Star Trek: Picard Almost Cast This 12 Monkeys Actress As The Borg Queen
"Star Trek: Picard" shares more than a little DNA with "12 Monkeys." In its third season, the recently ended "Trek" sequel series was captained by showrunner Terry Matalas, who co-created the wild Syfy Channel adaptation of Terry Gilliam's also-wild film. Aside from a shared showrunner, "Star Trek: Picard" was home to several key cast and crew members who worked on both shows – and nearly featured one more.
In a Reddit AMA about the show's third season, user Drewski1138 pointed out several narrative choices in "Picard" that echoed "12 Monkeys," including references to a mysterious red realm, a new drug called "Splinter" (a reference to "12 Monkeys" time travel), and more. "Were there any '12 Monkeys' Easter eggs we might have missed ... Were there any that you were told you couldn't put in?" the user asked Matalas. The answer? No, but there was one Easter egg that never came to pass: the casting of The Borg Queen, who was played by the late, great actress Annie Wersching in "Picard."
Wersching confidently took over the role originated by Alice Krige and continued by Susanna Thompson (Alison Pill also played a version of the character in "Picard"), and she was an amazing Borg Queen. The actress, who passed away this year after privately facing cancer, was no stranger to "Star Trek" herself. Before she played the bifurcated upper half of one of the best "Trek" villains of all time, her very first on-screen role came playing another character in an episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise."
According to Matalas, before Wersching got the Borg Queen role, it almost went to Emily Hampshire, yet another "12 Monkeys" alum. "Fun fact! We almost had Emily Hampshire play the Borg Queen in season 2 but schedules conflicted. But we got the amazing Annie instead," Matalas wrote on Reddit.
12 Monkeys references run wild in Star Trek: Picard
The actress who is perhaps best-known as introverted hotel clerk Stevie on "Schitt's Creek" played math genius Jennifer in "12 Monkeys." As Matalas pointed out on Reddit, several other people who worked on the underrated show did cross over to "Picard," including writer Christopher Monfette (also a co-executive producer on "Picard"), writer-producer Sean Tretta, composer Stephen Barton, editor Drew Nichols, and several cast members.
"Sometimes Easter eggs would pop in without me even realizing," Matalas admitted, but mostly, "You want to surround yourself with the most talented people you know. And I was certainly lucky with 'Monkeys.'" Todd Stashwick is the most recognizable featured player in both shows, appearing as West VII leader Deacon on "12 Monkeys" and grumpy but talented Captain Liam Shaw in "Star Trek: Picard" season 3. Aaron Stanford was almost unrecognizable as Ferengi crime lord Sneed in "Picard," but "12 Monkeys" fans likely recognized him as the show's time-traveling protagonist, James Cole. Cole's pal Jose, AKA actor Kirk Acevedo, also popped up in "Picard" as Sneed's criminal buddy Krinn.
Had Hampshire played the Borg Queen, "Star Trek: Picard" would have featured more than half of the main castmates from "12 Monkeys" at one point or another, but even without her presence, the "Next Generation" reunion show was still a treat for fans of Matalas' prior work. As Comic Book Resources points out, "Picard" often dropped in names that matched up with "12 Monkeys," like Jack Crusher's alias, Cole, and the planet Raritan IV. If our current, twisted timeline allows it, perhaps Matalas will get to make his vision for "Star Trek: Legacy" a reality next — and drop in a whole barrel of "12 Monkeys" references along the way.