20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek: First Contact
8. The Borg Queen Exists For One Major Reason
The Borg Queen actually didn't exist in earlier versions of the film's script, with the leader of the Borg being instead a central computer.
Yet it was eventually decided that both the movie's characters and the audience needed a more tangible villain to latch onto, as would make the central conflict more dramatic and cinematic.
And so, the Borg Queen came into existence, kickstarting a lengthy and challenging casting process whereby Jonathan Frakes attempted to find an actress who could be both intimidating and slyly sexy in the role.
He certainly found that in the slinky Alice Krige, though she absolutely suffered for her art, receiving blisters from the tight costume and wearing painful silver contact lenses she could only keep in her eyes for four minutes at a time.