TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name

As always, FUCK 👏 RICK 👏 BERMAN 👏

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-voyager-bodysuit-costume-change-why/

Seven of Nine was created by Star Trek: Voyager executive producers Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky; Braga became fascinated with the idea of a Borg character coming aboard the Captain Kathryn Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) starship, but it was producer Rick Berman who suggested they make their creation into "a Borg babe." While Braga's vision of Seven of Nine was "a wild child... a girl raised by wolves" who would inject conflict into the U.S.S. Voyager, the producers agreed with Berman that Seven would also inject some sex appeal into the series […]

Ryan wore the silver suit for a few episodes, but it was retired because of the many issues it caused for the actress. The catsuit, with its corset complete with molded breasts, was so restrictively tight that Ryan had trouble breathing. In fact, nurses with oxygen tanks were present on the set and Ryan passed out four times during production. In addition, not only did the corset prevent Ryan from bending but it took her 20 minutes to go to the bathroom, and production would need to be halted just so the actress could relieve herself.

ETA: My bad, she corrected the article. It was the Borg costume that needed nurses on set with oxygen, it was the catsuits that didn't let her sit or bend and took 20 minutes to get out of to use the restroom. She spent the first year she was on set not hydrating during work hours because she didn't want to halt production to pee. Then she just said fuck it and got out of the suit after every take. She was ok with it though, she appreciated a strong, brilliant woman being portrayed in a sexy way.

http://bbc.adactio.com/cult/st/interviews/ryan/printpage.html

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 rest room or something,. 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. 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. The overt sexiness of the costume, I had no problem with. I have no problem with it, because of the way the character was written. If she was written the way everybody thought she was going to be, when they saw pictures of her initially, then, yeah, I would have had a big problem playing that character. That was not something I had any interest in doing. But she was brilliant. She’s a brilliant character, she was strong, she was a wonderful role model for young women, and I have no problem with it. We have intelligent women in every physical form, in real life, so why shouldn’t we see that depicted on television.