When it comes to the best Star Trek characters, a fair few might think of Seven of Nine in the Star Trek series Voyager. And though we’re sure Jeri Ryan loved playing the role on the TV series, we’re not exactly surprised that there was one thing that put a damper on getting into character each day: the costume.
In an interview with the BBC, Ryan spoke about how it was to have to put on that uncomfortable costume each and every day.
“Initially, I would stay in the costume much longer than I ended up staying in it, because it takes about twenty minutes to get into. Someone has to dress me and undress me. It’s a production break if I have to get out of the costume to use the restroom or something,” Ryan explained.
“It grinds to a halt unless they can shoot something without me, which typically they can’t, if it’s a scene that I’m in. So, in the interest of being a team player, the first season, I would not take rest room breaks, I just didn’t drink anything on set, which is not the healthiest thing to do.”
“As time progressed, I finally learned that you just heed the call of nature and take breaks when you need to take breaks,” she continued. “And finally it got to the point where, they would just let me get out of it after every take. When I wasn’t in the shot, I didn’t just wear it to wear it, because it was very uncomfortable. It looks very simple, it looks just like a leotard, but it really was a feat of engineering on Bob Blackman’s part to design this costume.”
“There’s a corset, one-piece undergarment. It’s constricting and it’s not comfortable. You can’t really bend, you can’t really sit comfortably in it. So I would get out of it between takes.”
“I don’t know that I would leap at the opportunity to wear another really, really uncomfortable costume that’s not normal clothing, but if it’s a great character, of course, I’d be willing to do that. You do whatever it takes to play a wonderful, rich role as an actor.”
So, did Ryan at least get to keep the catsuit from hell as a memento? Apparently not.
“They didn’t let me keep the cat suit,” she said. “I would have loved to have burned it. Not so much the cat suit as the corset that was under it. But, no, they didn’t let me have that.”
Trekkies, we’ve got you covered. Check out our guides on the best Star Trek spaceships, the Star Trek timeline, and see our list of the Star Trek movies, ranked.