‘MacGyver’ Casts Jeri Ryan as Mac’s [Spoiler] For Multi-Episode Arc
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Beam Seven of Nine up… to MacGyver.
TV Insider has learned exclusively that Jeri Ryan, currently reviving her aforementioned iconic Star Trek: Voyager character on CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Picard, is joining CBS’ action drama MacGyver in a season-long arc during its current fourth season.
Ryan will step into the role of Gwendolyn Hayes, who (surprise!) has very close ties to none other than titular hero, Angus MacGyver (Lucas Till). Mac knows a lot of things — like saving the world with the gelled sodium polyacrylate found in disposable diapers, as he did in the Season 4 premiere — but the fact that he has an aunt comes as a big shock for him.
Executive producer Peter Lenkov explains, “Gwendolyn Hayes is Mac’s aunt, his beloved mother’s sister, and an ex-DXS agent who was presumed dead. Mac never knew she existed but Gwen was always keeping track of her nephew’s life in the shadows. She is now the presumed head of Codex, the organization that the Phoenix has been hunting this season.”
Needless to say, Gwen’s appearance and her familial connection to Mac will have a ripple effect on both Angus as well as with his team at the Phoenix Foundation.
“[Gwen] reminds him of his mother, and her ideals and science have merit to them. But the way she goes about it goes against everything Mac thinks and is,” Lenkov says. “Gwen’s new relationship with Mac will pit his desire for family, his faith in science, and his loyalties to his friends against each other and will make our hero rethink everything. Because of her, we will see Mac like we’ve never seen him before.”
Lenkov has been a huge fan of Ryan for some time and says, “I’ve been trying to find a hole in her schedule to get the opportunity to work with her. I think she brought a real gravitas to the role. Gwen’s motivations aren’t black-and-white. Her endgame is a noble one (in her mind). So, like Mac, we’re conflicted by her actions. That’s not an easy role to play. There’s so many layers to the character that Jeri delivered on… and then some. Layers that include brains, humanity, warmth, and just the right touch of evil.”
Ryan will first appear on the series in the March 27 episode.
MacGyver, Fridays, 8/7c, CBS.
