Jeri Ryan Prefers Playing Seven On ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ Confirms Season 2 Production Delay

The second season of Star Trek: Picard was set to begin production today, but it has been delayed again.

Picard S2 shooting “soon”

In December we reported that Picard actress Jeri Ryan revealed February 1st as the new start date for Star Trek: Picard season two. Yesterday, again on Twitter in response to a fan inquiry, Ryan revealed that shooting would not start today after all, but will begin “soon.”

The first season of Picard wrapped in August 2019 with the second season originally scheduled to start in June 2020, but the COVID pandemic shut down all productions. Season two was then rescheduled to start in January, and then “pushed” to February 1st. The complications of producing television during the COVID pandemic may be the reason for the additional delay: Picard star Sir Patrick Stewart got his first vaccination shot on January 22nd, so waiting until after he has his second one could factor into the delay decision.

Ryan prefers playing Seven on Picard

Jeri Ryan had a recurring role on Star Trek: Picard in the first season and is returning for season two. She has spoken openly about enjoying reprising her Star Trek: Voyager role of Seven of Nine two decades later. On Friday in response to another fan inquiry, she emphasized she prefers playing Seven on Picard.

Jeri Ryan famously joined Star Trek: Voyager in the fourth season, with her character of Seven of Nine seen as a way to boost the ratings. However, this introduction did cause some tension on the set. Executive producer Rick Berman admits in Star Trek: The Fifty-Year Mission “Hiring Jeri Ryan caused some problems with Kate Mulgrew,” adding that “a little antagonism existed right through to the end of the show.” But Ryan’s preference on Picard may be more than just behind-the-scenes tension. On the official Picard podcast last year the actress said she considers the role on Voyager “a gift,” but noted there were also issues, “the hardest part of playing Seven back in the Voyager years was because she couldn’t really express emotion and I am very emotional and very expressive!”

Kate Mulgrew as Janeway and Jeri Ryan as Seven in Voyager “Year of Hell, Part 1” 

In addition to Ryan, season two of Picard is expected to include the return of other Star Trek stars, but as of now the only confirmed character is Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg. Other possibilities that have been hinted at include Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher, LeVar Burton as Geordi LaForge, and John de Lancie as Q. Marina Sirtis (Troi) and Jonathan Frakes (Riker)—who both appeared in season one—have expressed interest in returning as well. It has also been hinted at that Brent Spiner could return as Dr. Alton Inigo Soong, a new character introduced in season one.

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine in “Broken Pieces”


Keep up with everything Star Trek: Picard at TrekMovie.com.

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If for no other reason, I’m sure she’s having more fun not wearing that stupid catsuit.

And I don’t think Kate Mulgrew made her feel very welcome…

Yea, Mulgrew was such a jerk to her.

in Mulgrew’s defence, ryan got a lot of episodes centered on her and was dating one of the producers, those two things taken together……. yeaaaaaaah

So what? Mulgrew had a lot of episodes centered on her too and people can date who they want. All this proves is that Mulgrew is a queen bee and that women can be catty if they work with each other.

“Women can be catty if they work with each other” yikes, unpopular opinion indeed. And men can’t? See: Shatner and Takei

Mulgrew was also very proud of Voyager and Janeway presenting a positive example for women, rather than portraying women as just a background sex symbol in a revealing outfit, a’la Uhura or Deanna Troi. And then along comes Seven of Nine in a skin-tight suit.

In Jeri Ryan/Seven of Nine’s defense, she was far more than a background character. Not that that excuses the skin-tight cat suit, but the writers at least made her a consistently interesting and compelling character.

Ryan wasn’t dating Braga at first. If anything, Mulgrew clammed up once that happened.

That was later on that she started dating the producer. You are confused on the timeframe.

Love the ass-kicking version of Seven! Really, they could give her her own spin-off at this point. :-)

I’m sure they’ve talked about it.

Yeah at the very least a Fenris Rangers comic arc for IDW or a novel.

Definitely give her a show over Space Hitler.

For real!

IMO she had a better character and better dialogue on Voyager, which informed a more interesting performance from Ryan. But besides the politics of how to answer a question like that involving a show that’s currently employing you, everything from Kate Mulgrew’s attitude, to the hours, to the media spotlight, to the costume nightmares was a toll for her back then, so it’s not a surprising answer.

I actually prefer her character much more on Picard, plus she’s grown as an actor since then and it shows in her outstanding performance.

She’s an incredibly skilled actress, we’ve always known that, but I certainly disagree with you about the character. She’s far less interesting, nuanced and unique now IMO. Being tightly wound and in control, not quite able to be fully human, subtle emotion as her baseline… wonderful stuff, it made her riveting and every little human breakthrough felt like a triumph. Now she’s evolved into a bitter broken character (on a show filled with broken bitter characters) who only vaguely resembles Seven, mostly because she’s being played by Jeri Ryan. Ryan even admitted she struggled mightily to find the character’s voice at first, and never because she forgot how to play her, but because she was so different.

And that’s why I find the new version much more interesting than a “Voyager 2.0 7of9” would have been, and her struggles have paid off bid time with a mesmerizing acting performance.

Challenges bring out the best in actors, and it shows up here in spades.

Same thing for Stewart playing Picard. I do think fans that expected him to be a “TNG 2.0 Picard” would be disappointed, but I didn’t want something incremental — I love the new challenges they are giving these characters.

Sounds pretty much spot on Ian.

Playing someone very different from you for years must be tough, but it’s a testament to her craft.

Mary Wiseman has commented that she ended up with the ebullient character that’s more like Mary Chieffo, while Chieffo ended up with the brooding L’Rell.

I certainly love her in Picard, but nothing beats the original Seven from Voyager! And yes, she had much better dialogue on Voyager for sure, she sounded closer to a Borg at the time. Now she’s much more human.

I know a lot of people, especially on this board, didn’t like how she evolved in Picard, but I really like the character now too. She’s still Seven, just less wound up.

I certainly still like her, I just don’t like how she’s become a bit less unique, and there are times I struggle to still see Seven. Badass freedom fighter isn’t even that different for Star Trek, characters broken by tragedy are typical for Picard, and the way they thought they had to brutally kill Icheb to do it was a bit much.

But of course she did have to evolve. This just seemed drastic to me.

I hear you! I know a lot of fans don’t like the position the show put her in but I thought it was suitable for her. And I was just glad it wasn’t something directly Borg related which I originally thought they would make her as. But I agree she’s not as unique as before which is why she was so popular from the start and why the original Seven will always be my favorite.

But I can understand why Ryan would prefer this one because she can bring in more personality to the character now being closer to human, not in a catsuit (but I didn’t have a huge issue with that lol) and waaaaay less hours. Shooting 5-10 episodes a season is probably child’s play compared to the gruelling 20+ she did on Voyager. ;)

But I also hated what they did to Icheb as well. I think it was that episode that turned a lot of fans off to the show because people got a lot more cynical about it overall from that point on.

It’s funny because I think that ended up being one of the better episodes of the season. I think what happened to Icheb HAD to happen to affect her like it did. Anything less and her transformation would not have held much weight to the audience.

Yeah have to agree with you about Icheb. I know they wanted to emotionally impact Seven and brutally killing off a character close to her explained her actions – but the writers IMO need to take better care of those who the audience have connected to. Denise Crosby wanted out of the show, so that was fine, but I remember when the writers killed off Picard’s nephew and his family in Generations. They only appeared in just one episode, Family, but the hopeful optimism in that episode’s last scene is destroyed when you know he will be killed off in just a few short years!
I remember reading somewhere that Michael Chabon was surprised and caught off guard by the backlash to Icheb’s untimely and brutal demise. I hope the writer’s room learned something from the audience reaction.

Yeah Icheb was a really popular character. I understand they wanted to kill him to give Seven some kind of motivation but how it was done was really bad. And that episode was the one that seem to be a downward trend and when people started to hate the show. That’s not the only reason but part of it.

Well, one of our kids still refuses to watch the back half of S1 of Picard after Icheb being killed off like that.

They brought in Seven to draw in all those Voyager fans who came into the franchise through that series, and managed to turn many of them off in that opening moment.

Kurtzman should have vetoed that one – it was bad for the brand.

Frankly, I was really disappointed that a writer of Chabon’s caliber resorted to a quick & dirty trope of fridging the loved one of a major characters to accelerate a major character development.

So help me, I really have no patience with showrunners lecturing audiences on how it was necessary for some secondary character to be killed of horribly so that a main character could advance.

I, for one, did not have an issue with what they did to her. Although I do think they could have dialed down the “badass” part a bit. But with all that has happened to her, especially to Icheb, I can totally see how she got to where she is.

Yeah…. I would have been stunned if she did say Voyager was more fun. It would be a dis to her current job. Therefore, I would take that answer with many grains of salt. Perhaps we might get a more honest answer a decade after she is through with Picard.

I can’t wait for this show to get rolling again. I really enjoyed the first season. It had its problems, but it’s a solid story. I’m rewatching now on bluray and it works better not having to wait week-to-week, in my opinion

Yea, it was an epic first season. Can’t wait for Season 2!

Seven needs her own show! This character is a no-brainer to spin off when the Picard show is done.

Given the long COVID delay, and given Stewarts’ age, I am wondering if they might consider filming Season 2 and 3 back-to-back, assuming the writers have used all this additional time efficiently?

I’ve seen rumors to that effect. Rumors are rumors, of course, but it’s possible that I’ve missed something more convincing?

With all the spinoffs, you would think they would make one about Vulcan.
A show set on Vulcan and entirely entirely about Vulcan and Vulcans.
It seems only logical.

I’d love to see a GOOD show about Vulcans, but so many writers seem to want to tear Vulcans down and make them prejudiced jerks. Whoever came up with the idea of “logic extremists” should never write again. :-)

I actually don’t mind the idea of them in Discovery, but the name is ridiculous. And I have a feeling we will see them again in SNW.

I agree completely. Enterprise king of cheapened the Vulcans and they’ve never been as admirable as they use to be since then.

Shame on you, Rick Berman.

The usual advice for writing is “Write what you know,” and what humans know is humans. But Vulcans aren’t supposed to be human, so writers really need to imagine how a different species with a different culture would live. I’m surprised that doing that seems to be beyond so many of them.

This is part of why we need actual science fiction writers on Star Trek, and not just people who know TV.

Imagination is the key here, I feel like if you don’t have imagination then you shouldn’t write for a science-fiction show. There are many cop, medical, law shows out there. In fact I actually started a thread about this topic on facebook. My suggestion was maybe they could create an anthology show where every year we look at a new alien species from Trek. One year it can be about the vulcans, next year about Tholians etc….Of course for this to work you need creative and imaginative writers and producers which I hardly believe the current bunch are.

I don’t have an issue with that sort of thing at all as well. In fact, I thought it was good what they did on Enterprise. This was 100 years earlier. A lot can happen to entire societies in 100 years. And even later it stands to reason that there very well could be pockets of “logic extremists” out there. All these things build their world a little bit more. It works.

I kind of see the Logic Extremists as the remnants of the Vulcan High Command that was ousted on Enterprise. I guess you could say they are still around in TNG. Robin Curtis’ character in the Gambit episodes could be affiliated with them. They could of morphed into the Vulcan Isolationist Movement by the 24th Century.

Well, not that logical if you want drama in your space drama. I mean, Vulcans, or any Star Trek species for that matter, work best when they have someone at odds with their philosophy.

A show full of Spocks or a show full of McCoys wouldn’t work as well. Put those opposing philosophies together, then you have something. Something called Star Trek. ;-)

It’s like Dorn’s pitch. Sounds interesting, but at the end of the day the franchise is about humans.

Yeah, I don’t like the idea of a show full of Vulcans anymore than a show full of Klingons and I generally like Vulcan stories on all the shows. But there can still be too much of something. Section 31 proved that on Discovery.

True. Trek has always mainly about “the human condition.” I just think it would be a nice change of pace to see something centered on Klingons. Would be nice to give them a little more depth. We got a tiny bit on Enterprise when that doctor was complaining about how the Warrior Caste treats the others. It was the first time we saw something that we knew had to exist. That there was more to the Klingon culture than the way of the warrior. Their society just couldn’t exist if there wasn’t.

“Spock, you want to know something? Everyone is human.”

Spock was insulted by that, but Kirk was right. Everyone in Star Trek is human. There are no true aliens, only walking metaphors for human philosophies and foibles.

It would be cool if they did a miniseries set during the Time of Awakening about how Surak brought logic to Vulcan. That way, a lot of the characters would still be able to show emotion for most of the story.

It could also be cool to see the reunification of the Romulans and Vulcans and the beginnings of Nivar.

Kid you not, I’m literally watching the episode, The Awakening as I type this. ;)

Not sure if I want that as an entire show though.

But I do think your second idea would be cool, at least as a mini-series. I would love to see how Romulans and Vulcans finally reunited on Ni’var. But I have a feeling there will be a comic or novel based on it in the future.

I agree that it wouldn’t work as a running series, but I would enjoy a miniseries or TV movie.

Both ideas are something I would check out. But honestly am not clamoring to see it on screen. I kinda like the idea of The Time of Awakening to be more vague. I fear that if it were given more details it would sorta start sucking or at least not make sense.

Honestly I was thinking that back in the ’80’s. When TVH came out I really thought the movie could have been WAY better had they gone back in time on Vulcan because it was the Vulcans who wiped out some made up animal. Then the humans would have been the ones who would have to conform to fit in with Vulcans. That would have been a nice twist and perhaps supply us with some actual amusing moments and still they would get their message across. Only without the use of the sledgehammer.

With Ethan Peck as Spock, I would watch that!!!!!! 😛

With all the spin-offs happening in amazed there isn’t one called Vulcan.
A series set on Vulcan and about Vulcans.
The lack of Vulcans on TNG was disappointing.

I’m thinking only centering on Vulcan, it would be a very dry, drab show to watch. Now to focus on the Klingon Empire, that would be rowdy!

I don’t think any Vulcans besides Spock, Saavik, Valeris and Sarek have really been all that compelling. Tuvok was lucky to have been played by Tim Russ, but having a full Vulcan in the mix was so limiting. He got a few dryly comic lines in now and again but couldn’t compare to the dynamic range Spock was allowed, and Russ could only ever really show off his acting chops in episodes where Tuvok’s emotional control was taken away.

And as for T’Pol… she didn’t have the benefit of a strong actress playing her, but even on paper she only got mildly bearable once they made her a drug addict, which is irritating to have to type. I just don’t find full-Vulcans to have a lot of day to day dramatic mileage.

All JMHO of course.

T’Pol has become one of my favorite Vulcans (and characters) easily. Just love her! It is amazing how divisive the character seems to be though, especially on this board. Always loved Tuvok as well. He was probably the most Vulcan out of all the major characters. I didn’t think I was going to like Discovery’s Sarek that much at first but he really grew on me too although still not nearly as great as Mark Leonard.

The only Vulcan I never really liked was Valeris. Don’t hate her, but yeah.

I’m just curious, what do you think of the new Spock? I like him too but not at the level of Nimoy but much better than Quinto IMO.

He’s not bad, I certainly look forward to seeing him divorced from all the messy character retcons Discovery threw at him and tried to wrap up in the season 2 finale. But at the same time, I’m not in love with prequel Trek ideas or how Kurtzman interprets these characters, so I do wonder what we’re going to get.

One huge thing Ethan Peck has going for him over Quinto is his voice – it’s deep and resonant like Nimoy’s.

Believe me I’m certainly not in love with all the things they did with Discovery it’s first two seasons either lol. Reason why I’m happy someone came to their senses and moved it 930 years into the future. Should have been done on day one! It would’ve saved them a lot of grief. ;)

As far as Peck and Spock though, I do have to admit, I thought it was going to be a disaster. I knew fans were going to pick the guy apart the second he appeared on screen. I almost felt bad for the actor lol. But to my surprise instead the opposite happened and people fell in love with him right away. So happy to be proven wrong for a change.

And yes I do think a big difference between him and Quinto is he has the voice to play Spock. I don’t mind Quinto but he never really came off like Spock to me. And probably due to all the crying. ;D

Dr Selar had the potential not only to become one of the best Vulcan but one of the best Star Trek characters ever.

Suzie Plakson is certainly one of Trek’s most memorable guest stars. She’d likely have done well.

But you never know – Fionnula Flanagan is a treasure who played Data’s mother beautifully, but made for an unmemorable Vulcan due to a forgettable script.

I was disappointed with the lack of legacy aliens on TNG, myself. But I do understand why they did it. Same reason they set the show 80 years later. So they could be their own thing.

What is up with actors disliking what first gave them a major break? How can she prefer Picard over Voyager when she has had a handful of episodes on Picard, compared to 104 on Voyager. The current Seven is psychopathic.

It sounds to me like it’s less that you take issue with an actress preferring one role over the other and more that you simply do not like a character’s present depiction. Which is fine, obviously. But why should Jeri Ryan’s decision boil down to whether or not you or anybody else likes the way her character was represented back in the day? It’s entirely possible she simply enjoys working alongside STP’s cast and crew more overall.

She didn’t say she hated playing Seven on Voyager, it’s just probably easier to play her now. I don’t think she said anything surprising. She’s not in a tight catsuit or playing the character 10 months a year anymore. The fact it is a handful of episodes is probably why she likes playing her now because now she has the freedom to play other roles as well. On Voyager, Seven was her life like I imagine all the main characters working on the shows. And others mentioned it, it didn’t sound like a lot of fun working with Mulgrew at the time who originally resented the character. They made up now, but it doesn’t change her experience.

I don’t think she’s talking just from a character viewpoint alone.

That is probably all true, but I think even more important, what actor would say what he does now is less interesting than what he did before?
Even Patrick Stewart said:”You know all of those years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, all those years of playing kings and princes and speaking black verse, and bestriding the landscape of England was nothing but a preparation for sitting in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise.”

Yeah that’s a good point too. Many actors, directors, writers, etc usually point to whatever they are working on right now as the best thing ever and want to make the current thing as important as possible. It’s just good PR. Yeah who knows how she really feel although I take her word for it. Either way none of it matters. She has stated many times over Seven and Voyager made her career and she loves Seven as a character. And I am just super happy to see her playing the role again which I wasn’t sure I would see again. That’s all that really matters.

Take it easy. Consider this… If you have worked multiple jobs that involve some sort of PR as part of the job description, obviously you would say your current employer is your favorite no matter what the reality is. Anything less would cause your employers to at best be unhappy with you.

The corset and skin-tight leotards she wore on Voyager were likely also a factor for why she prefers Picard.

You guys managed to write a lot of article out of four words worth of tweets!

Seven was a much more interesting character on Voyager. Now she is another ‘babe with a gun’. No depth to the character at all.

Wow, I posted a comment yesterday, complimenting Ryan’s figure (with polite language),which was promptly removed by TPTB. Has political correctness really reached these proportions? Sheesh!

Sadly it has. We are no longer allowed to admire the female form, it seems.

Danpaine, I could say that figures, but bad puns aren’t my style. :-)

There is more to women than the female form as ma Ryan and many many others have proven.

While Picard was definitely uneven in places, I am forever thankful – and sometimes still in disbelief – that we actually got this version of Seven. Yes she’s different, but that’s literally the point. It’s one of those rare cases where if she did act the same as the last time we saw her, it’d just feel wrong and like she never grew or developed through all the years that have passed.

She was better in Voyager. The Picard series has been a bitter disappointment. The writing isn’t very good. It’s better than Discovery though.

Agreed, her character was written better in Voyager. Picard S1 was watchable for me, much more than Discovery, which I’m done with. But I don’t see any re-watch value in Picard, it was just ‘ok.’ As you said, the writing just isn’t good. I’ll watch S2 at some point down the line, but I’m in no hurry.

I actually thought third season of Discovery was better written than Picard at least. Not saying a lot I know, but….

If reports are true. Patrick Stewart recently received his first COVID19 vaccine dose, thus wait 3-4 weeks after for the 2nd dose + 2 weeks for full antibody production in host for optimal immunity effect (yet still at risk). I can see another 4 week delay in addition, waiting for some restrictions to be lifted in California to ease onsite filming production. I would think the producers want to protect everyone and especially an 80+ year Stewart by just waiting a bit to have some of the production staff obtain vaccination over the coming months.