Jeri Ryan

Jeri Lynn Ryan (born February 22, 1968) is an American actress best known for playing the ex-Borg Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.Ryan was hired for a role in Planes, Trains & Automobiles during the summer prior to her freshman year at Northwestern, but was cut out of the final version due to her (in her own words) "ruining every scene I was in" by laughing. After college, she pursued acting full-time in Los Angeles. She made her acting debut in Who's the Boss? and followed that with guest-starring roles in TV shows like Melrose Place, Matlock, and The Sentinel as well as TV movies such as Co-Ed Call Girl. Her big break came when she won a regular role as an extraterrestrial investigator named Juliet Stuart on the TV show Dark Skies. The show was cancelled after one season, but the role had drawn the attention of the science-fiction community.

In 1997, Ryan was cast to play Seven of Nine, a Borg drone freed from the collective on the science fiction series Star Trek: Voyager. The role drew her instant fame and her tight-fitting uniform made her a sex symbol among some science-fiction fans. It also drew criticism from some fans who felt that character was created to add sexuality to the show, and who felt that a disproportionate number of episodes focused on her character to the exclusion of others. Co-star Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Janeway, reportedly was upset at the addition of a sex icon and Seven of Nine. However, her appearance also coincided with higher ratings and more positive critical reviews of Voyager, which were partly attributed to better screenwriting and partly due to her character being both intrinsically interesting and well-acted. Seven of Nine appeared on seven TV Guide covers in the USA.

After Voyager ended in 2001, Ryan joined the cast of Boston Public in the role of Ronnie Cooke, a frustrated lawyer who quits to become a high school teacher. The show's producer, David E. Kelley, wrote the role specifically for her. The show was cancelled in 2004.

Ryan has recently appeared in films, such as Down With Love. Ryan played Lydia in the independent film Men Cry Bullets, with a rave review for her performance from Roger Ebert. Jeri then starred in her first film lead in the indie comedy "The Last Man", playing the last woman on Earth, released by Lion's Gate.

She also had a recurring role on The O.C. (as Charlotte Morgan) in the autumn of 2005 and guest-starred on David E. Kelley's Boston Legal in 2006.

Ryan stars in the new CBS legal drama Shark; she plays Los Angeles District Attorney Jessica Devlin, opposite James Woods.

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