Jeri Ryan Surprises Fans With Age-Defying Figure At 53

Aug 20, 2021

Jeri Ryan is an American actress who is best known for playing the role of Borg drone Seven of Nine on the popular television series "Star Trek: Voyager." She was nominated for a Saturn Award four times for her performance and took home the award in 2001. Now in 2021, Ryan has reprised her most famous role, and fans are impressed by her age-defying figure at age 53.

After "Star Trek: Voyager" finished in 2001, Ryan went on to play Veronica "Ronnie" Cooke on "Boston Public" until 2004. She continued to make guest appearances on TV for many years. Then, from 2011 to 2013, Ryan portrayed the role of Dr. Kate Murphy on the drama series "Body of Proof." In 2016, the actress appeared as Veronica Allen on the Amazon Prime show "Bosch."

Ryan began her acting career in 1991 after she married politician Jack Ryan. During her marriage, Jeri traveled between Los Angeles and Illinois while she began her acting career. The couple had a son in 1994 but were divorced in 1999. In 2007, Ryan remarried to the french chef Christophe Eme. They are still married and share a daughter.

In 2020, Ryan reprised her role as Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Picard." The new show is bringing up nostalgia for fans as they revisit their favorite characters. Many were surprised by how little Ryan's appearance has changed over the past 20 years since "Star Trek: Voyager" ended. Keep reading to hear more about Ryan's thoughts on playing Seven of Nine again and how she keeps up her figure.

Ryan said in an interview that she is surprised to be playing Seven again. "I thought that, 20 years ago, that would be it. I said goodbye to her, I thought we'd told her story and we were done with that. But I love what they've created for her, who she's become, and how resilient she is to everything that she's been through, which I can't tell you about (laughs). Yeah, she's really cool."

This time around, the character has changed from how she was portrayed previously. Ryan explained, "Seven's very different. She's been through a lot of bad, dark stuff in the last twenty years. She's a lot more hardened, more cynical, I think. She's been working independently with a law-keeping group because the galaxy's a mess and she's trying to find some order."

The character changed so much that Ryan initially had a hard time balancing the character's more human elements with how she had been voiced in the past. "Finding Seven's voice was terrifying for me," Ryan told SYFY Wire. "I knew she would be changed, but the voice was what I was hung-up on. I could not hear her voice in it. I really freaked. I was in complete panic mode." She said that she continued to struggle until fellow "Star Trek" actor Jonathan Del Arco helped her find Seven's new voice.

Ryan shared, "Luckily, Jonathan Del Arco — who plays Hugh Borg — had gone through a similar crisis when he'd had to figure out who he was now. He came over to help me with the scenes… and he said, 'What if she makes a conscious choice to be as human as possible to survive?' And that was like a little switch going off."

Most fans have noticed that Ryan still looks the same as she did 20 years ago. This is due to her wonderful health and wellness routine, as well as the character's costume. Ryan shared that her old suit included a corset. She said to Huffington Post:

"Apparently, they don't wear bras and underwear in space. It was a very elaborate undergarment. I have to say that Robert Blackman, the costume designer, is an absolute genius. That costume was a real feat in engineering because the producers had said that they wanted it to look like skin, to be skin-regenerative fabric. For the breast mound, they wanted two individual breasts and they wanted it to hug every curve, like skin."

The star also said that it was a laborious process to put the suit on and take it off. Ryan shared, "It was an event. If I had to go to the bathroom it was a 20-minute production shutdown. It's true, no joke. The whole crew had to know about it, too. '10-1, everybody take five, take 10, take whatever. Jeri has to use the bathroom.' People had to get me dressed and undressed, so I had a full-time dresser. I couldn't do it myself."

Now, on "Star Trek: Picard," Ryan's costume isn't as elaborate but still makes her look incredible. The actress said, "That catsuit was an amazing costume – striking, visually – it was an amazing feat of engineering. It was very of its time. It was the 90s and an entirely different time. This is more appropriate, and totally what this character should be wearing given what she's doing with her life, where she's been, what she's been through, and who she is right now."

Are you a "Star Trek" fan? Have you enjoyed seeing Ryan reprise her previous role? Let us know what you think, and be sure to send this on to your loved ones.