Jeri Ryan portrays
Seven of Nine, a human who was assimilated by the Borg. When Captain Janeway severs Seven of Nine's link to the Borg Collective, she is forced to remain on the
U.S.S. Voyager and adapt to human society. Now, as a crew member of the
U.S.S. Voyager, she must try to conform to Starfleet rules and regulations. "Seven of Nine is confused by the complexities of human interaction," Ryan explains. "Torn between her past as a Borg and her future as a human, Janeway plays an integral role in helping Seven of Nine adapt to her new reality."
Ryan, a self-admitted Army brat, grew up near bases ranging from Germany to Hawaii. She was born in Munich, Germany and after re-locating to bases in Kansas, Maryland, Georgia and Texas, her family settled down in Paducah, Kentucky when she was 11. After graduating from Northwestern University in Chicago as a National Merit Scholar with a B.S. in theater, she came to Los Angeles.
As a former series regular on NBC's Dark Skies, Ryan is no stranger to the world of science fiction. She portrayed Juliet, a mysterious government agent who helped in a secret program against hostile extraterrestrials. Prior to landing that role, she guest-starred on several television series including Matlock, Who's the Boss?, Murder, She Wrote, Reasonable Doubts and Diagnosis Murder. Additionally, Ryan appeared in two episodes of Melrose Place, as a lesbian soap opera actress who endured a staged marriage to a gay bridegroom.
Ryan's television experience also includes roles in a variety of telefilms including "Coed Call Girl," "Nightmare in Columbia County," NBC's "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco" and UPN's The Sentinel. Her feature film credits include the independent films "The Last Man" and "Men Cry Bullets." Jeri was also seen in the Wes Craven film "Dracula 2000."
In 2001 when Voyager wrapped its final season, television producer David E. Kelley decided he wanted Ryan in his Fox drama Boston Public, and created a new character specifically for her. So without missing a beat she stepped into the role of "Ronnie Cooke," a wealthy lawyer who becomes a high school teacher, starting in the fall of 2001. It was quite a challenge going from the staid Seven of Nine to the emotional Ronnie. "It's sort of one end of the spectrum to the other," she said at a press tour. But, "This is why you become an actor, to play vastly different characters. And it's really exciting for me."
She soon moved on from one Boston show to another. When Boston Public concluded in 2004, she took recurring roles on Two and a Half Men and The O.C., and then she got to act alongside William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois in two episodes of Boston Legal which concluded its season 2 in 2006. Immediately after that she landed a principal role in CBS' Shark, playing "Jessica Devlin," an L.A. district attorney and personal nemesis to James Woods' character. Shark was the most-watched new drama of 2006-07, and one of the few new shows to survive into a second season.
While promoting Shark before its first season in 2006, Ryan announced her engagement to Christophe Eme, a French chef with whom she runs the restaurant Ortolan in West Hollywood. Ryan described the proposal thusly: "He brought me home, covered my eyes and took me up to the bedroom. He had candles lit everywhere and champagne on ice. He had gotten this huge canvas and painted it with words that said in French 'And you come with me forever.'" Eme also put a photograph of themselves at the bottom of the canvas with the words "Toi et Moi" ("You and Me").
The couple held their nuptials in the Loire Valley of France on June 16, 2007, near Eme's hometown. The wedding was held at a 15th-century castle known as Chateau de Noirieux near Angers. The bride wore a Vera Wang gown, and 120 guests attended the ceremony, including Ryan's son Alex (who was 12 at the time) from her first marriage to investment banker and politician Jack Ryan.
Jeri and Christophe are currently expecting a child, due in March 2008.