Jennifer Lien's star was on the rise before she was cut from Star Trek: Voyager at the beginning of the series' fourth season. Not only had she been a soap opera actress, appearing as Hannah Moore in Another World, but she voiced Elle on the Men in Black series. While she had some good scenes in Voyager, nothing could really be classified as a stand out unless you count her time in "Warlord." It wasn't until she was cast as Davina in American History X that her true talent came out.
Gone was the meek and quiet Kes from Voyager. In her place was the wife of a paroled neo-Nazi, Derek, a woman who, despite the abuse she suffered, stood up to him and tried to give back as good as she got. In fact, there wasn't even the slighest hint of Kes in Lien's portrayal as Davina.
Avery Brooks, on the other hand, was already a star by the time he was cast as Mr. Sweeney in the same Oscar-nomated movie. We'd already gotten a chance to see him make the screen come alive, but in this movie, playing the principal of Venice Beach High and trying to save Danny [Edward Furlong] from his older brother, Derek [Edward Norton], Brooks commandeered the screen.
One conversation Sweeney had with Danny at the high school was so compelling it demands a rewatch. Sweeney knew Danny needed intervention, that he needed to be protected from his older brother, and his words, "or you are a ghost at Venice Beach High," rings with the tones of Captain Sisko but on a different level.
American History X is a difficult movie to watch, but it brought out a different side to Lien which showed that she could have gone further as an actress. And for Avery Brooks, it just revealed what we knew all along. His talent was unprecedented and makes us all wish we could see him onscreen again.