fact that it looks more like Star Trek: Alternate Reality Edition than what we’ve seen on screen.
In a way, it’s almost poetic. Seven of Nine, a character defined by her struggle between human identity and artificial precision, is now reimagined by an artificial intelligence that struggles to replicate reality. It’s like Borg meets Photoshop, and honestly? It’s pretty hilarious.
What do you think? Do you have a favourite Seven of Nine moment? Share your thoughts and let’s have a discussion! And if you enjoyed this, feel free to share it with other Star Trek fans! 🚀✨
