Jennifer Lien
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Jennifer Anne Lien (born August 24, 1974) is an American former actress known for playing the alien Kes on the television series '' Star Trek: Voyager.''


Early life

Lien was born August 24, 1974, in Illinois, the youngest of three children, and joined the
Illinois Theatre Center The Illinois Theatre Center (ITC) was a theater in the southern Chicago suburb of Park Forest which began operation in 1976. In 1999, ITC moved to a state-of-the-art facility In a 1992 interview, Lien said: "My childhood was wild because I was very uncomfortable living where I lived (the South Side of Chicago). It was very industrial – if you didn’t fit in you got your ass kicked. I was just my own person, and I adopted this really tough skin because I had to if I wanted to survive. A lot of my friends were into drugs, and I saw a lot of them die." In a 1993 interview, Lien said:


Career

Lien's first television appearance was in a bubble gum commercial playing twins. Her first appearance on a television series was as a music academy student in a 1990 episode of '' Brewster Place'', starring Oprah Winfrey. The same year she provided her voice for the dubbed English language version of '' Baby Blood'', a French horror film. Lien moved to New York in 1991 after she was cast as Hannah Moore on the
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
'' Another World''. She attended and graduated from the Professional Children's School while working on this series. In a 1992 interview, Lien said: "A couple of years ago, I was trying to get an audition for a baseball movie, so I said that I could play baseball. We'd always played a lot while I was growing up, like in the backyard. But when I showed up at the audition, I was faced with these Goliath-like, testosterone women who could ''really'' play. I did survive the two days of training and auditions, but I basically pulled every muscle in my body!" In 1993, Lien was cast as Roanne in '' Phenom'', a sitcom starring
Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...
. She also participated in the recording of Adam Sandler's comedy album ''They're All Gonna Laugh At You'' in which she played the part of the Valedictorian on the track "The Buffoon And The Valedictorian", as well as one of the daughters on the track "Oh, mom..." In 1994, Lien was cast as Kes on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. Her character is an Ocampan, a species in the '' Star Trek'' universe that lives for only eight to nine years, who joins the starship's crew after it is stranded 70,000 light-years from Earth. In the same year, Lien voiced the character Valerie Fox in the pilot episode of ''
The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
''. Richard Lutz wrote, "The medical personnel in ''Star Trek'' best embody the humane values embedded in this franchise; the most notable of which is Kes, thanks in large part to Jennifer Lien whose remarkable performance brought to life a beautiful child-like being (Ocampa) whose short lifespan and humanity reminds us that the most important element in a life worth living is a loving connection with our fellow human beings." The showrunners reluctantly terminated Lien's contract as a member of ''Voyager's'' main cast due to unresolved personal issues that negatively impacted her performances. She was replaced by a new character,
Seven of Nine Seven of Nine (born Annika Hansen) is a fictional character introduced in the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager''. Portrayed by Jeri Ryan, she is a former Borg drone who joins the crew of the Federation starship ' ...
, played by
Jeri Ryan Jeri Lynn Ryan (née Zimmermann; born February 22, 1968) is an American actress who played the former Borg drone Seven of Nine in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', for which she was nominated four times for a Saturn Award and won in 2001. She has reprised ...
. In 2000, Lien returned as a guest actor for a season six episode titled " Fury". After ''Voyager'', Lien appeared in the movie ''
American History X ''American History X'' is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. The film stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong as two brothers from Los Angeles who are involved in the white power skinhead and n ...
'' as
Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...
's younger sister. In 1998, she appeared in ''
SLC Punk! ''SLCPunk!'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film centers around Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate and punk living in Salt Lake City during the mid-1980s. ''SLCPunk!'' was chosen as the open ...
'' playing Sandy, the wild girlfriend of
Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in '' Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in '' Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Pu ...
's character. She also voiced Agent "L" for the first three seasons of '' Men in Black: The Animated Series'' (1997–1999) and the first seven episodes of the 2000 season.


Conventions

Lien has attended
science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...
s in relation to her role as Kes when she was working on ''Voyager'' and after her film career ended.


Personal life

Lien is married to writer and filmmaker Phil Hwang; their son, Jonah, was born on September 5, 2002. Upon his birth, Lien retired from acting and voice-over work but was credited as executive producer on her husband's 2008 film ''Geek Mythology''. In August 2010, Lien said she intended to work as a nutritionist after completing her studies. In a 2000 interview, Lien said that she liked every kind of music, and that she played the trombone, which she started in high school. She said she supported charities helping people with AIDS and had worked with Camp 40, of which she said: "I want to be doing what I can for people who need it." Between 2015 and 2018, Lien was arrested and charged with a variety of offenses, several of which were later dropped. The court eventually ordered her to undergo mental health treatment.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lien, Jennifer Actresses from Illinois American child actresses American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Living people People from Palos Heights, Illinois 1974 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses