Star Trek Picard: The dual nature of Annie Wersching

Annie Wersching is The Borg Queen on Star Trek: Picard.

Annie Wersching was born on March 28, 1977, in ST. Lewis Missouri. She has appeared in many popular TV shows such as General Hospital, 24, and Bosch. She has had small roles in several films and even provided her likeness and voice to “The Last of Us” video game, but for the purposes of this article, and indeed to fully appreciate the career of Wersching, we will travel back to her first-ever role on television, which just so happens to be the role most applicable to this piece.

After her graduation from Millikin University in 1999, she would achieve her first-ever television role as a guest star on Star Trek Enterprise, in season 1 episode 20 “Oasis.”

Her TV career would blossom with her becoming a regular cast member on shows like 24 and Bosch, but 20 years later she would make her return to where it all began, acting in the same franchise, but as a very different character, playing the Borg Queen in Picard’s season 2.

Wersching’s character of Liana and that of the Borg Queen make for a rather interesting dichotomy between her two roles in the Star Trek universe.

As Liana, the daughter of ship’s chief engineer, Ezral, she seems shy and rather timid, but with a flirtatious undercurrent, she engages with Trip Tucker as he works to repair the ship’s engines. Later, aboard the Enterprise, Liana shows a child-like fascination in the ship and its crew, as well as a growing romantic interest in Tucker, all the while dodging questions regarding her own people for she would rather ask Tucker about other planets he has visited.

Eventually, Liana tells Tucker the truth, that being that everyone in the colony aboard the stranded ship are holograms other than her and her father. At the conclusion of the episode, we learn what happened to the original crew of the ship and why Ezral created the hologram crew so that Liana would not grow up completely isolated.

In her first-ever role on TV, Wersching portrayed an extremely compelling young woman keenly interested in the worlds outside of the starship she has grown up. She beautifully displays a shy timid nature with it at no point coming across as weak or ignorant of the world around her.

She quietly assumes other aspects of the role, such as Liana’s genuine curiosity and obvious romantic interest in Trip Tucker. In summation, I was surprised to learn this was Wersching’s first-ever television role.

As another actress to portray the Borg Queen, Annie Wersching makes the role her own.

Wersching was not the first actress to play The Borg Queen. That honor belongs to Alice Krige in Star Trek: First Contact.

This particular Trekkie is unable to comment on her physical appearance (not being able to see her), but the mere presence that she brings to the screen as the Borg Queen is different from almost any other villain in Trek.

Wersching’s Borg Queen is a truly scary and an intimidating manifestation of the character. From the moment she beams aboard the Stargazer, she is ruthless, maniacal, and carries out all her actions with a feminine toughness and power that is worthy of a queen.

I might even go as far as to say that she goes about her business with a certain amount of sex appeal which was also present in her predecessor Alice Krige. Wersching brings the Borg Queen to life in a performance worthy of the character, the lore that surrounds her, and the love by the fans of the actress who came before her.

Her performance as the Borg Queen, while obviously is vastly different from that of Liana from Enterprise, is no less superb, as 20 years later, the actress returns to cement herself in Trek lore as one of the many actors and actresses to play multiple roles in the Trek universe.

Having enjoyed Wersching as the shy beautiful Liana and greatly enjoying her turn as the ruthless Borg Queen, we wish Annie Wersching an extremely happy birthday and invite her to return to the Star Trek universe any time she pleases.