VegasTrekCon10: Jeri Ryan & Voyager Cast Reunion Report & Photos

Shatner and Nimoy were not the only big Star Trek stars at the Star Trek convention on Saturday. Also there were most of the main cast of Star Trek Voyager, including Jeri Ryan in a rare appearance. See below for our panel reports and for photos of the Voyager crew.

 

Jeri Ryan

Star Trek Voyager’s Borg Babe Jeri Ryan made a rare convention appearance in Las Vegas and seemed just as excited to be there as was the crowd. Shortly after hitting the stage she got her phone to send out a picture via her Twitter. In her Q&A the actress took a number of questions regarding her character and the Voyager series. Ryan cited "Someone to Watch Over Me" and all the episodes where she "explored her humanity" with The Doctor, noting "it was always fun to work with Bob [Picardo]". She also agreed with a fan that the final episodes of the series "got wrapped up a bit abruptly".

@JeriLRyan
Ryan so excited she had to tweet it (Photo: Brian Wilkins)

The subject of makeup and costumes came up a few times during her talk. Apparently it took about five hours to put together the "full Borg" outfit and makeup with another hour and a half to take it all off, making it so that she didn’t relish the seemingly yearly Borg flashback episodes. As for her famous cat suit, that didn’t take as long to take off but it was still an ordeal forcing them to give the cast and crew a break whenever she needed to use the bathroom. Ryan also revealed that they would shoot wide shots before lunch and close-ups after lunch because of the "post lunch bulge" which they joked made her look like a ‘B’.

Regarding the different romances on the show, when asked if she could have chosen between Seven hooking up with Doctor or Chakotay, she joked it should have been both and "Seven should have been a polygamist!"

And as it often comes up, Ryan was asked for her opinion of the 2009 Star Trek movie, her reply: "I thought it was really cool!"

Jeri Ryan
Jeri Ryan at Star Trek con (Photo: Brian Wilkins)

Although Jeri was appearing alone on stage, there were a couple of moments when she got surprise co-stars joining. Garrett Wang showed up early in her set, and Jeri revealed that her nickname for him was ‘Goober’. Ryan talked about how much fun she had with the cast of the show, joking that all the "men are psychopaths". She was later surprised by Robert Picardo who asked her if she still had a thing for bald men.

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Garrett Wang drops by for a hug

Voyager reunion

Saturday also saw a "Voyager Reunion" panel with Ethan Phillips, Scarlett Pommers, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Picardo and Jennifer Lien. The group showed they still have a close camaraderie, with lots of barbs being thrown around, much to the delight of the crowd. Garrett impersonated Bob at one point, and also did a spot on impression of George Takei. There were even fart jokes about Tim’s "gaseous anomalies". 

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Wang clowning around at Voyager panel at Star Trek con

The Voyager panelists each discussed their characters and arcs. Pommers, who began on Voyager at the age of nine,  talked about how everyone was "awesome" to her on the set. Wang felt that Ensign Kim was the most relatable character to the audience and more of an "every man". It was a rare con experience for Lien who appeared shy and really didn’t say much.

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Russ, Phillips and Picardo at Star Trek Vegas Con (Photo: Kayla Iacovino)

Phillips noted that he wasn’t ever really sure what the real relationship with Kes and Neelix was, platonic or romantic. He also said that there was a scene shot that gave better closure to the relationship, but it was cut. Picardo talked about how the Doctor didn’t start off as a good character but he was "squired" into a more well-rounded character by the end, with Wang noting that most of the character was based on Picardo’s suggestions to the writers (with Garrett doing a great impersonation of Bob). Russ said that he related to Tuvok and that even though he was Vulcan, there were elements of his own personality in character, like his rationality.

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Lien, Wang and Pommers at Star Trek Vegas Con (Photo: Kayla Iacovino)

More VOY photos from Star Trek Con

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More Vegas Star Con 2010

For more from the con see our full reports:

…And much more to come with coverage of TNG and Enterprise stars from Sunday.

Kayla Iacovino and Erica Anderson contributed to this report

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Jeri Ryan…………………………..SLUUURRRRPPPPPPPP!!!!!

Just a few comments:

1. Jeri Ryan made a great impression on everyone, I think. She was funny and personable. A fan thanked her for wearing the dress she wore.

She said that she thought she would be a little “long in the tooth” for a role someone suggested, but as far as I’m concerned, she looked very much as she did in Voyager.

2. During the Voyager reunion, Jennifer Lien was hardly recognizable from where I was sitting (the cheap seats). I thought she was one of the writers. She really was shy-seeming, as the article notes. The Wikipedia article on her says that she retired from acting in 2002, save for some voiceover work, I think, and that she is listed as an executive producer in one of her husband’s movies. The article also states that she says loves acting but no longer likes the acting life. (This is from Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt.)

3. Voyager’s cast must be one of the most consistently funny on the convention circuit.

4. There was a joke that Tim Russ really was Vulcan; Wang joked that this was what it said on Russ’s answering machine.

Great stuff. I wish I had caught the whole appearance.

Jennifer Lien… how quickly she has aged lol

This and the DS9 panel were the things I was most looking forward to and I was furious that I missed them, theres always another convention round the corner though :-)

Nothing wrong with being a little shy (I can relate), and I’m glad to hear that Lien is still making a living with that wonderful voice of hers. She always reminded me of Lauren Bacall in “To Have and Have Not.” A little bit sultry and a whole lot vulnerable.

And speaking of sultry—Jeri Ryan—hubba-hubba!

4, that’s true. From all accounts, Jennifer Lien is a very nice person. Lots of nice people are quite shy, probably because they don’t want to risk a confrontation with people who are not so shy.

Also, even though she looks different from her appearance in Voyager, there is no reason why she shouldn’t be in the acting business, should she ever change her mind and return to Hollywood. She was obviously able to overcome her shyness when it counted.

Harry Kim was gay

#5

Yeah, I really don’t care if her looks have changed either. She’s a sweet person and a talented actress. Unfortunately, some people can’t seem to get past looks (see any recent Shatner comments for example) or can’t keep their fingers from typing idiotic comments—I’m looking at you #6.

I’ve been watching this show lately. Honestly, it began to fall apart when Ryan came on. I don’t think it was her so much the intent of the writers and what not. This show just began to suck toward the end.

Wow. Jeri’s still a hottie.

I wonder if Jeri and Braga had a reunion? LOL! We could pop those 4 guys back into their roles right now, the ladies, not so much so

still it was nice to see her (Ms Lien), though i suppect her shyness is from gathering with old friends/co-workers & and that sutle feeling of inferiority one must feel when you see ‘how better some peoples grass is’ :(

I felt the same way at my 10-year HS reunion & probably will feel the same so i can sympase with her probable plight.

then again, she isnt the only actress to turn her back from the child-eating annomoly that is Hollywood…

#6 YES!

Lien has nothing to feel inferior about, as I’m sure you’ll agree, 11. She’s a mom, and there’s isn’t any role more important than that.

@8, sorry but you got it ass backwards.

While I enjoyed all 7 seasons of Voyager, it definitely got better after Jeri Ryan came on.

Not because the show needed a “hotness factor” injected (while I certainly did not mind it) into it, the stories just got better after she came on.

Maybe it was the writing just improving, maybe it was just better story ideas coming along, but Voyager definitely got better with time, not the opposite.

Scarlett Pommers, who?

*googles*

NAOMI WILDMAN?!?

*pause*

I feel dirty.

I was a huge fan of Kes, Jennifer lien has great acting ability and I would love to see some interview with her (that is more recent).
She was great in Amerian History X, and Kes was the most unassuming character in Voyager IMHO, but when they gave her more to do (Warlord, Fury, Before & After) she really excelled. I really hope that she is happy in her life and her career now.

16, StarTrek.com has an interview with her done while she was at the Vegas Convention, I believe. :-)

Nice people rock, and Lien seems, as I said, very nice.

Hollywood and — as some of the Trek actors themselves have said — acting, as a business, can be pretty harsh. I don’t blame her at all for mostly retiring from the biz..

That said, I thought she was radiant as (pre-“Fury”) Kes. Compared with other Trek series, I didn’t watch Voyager as much, but I do think she brought such charm and grace to Kes, much like Chase Masterson did for Leeta, or even more so. I think that Kes is often under-rated as a Trek character.

#3 – It has been 13 years… ;)

Scarlett Pommers!!! My dream woman – WOW!

WOAH.

Scarlett grew up NICE. NICE.

#15 & #19:

Yes, Scarlett has grown to be a major hottie (which is now safe to say since she’s over 18). Those of us who watched her in the sitcom “Reba” (where she played sarcastic middle child Kyra Hart) saw her grow in six years from the child she was on “Voyager” into a very attractive young woman… even with her character’s penchant for wearing black, right down to her nails and lipstick. :-)

And, oh, I forgot to say: there’s just something about a redhead… (mmm, mmm, mmm!)

@Harry #1: Bwahahahah!!

But, it is true. She still looks great.

Some years ago, I remember seeing Robert Picardo at a Trek convention here in NJ…he was quite the cool guy, talking about his role as the Doctor.

Um, Scarlett Pommers. WOW. I uhhhhhh, *looks around* man, time really has marched on. And in her case, so much more for the better.

But in the end, Jeri Ryan is always my Number One.

it’s good to see jennifer lien was there. she was one of my favorites! pretty lady!

Jennifer lien was not very friendly at the first convention she attended when voyager was early in its run back in the 90s, but she was sure cute, but wow now she has aged alot.
This is a good lesson about the side effects of Drug use.
Use drugs alot and your body ages faster, and you end up losing work.

I want to add though, that its nice to see she has cleaned herself up, since she has gotten away from L.A. and is now able to have a great family life

Funny how peoplr will scream at each other about all the high minded idealism of the show, and then turn into slobbering trolls when objectifying the women of the show. I feel for Jennifer Lien, because she had the courage to pursue what mattered to her, only to be beaten on because she isn’t “aging well”, which when loosely translated means, “how dare you not live up to level of objectification”.

Sad….and to Jennifer, if you are happy, God speed..

26, 27.

Drugs? So that is why she was released from the show?

28.

I didn’t know we had Alan Alda on this board! hehe

@ 28: well said, phil.

“There were even fart jokes about Tim’s “gaseous anomalies”.”

Could these jokes have provided the inspiration for “Flashback”? :-)

DELETED SCENE FROM “FLASHBACK”:

ENSIGN TUVOK: Ensign Tuvok reporting for duty, sir!

BBBBBBBRRRRRRRTTTTTHHHHLLLLLAAAAAAAPPPPP!

CAPTAIN SULU: Ooohh, myyyy!! Not again, Ensign! (plugs nose, everyone else on bridge is choking and a brown cloud hangs in the air)

ENSIGN TUVOK: I am afraid that my flatulence was due to the chef’s inability to make plo’meek broth accurately, sir.

LIEUTENANT RAND: Captain, I am studying the ‘brown anomaly’. It is unusually strong and potent. It is wreaking havoc with our systems! And contaminating the ship! I highly recommend we stay away from Federation space until we eliminate this problem!

CAPTAIN SULU:Oh my! I was looking forward to hanging out with Ryan Seacrest VIII in San Francisco! Tuvok, how long will we be dealing with this ‘gaseous anomaly’?

ENSIGN TUVOK: I believe that this ‘cloud’ will hang with us for about three years!

CAPTAIN SULU: I should have heeded the warnings from James T. Kirk about the perils of command! —–facepalm, shakes head

One of my favorite Tim Russ episodes was the mind meld episode where he melded with the Betazoid Maquis (I can’t rememeber his name and I don’t feel like looking it up on Memory Alpha). I remember they had to disable his ability to control his emotions for a few minutes. Boy, was he creepy. I mean they kind of creepy where you felt he was going to reach through the TV and rip you in two. I remember him saying “lower the forcefield.” I was tempted to yell at the TV, don’t do it. I always thought Tim Russ was a little to stiff as Tuvok, and this was one of the few times we got to see him open up, even if he reminded me of Charles Manson.

#33 – Ensign Lon Suter – played wonderfully by Brad Dorif. He was also the voice of Chucky the killer doll, he was Wormtongue in LOTR, he was the doctor in Deadwood, and many other great roles.

At one time I shopped at the same supermarket that Brad Dourif did. I know that because I happened to be nearby when he used his supermarket loyalty card and the cashier mentioned his name while thanking him for shopping there. (They really shouldn’t do that.)

Besides, he looked very similar to his appearance in that VOY episode. He was quite good in that episode.

26. THX-1228 – August 10, 2010

WHAT THE FOOK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DRUGS ARE GREAT!!!

Voyager panels are always fun. Thanks for the report.

28.

1. Humans aren’t logical; they are creatures of passion.
2. Star Trek indulged in lots of so-called “objectification” (think short, short miniskirts and ample bosoms on TOS).
3. The answer to the paradox you exposed in your rant lies within the TOS episode, “The Enemy Within”.

MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm –Jeri Ryan, still friggin’ HOT! I still want her!!!!

Oh, and apparently whoever posted this article spelled Scarlett Pomers name wrong, repeatedly.

Holy cow! Scarlett Pomers (NOT PomMers – I’ve looked it up) looks… GORGEOUS!

Seeing Jeri Ryan was great but she had more security around her than a president does.

We were told that during the Photo Ops, no one was to be admitted to the pavillion in a mask or heavy make up. Same went for her autograph in anothe pavillion down the hallway. Each place had 4 security people staning around looking down at iphones with photos of 3 stalkers. They only let about 20 people in the pavillion at a time as they called the numbers off for autographs.

But it was worth it to see her there after all this time. On stage she was fantastic the way she handled herself and the crowd. I hope she makes it back more often. She really enjoyed being there and it showed, she is a true person.

I guess I can understand the security. The man who stalked her a few years ago was the first person to ever be convicted of cyberstalking. I hope she was nice to everyone considering how much they charged for her autograph, photo and Q&A.

I don’t have a problem with the fact that Jennifer put on weight or she’s changed. Who hasn’t in the years since Voyager started. But she looked like she just didn’t care what she looked like. She just needed to wear something that complimented her body type. There’s nothing wrong with her face or her body in my opinion. Jennifer is in her 30s. But her outfit made her look older than Jeri whos in her 40s. If she is so shy, why does she do these conventions? The whole point is to meet and talk to the fans. She looks like she would rather be any place else. Why didn’t Jeri do the reunion panel? That would have been fun. Better yet, A Women of Voyager Reunion with Kate, Roxann, Jennifer and Jeri. Sounds like they don’t get along well enough to do that.

#34–Thanks for the info. I’m kind of ashamed of myself, I’m usually better about my Star Trek trivia, I was drawing a blank. Dourif did do a good job and he looked especially deadly with the black eyes.

I also remember Dourif in the Exorcist III. Not an exceptional movie by any means, but he gave a good performance as the Gemini killer. His voice is well suited to that type of role and the facial expressions he gives work well with those types of characters.

Brad Dourif was also in David Lynch’s “Dune,” as Piter De Vries. In fact, “Dune” was something of a Trek “pre-reunion,” as it also starred Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard, duh!) as Gurney Halleck, Dean Stockwell (Colonel Grat in the ENT episode “Detained”) as Doctor Yueh, and Virginia Madsen (Kellin in the VOY episode “Unforgettable”) as Princess Irulan.

Also had Richard Jordan (who was great in Logans Run as Francis 7) as duncan idaho, wish his part was bigger….

I still much prefer Lynchs dune to the syfy movies version….even tho Lynch has recently said he wasnt right for Dune, I still think it was an incredible looking and main problem was cramming too much story into too little time….thus character development suffered and plot became confusing for those who didnt already know dune…

Where was Roxann dawson and Kate Mulgrew?

2 of my faves from the cast.

I still remember Tim Russ from the ill conceived journey to the center of the earth,lol. He is a great director though, and i think he got better as the seasons went on in voyager. But if you see the acting he did in the pilot opposite of the Bujold Janeway it was pretty bad.

41. Lt. Bailey & 42. Voyager Fan

Are you sure that’s the reason, and not because Jeri is almost the sole reason we have “O” in the white house?

Voyager was an awesome show and I was over the moon to see the cast at Vegas. Jeri Ryan is damned fine too! Listening to them talk and interact you can see how the personalities of each of the actors filter through in to the characters that they played. Great experience.

Yeah. I could just imagine. Lucky you, Kevin.