Dwayne Johnson Left Jeri Ryan A Hilarious Gift On The Star Trek: Voyager Set

In the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Tsunkatse" (February 9, 2000), Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Tuvok (Tim Russ) are studying a nebula when they are kidnapped by a shady conman named Penk (Jeffrey Combs). Tuvok is injured in the kidnapping, and Penk refuses to offer him any medical treatment unless Seven does him a favor. It seems Penk is the mastermind behind a local mixed martial arts ring, and he wants Seven to get in the ring and fight his Champion. Seven reluctantly agrees, knowing her Borg implants make her a formidable fighter. 

Seven is led into the ring and sees the Champion for the first time. In a fun bit of stunt casting, the Champion is played by Dwayne Johnson, back when he was still being credited as The Rock. Johnson, a pro wrestler, performed his own fighting, while Ryan relied on a talented stunt double. To make sure WWE fans were getting their money's worth, Johnson also performed The Rock Bottom, one of his signature wrestling moves at the time. Johnson was playing an alien, but the "Star Trek" makeup designers were careful to rely on the traditional "Star Trek weird forehead" philosophy of alien design, allowing his face to remain largely unobstructed. Not that The Rock's massive torso wouldn't have been recognized. 

Johnson isn't the "final boss" of the episode, however, and Seven has her climactic fight with another character, a Hirogan hunter played by J.G. Herzler. His appearance was merely a fun little wink to wrestling fans. Indeed, "Tsunkatse" is a pretty silly episode all around, falling back on well-worn gladiatorial-arena-fight tropes without shame. 

In 2020, Ryan spoke with Big Issue Magazine about shooting "Tsunkatse" with The Rock, and the special gift he left for her: a signed photo with the Rock's signature catchphrase. Ryan, however, didn't know who the Rock was at the time, so she was baffled by his message about something he was cooking. 

When asked if she knew she was going to be fighting with a famous pro wrestler, Ryan said: "No, I had no idea." She said that she merely talked to him as she would any other itinerant co-star, and recalled that they got along well. She seemed to assume that Johnson was just an aspiring actor who hadn't had many gigs yet. She said: 

"It was his first or maybe second acting job ever. I didn't know who he was. I didn't watch wrestling. I wasn't aware of his character of The Rock. [...] So, the first time I met him was a fight rehearsal, and he came in, and he was just a super sweet, unassuming gentle guy named Dwayne. We're talking about our kids and he's just lovely. We had a nice time working together."

After filming had wrapped, though, Johnson figured he'd leave a gift for his co-star, which took the form of a signed 8x10 glossy headshot. Because Ryan didn't know who The Rock was, she didn't understand what he meant when he signed the picture with his famous in-ring catchphrase. Which, out of context, would indeed be a little unusual. Luckily, some of Ryan's on-set co-workers knew exactly what it meant and were happy to explain. Ryan said: 

"When I got to my trailer he had left a signed picture in character as The Rock, and it said 'The Rock smells what you're cooking.' Like, what?! It's the weirdest thing I'd ever seen somebody write. Luckily others on set could explain his famous catchphrase. The makeup guys in the prosthetic trailer were like, 'Dude, it's The Rock, that's his thing! He smells what you're cooking!'" 

The following year, Johnson made his feature film debut, playing Mathayus the Scorpion King in "The Mummy Returns." Johnson went on to become one of the highest-paid movie stars of all time. Ryan, meanwhile, became a "Star Trek" mainstay, reprising her role of Seven of Nine in the 2020 series "Star Trek: Picard." They both could smell each other's cooking.