Cher was considered for the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact found an amazing Borg Queen when it cast Alice Krige.

Star Trek: First Contact is, by far, the most successful Star Trek movie that involved The Next Generation cast. It made an astonishing 146 million against a 45 million budget. The film had everything it needed to succeed—an excellent plot, a director who knew what he was doing (Jonathan Frakes), and, along with the original cast, a guest-starring cast that could not have been more perfect, especially Alice Krige as the Borg Queen.

Before final casting had occurred on the movie, though, other names were being bandied about for the Borg Queen, one of which, according to Heroes and Icons, was Cher, who’d previously taken home an Academy Award for her role in the 1988 film Moonstruck. Needless to say, it was understandable why she was on the radar of the casting director for First Contact.

Star Trek: First Contact would not have been the same without Alice Krige.

Although Cher was considered for the part, according to The Hollywood Reporter, First Contact make-up artist Scott Wheeler said the character would not have worked without Alice playing the role.

"That character would not have worked without Alice 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."

Wheeler went on to describe the moment everyone knew the Borg Queen had been born.

"When the lenses went in, Alice looked in the mirror and you could see how the look all of a sudden informed her about the character. She changed her posture and her presence. She turned around — and when she turned around, I kid you not, everyone gasped and stepped back. It was that moment when we went, “OK. It works.” The Borg Queen was born."

While Cher would have made for an interesting choice for Captain Picard’s nemesis, Krige was not as well-known and really took a bite out of the role. So much so that she has returned to it several times, most recently, in the Star Trek: Lower Decks’ episode, “I, Excretus.” Sometimes, things click, and in this instance, that’s exactly what happened. I can’t imagine anyone else as the Borg Queen in First Contact. Can you?