Spoiler alert! There is more to a Jeri Ryan interview than "How do you breathe in that thing?" Jeanne Wolf sat down recently with
the girl who put the "oy" in and got some secrets about the space opera's February sweeps special. You have been warned. 


Seven has had some great stories since she came aboard. What's in store this season? 

We have a great two-hour episode coming up in February sweeps, with Seven of Nine and the Borg Queen. It's great. It's a movie,
really - we filmed a movie in this two and a half-week period. It was really fun. 


Does Alice Krige play the Borg Queen?

No, it's not the same actress who played the Borg Queen in First Contact. This time
she's played by Susanna Thompson, who's wonderful. And actually I have worked with
her before, so it was fun to work with a friend again. And she does an outstanding
job. And of course, there's this incredible makeup.


Can you spill anything about the episode? 

Well, this came about because fans have been clamoring to see the Borg Queen
again ever since First Contact. That was the first and last time they encountered the
Queen. So she comes back and contacts Seven of Nine and basically blackmails her
into coming back into the collective to save Voyager. It's a wonderful story, with the
relationship between Seven and Janeway  (Kate Mulgrew) played against the
relationship between Seven and the Queen. It's this nice little triangle. It's almost
like meeting your birth mother and your adoptive mother. The struggle is really interesting. 


When you first appeared on Voyager, all anybody could talk about was the
"babe factor" and that silver catsuit. Do you feel that hard-core Trekkers have
accepted you now? 

You know, I haven't honestly noticed that much difference. Star Trek fans are so
passionate and so loyal and so proprietary about the franchise and everyone in it.
They've always been very warm and very good to me. They're just as nice as they've
always been, so it's very flattering.

                                                       
Your son Alex is now 4 1/2. What tricks have you learned to balance
motherhood and your career? 

Well, a lot of it is having as much time with him as I can, and not keeping my work
completely separate from him. I bring him to the set whenever he wants to come. That
was a big thing for me, to make sure that if he wants to see me during the day he can.
The time that I'm not working is very precious, and I spend it with him, just doing
the regular stuff - playing with Play-Doh, going to Disneyland, hanging out, watching
a video. He's a great kid. He's an endless wonder to me. 


Are you still having fun? 

I am. More fun this year than I had last year, actually. Last year was just exhausting. I
was still commuting to and from Chicago on the weekends. Last year was really
hard. Very grueling. And emotionally trying. And everything else. So this year is much more fun.

to the Star Trek page. to the Voyager crew page.