First Contact Team Considered Casting Cher As The Borg Queen

Stunt casting can always be really hit or miss — sometimes audiences are excited to see a fun guest star in a surprising role, and sometimes the gimmick ends up feeling, well, gimmicky. Even when it works, like Marlon Brando playing Jor-El in Richard Donner’s “Superman,” it’s frequently a major headache for folks behind-the-scenes. After all, stunt casting involves bringing an actor or star not used to a certain genre or medium into that arena, and actors used to art films and dramas might have a hard time adjusting to the very different requirements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies. This goes double for major franchises, where the actor has to contend not only with the unique challenges of a new genre but also the expectations of the fandoms. Since there are few fandoms as intense in their love or as scrutinizing as “Star Trek,” stunt casting has to be done very, very carefully. 

While making the second “Star Trek: The Next Generation” film, “Star Trek: First Contact,” some people in charge thought it might be a good idea to bring in a huge name to play the main villain, the Borg Queen. Stunt casting for villains was pretty much standard practice in the 1990s, perhaps following in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson in 1989’s “Batman,” so it was definitely a possibility that they could get a major star. Instead of just aiming for a major movie star, however, they thought about bringing in a bonafide legend: Cher. 

That’s right, one of the most controversial and terrifying “Star Trek” villains might have been played by the Oscar-winning music legend, though things ended up going another direction. In an oral history celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary for The Hollywood Reporter, makeup artist Scott Wheeler shared the details:

“That character would not have worked without Alice (Krige) playing the role. They were talking about Cher playing the role. And no offense to Cher, she’s had some great moments, but it would have been so gimmicky and I doubt she would have been willing to sit through the 4 1/2-hour makeup we were putting on Alice.”

Cher might have a lot of patience with complicated makeup, wigs, and costumes from her musical performances, but 4 1/2 hours of makeup each day is a lot for someone who isn’t prepared for it. And while Cher is a great actor in her own right (Oscar winner, remember?), Krige was absolutely perfect in the role and brought exactly the weird mix of detached deity and scary sexuality that it needed. Wheeler is absolutely right and “First Contact” and its Borg Queen would have never worked without Krige’s pitch-perfect performance. 

“Star Trek: First Contact” is pretty different from the “Star Trek” movies starring the original crew of the Enterprise, but it works great as an outing for the “Next Generation” crew. It gives Data (Brent Spiner) a chance to finally really be more human than human and gives him a much more interesting romance than whatever happened with Tasha Yar in season 1, pairing him with the hivemind-controlling Borg Queen. She offers him the ability to feel what humans feel, and it’s compelling stuff. And even though the whole idea of a Borg Queen seemed in opposition to the idea of the Borg, who think as a single entity, Krige made the character an unforgettable part of the “Star Trek” canon. 

Though the Borg Queen was played by Susanna Thompson on episodes of “Star Trek: Voyager” and Annie Wersching in season 2 of “Star Trek: Picard,” Krige returned to the role for season 3 of “Picard,” bringing the character full circle and giving fans some closure. Resistance may be futile, but at least Krige makes it entertaining.