Jeri Ryan had trouble finding Seven of Nine’s voice in Star Trek: Picard

Before Jeri Ryan made her grand entrance on the latest episode of Star Trek: Picard, “Absolute Candor,” it had been 19 years since she portrayed her character — the former Borg, Seven of Nine. In the final moments of the episode, Seven of Nine appears out of nowhere and helps Picard and his new crew aboard the La Sirena escape the grasps of a Romulan Bird of Prey warship.

Her ship damaged in the fray, Picard beamed her aboard. “You owe me a new ship, Picard,” she said before fainting. And that was it, that was Jeri Ryan’s big entrance.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan recalls the actual first scene she filmed for the show, in Picard’s office, which we glimpse in trailers. “It was daunting — not just because it was Patrick — but because I was still petrified — or ‘Patrick-fied’ — of if I could find the character again. I was still trying to figure out who she was.”

So the former Star Trek: Voyager actress had a shaky start, but thanks to a friendly face behind the camera, she was able to push through. “I was so fortunate because Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation) was directing my first episode. So with that, I knew I was in good hands. [Frakes], more than anyone else, would get the importance of revisiting and being true to these characters. Because the challenge for me is: Where has she been for nearly 20 years?”

"Finding her voice was the hardest thing for me; when I read the first script — I just couldn’t hear her voice anywhere. Frakes just sort of walked in and said ‘there she is.’"

Although Ryan spent four years on Voyager, and has now completed a full season of Picard, she still finds it unreal that she’s part of a Star Trek show. “Yeah, I feel that way all the time. I mean, even after having finished the first season, I see the promos come out and go ‘oh my gosh, I’m actually playing Seven of Nine again.'”

Hopefully, Seven of Nine will feel like explaining where she’s been for 19 years and why she was piloting a ship that just happened to be around the planet Vashti the exact same time Picard was. Something tells me there’s more to this mystery than meets the cybernetically enhanced eye.

We’ll learn more soon enough. New episodes of Star Trek: Picard air on Thursdays, only on CBS All Access.

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