Susanna Thompson Susanna Thompson is an actress who has played four characters in the " Star Trek " universe , most notably that of the Borg Queen in the episodes , , and . She has also played two characters in and portrayed Lenara Kahn in a controversial episode of entitled . Outside of " Star Trek " , she is probably best known for playing the recurring characters of Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann in several episodes of the long - running CBS crime drama " NCIS " ( 2006 - 2007 ) , and Moira Queen in the action - drama series " Arrow " ( 2012 - present ) . Personal life . She was born in 1958 in San Diego , California and earned her bachelor ' s degree in drama at San Diego State University , where her husband also works as a professor . She is also skilled in aikido and stage combat . In a 2002 interview on " The Vicki Gabereau Show " , Thompson said she prefers to be called an actor as opposed to an actress simply because " " it ' s a general term " " that originated from the theater . Career . Television . Thompson made her television debut in the 1991 pilot episode of the long - running series " Silk Stalkings " before going on to guest star in two episodes of " Civil Wars " , the first alongside Norman Large . After her TNG roles in 1992 and 1993 respectively , she went on to appear in " Bodies of Evidence " , " " , " L . A . Law " , and two episodes of " NYPD Blue " . In 1995 , she appeared alongside future " Deep Space Nine " guest star Jason Leland Adams in an episode of " Dr . Quinn , Medicine Woman " before appearances in " Roar " , " Prey " , " Players " , " Michael Hayes " , and " Chicago Hope " . In 1999 , Thompson was cast to play Karen Sammler in the ABC series " Once and Again " ( with Billy Campbell ) , which ran for three seasons before being cancelled . From 2002 onwards , she guest - starred in numerous series , including " The Twilight Zone " , " " , " Still Life " , " Medical Investigation " ( with Neal McDonough , Robert Curtis - Brown , and Larissa Laskin ) , and " Jake In Progress " , before gaining a lead role in the controversial , short - lived NBC series , " The Book of Daniel " . The show was cancelled in 2006 after just eight episodes , which saw Thompson ' s return to guest star roles . She later appeared in the popular CBS shows " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " ( with William Sadler ) and " Without a Trace " ( with Enrique Murciano ) before gaining her recurring role in " NCIS " , in episodes which also featured John Billingsley and Scottie Thompson . More recently , Thompson had a lead role in the 2009 series " Kings " , however this was pulled from NBC ' s schedule after thirteen episodes . Her most recent television role is that of FBI Agent Diana Yates in " Cold Case " ( 2010 ) . As well as her many television credits , Thompson has also starred in numerous television movies , including " Till Murder Do Us Part " ( 1992 ) , " Ambush in Waco : In the Line of Duty " ( 1993 , with Jeri Ryan , Richard McGonagle , and Neal McDonough ) , " In the Line of Duty : The Price of Vengeance " ( 1994 , with Dean Stockwell ) , " Alien Nation : Dark Horizon " ( 1994 ) , " America ' s Dream " ( 1996 , with Timothy Carhart and Tina Lifford ) , " Bermuda Triangle " ( 1996 ) , and " High Noon " , which aired in 2000 . More recently , she portrayed Elaine Tanner in the television mini series " The Gathering " ( 2007 , with John Stoneham , Jr . ) and Moira Queen in The CW ' s television drama " Arrow " ( which featured Roger Cross as a recurring guest star , and Brian Markinson and Jeffrey Nordling in one - time appearances ) . Film . While mostly a television actress , Thompson has also earned roles in a number of feature films . Her credits include the horror film " Slaughter of the Innocents " ( 1993 , with Armin Shimerman ) , the romance " When a Man Loves a Woman " ( 1994 ) , the comedy " Little Giants " ( 1994 , with Courtney Peldon ) , and the drama " Ghosts of Mississippi " ( 1996 , also starring Whoopi Goldberg , Virginia Madsen , Brock Peters , Terry O ' Quinn , Jerry Hardin , Bill Cobbs , Spencer Garrett , Richard Riehle , Jordan Lund , and Thompson ' s " Next Phase " co - star Thomas Kopache ) , as well as " Random Hearts " ( 1999 ) , " Dragonfly " ( 2000 , with Casey Biggs and Lisa Banes ) , " The Ballad of Jack and Rose " ( 2005 ) , and " American Pastime " ( 2007 ) . Working on " Star Trek " . Of preparing for the controversial scene in " Rejoined " , Thompson said in a 2003 interview " " . . . the prep for it was to quickly try to understand what a Trill is and what type of backstory that they may have created that they didn ' t put down on paper for these two people . And then to work with Avery [ Brooks ] , and he was really big on backstory , and just trying to give us a history . First time working on " Star Trek " where a director wanted me to come in prior to the first day you start shooting , so to get Terry [ Farrell ] and I together . I felt very safe with him . " " Of working with Terry Farrell , she further commented " " She was great . She was just so easy and comforting , very focused with me . She had a great sense of humor and she worked really , really hard . This episode was very important to her . And I think she and Avery knew that . I ' m not so sure about her history throughout the series but I know that a lot of her heart went into this episode too . And it was nice that Avery brought us in to meet each other . And I feel like I ' m a pretty comfortable person and she certainly was , and Avery wanted us to have that contact . She was great to work with . I just loved it . " " ( , Season 4 DVD Hidden File 04 ) Thompson initially auditioned for the part of the Borg Queen in , but the role ultimately went to Alice Krige . When Krige became unavailable to shoot for " Voyager " , the producers remembered Thompson and asked her to return to audition for the episode " Dark Frontier . " Of this , Thompson commented " " I thought she created an amazing character for " First Contact " . So I used that sort of as a . . . as a springboard into what I brought into the audition and , er , they cast me ! " " She further went on to say " " I think Alice set the blueprints and . . . so I used her blueprints and the rationale that I put behind it was that perhaps if that one really did , really was destroyed , but maybe sort of genetically there was a strain of her that still exists in the hive , in the collective . And , so I wanted to infuse my queen with her , but also allow the fact that I was going to interpret her slightly different and . . . allow that to be OK . " " However , the costume she had to wear was something she wasn ' t used to ; " " Jeri [ Ryan ] definitely gave me some moral support and some physical support . It was my first experience in the Borg Queen outfit and the contacts and the shoes and the makeup , and those type of hours . I will say that , and Brannon ' s [ Braga ] heard this all before , the first night after my first day of filming , which was , I think , twenty hours , I " cried " myself to sleep . And said I didn ' t care how much money they paid me , I wouldn ' t do it again ! But I came back and I finished out that episode and then indeed I did come back again for " Unimatrix One " " [ sic ] " but I realized what I had learned from " Dark Frontier " was it just needs to be paced . It ' s really not fair for someone to put on contact lenses that have metal in them and expect that their eyes will survive the type of day a shoot day will , you know , ask of you . So , I just told them I really needed to have it paced , and then they gave me a break in between each day of shooting so that helped and , er . . . and they were pretty good at limiting the days , you know the hours , but still they ' re always very long days . But it ' s such a great character that ' s great to be able to work on . " " ( , Season 5 DVD special feature " The Borg Queen Speaks " interview )