Hot for Teacher

Image credit: Boston Public: Carin Baer/FOX

All About

Jeri Ryan

Get the latest photos, news, and more

''Public'' has been criticized for portraying the school as a blackboard jungle. Do you think today's classrooms are really so dangerous?
It's a much scarier world than it was just 10, 15 years ago. The teachers I've spoken to all really love the show and how we portray the dedication and perseverance they must have to survive. It sounds really hokey, but it truly is an honor to play a teacher, because teaching is probably the single most undervalued, underpaid profession in our society, and the sacrifices these people have to make are staggering.

So what's this we hear about you getting cut out of your film debut for giggling?
It was on ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles,'' and I had never seen a movie set, much less understand how they ran. Nobody explained to me that you can't actually laugh during the funny bits without screwing up the take. Instead they just cut me out of the movie. I was devastated, because I was 18 years old and thought this was my big break. Of course, it was just one scene with maybe one line.

You were the third runner-up in the 1990 Miss America pageant. Did you put Vaseline on your teeth?
There are three things pageant women do. There's the Vaseline thing, which I didn't do. There's duct taping your boobs, which I never did because I'm not into pain. The third thing is using athletic spray adhesive on your butt to keep your swimsuit in place. I did do that. So one out of three ain't bad. Miss America was never a goal of mine, honestly. It paid for my senior year at Northwestern, which is why I entered.

How glad are you to be wearing human clothing on ''Boston Public'' after ''Star Trek: Voyager''?
Oh, man, that Seven of Nine outfit was just brutal. It's funny because it looks so simple, but the corset underneath and the way the outer garment had to hook onto the inner garment to hold it in place made it extremely uncomfortable. And they had to make an announcement every time I needed to pee, because someone had to get me dressed and undressed and it took about 20 minutes. My first year I was completely dehydrated. I was the new kid and I felt guilty about having production breaks, so I just wouldn't drink water. I quickly discovered that isn't the healthiest way to go about things.

Your boyfriend is ''Voyager'' producer Brannon Braga. Do you win every fight by reminding him he made you wear that rotten costume for four years?
He was just co-executive producer on that one, so I can't really blame him for that costume. He's off the hook, dammit. I get no mileage there.