Jennifer Lien Jennifer Ann Lien is the actress best known for playing Kes the Ocampa during the first three seasons of . She also appeared as Kes in the first two episodes of season four , and , although she was credited as a guest star as her departure from the series was already assured . However , she did reprise the role for the sixth season episode . Early career . Lien was born in Chicago , Illinois , the youngest of three children . At the age of 13 , she joined the Illinois Theatre Center , where she performed in productions of William Shakespeare ' s " The Tempest " and " Othello " , among others . At 16 , she decided to pursue an acting career in New York , ultimately landing the role of Hannah Moore on the soap opera " Another World " during the 1991 - 92 television season ( the character returned to the show in 1998 , but was played by Blakley Braniff ) . During the 1993 - 94 season , Lien was a regular on a sitcom called " Phenom " . In 1993 , she appeared on Adam Sandler ' s debut comedy album , " They ' re All Gonna Laugh at You " , on two tracks . In 1994 , she lent her voice to Jay Sherman ' s girlfriend in the pilot episode of " The Critic " ( also featuring the voices of Gerrit Graham and Charles Napier ) before being cast for the role of Kes on " Star Trek : Voyager " . Although most of her time was spent on " Voyager " , she continued to supply her voice to various animated shows , including " Duckman " ( with " Voyager " guest star Jason Alexander voicing the title role ) , " The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest " ( with John de Lancie ) , and " Superman " ( along with Joanna Cassidy ) . Departure . In " " , Stephen Edward Poe states that in 1997 , when producers were ironing out the details of the introduction of Seven of Nine , they had already lined up Garrett Wang ( Harry Kim ) to take the bullet and leave in order to free up enough budget for a new main actor . Then that year , Wang was chosen by " People Magazine " as one of the " 50 Most Beautiful People in the World . " Suddenly Wang was in , and Lien was out . In an article appearing in , Lien recalled , " " I was on for a few seasons , then they asked me to leave . They decided not to renew my contract . I didn ' t ask why I was not being renewed , I just said ' okay ' and moved on . " " Regarding the actress ' departure , Rick Berman noted , " " I ' m a big fan of Jennifer Lien , as we all are . It had nothing to do with her . " " ( ) Additionally , Berman said , " " It had nothing to do with Jennifer Lien ; she ' s a lovely actress . " " ( " Braving the Unknown : Season Four " , VOY Season 4 DVD ) However , Jeri Taylor admitted , " " These things are never cut - and - dried . It ' s never one thing . I think Jennifer had a wish to move on , and that coincided with some thinking here . There has not been any rancor or unpleasantness about it [ . . . ] I know she will go on to a wonderful career [ . . . ] and I will miss her very much . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 29 , No . 6 / 7 , p . 113 ) Taylor also said , " " It was a mutual feeling [ . . . ] [ Jennifer Lien ] just felt her character wasn ' t going anywhere , so it was a very amicable and mutual decision . " " ( , pp . 4 & 13 ) Immediately after Kate Mulgrew filmed her scenes of the first four episodes of " Star Trek : Voyager " s fourth season , she remarked , " " She ' ll probably be a big movie star , you know ? I ' m sure it ' s happened for a reason . " " Mulgrew also speculated , " " It may be good [ for the series ] in the long run . I trust my producers on this level , because they are good people , and they ' re looking at the welfare of the show . " " ( ) However , Kate Mulgrew also initially struggled with emotionally accepting the fact that Lien was leaving . ( " Braving the Unknown : Season Five " , VOY Season 5 DVD special features , et al . ) Shortly after she completed her work on the third season , Mulgrew admitted , " " I ' m very , very sorry to see Jennifer go . She was a part of the family on the show , but I ' ve been in this business a long time , and " nothing " surprises me . " " ( ) Following the production of the first four Season 4 installments , Mulgrew commented that the loss of Lien " " was a great sorrow to me on many levels , foremost among them being the fracturing of an ensemble cast that was extremely special to me . " " Moments later , Mulgrew remarked , " " At the moment , it ' s hurtful and difficult to adjust to . I cared a lot about Jennifer , and I think everybody else did too , and as clichéd as it may sound , we were very much like a family . So the loss of that girl has been heartfelt , keenly felt , by all of us [ . . . ] This is a sorrow for me [ . . . ] Her loss shook me up . It " really " shook me up . " " ( ) In a retrospective interview , Mulgrew remembered , " " [ I was ] sad about Jen , and I ' ll tell you exactly why – ' cause I think she ' s a hell of an actress . [ I was ] sorry to see her go , sorry to see her go " the way " she went , knowing that she was a wonderful actress . That was tough . " " ( Voyager " Time Capsule : Kes " , VOY Season 4 DVD , 2004 ) Other cast members found Jennifer Lien ' s departure hard to deal with , too . At about the end of the fourth season , B ' Elanna Torres actress Roxann Dawson remarked , " " I would be lying if I said it was easy . We ' re a very close cast . We love Jennifer , and she ' s very talented . I think that it was easy to see , just looking at her role and the scripts , that they had written her into a corner that they couldn ' t get out of . It ' s hard when something like that happens . We all feel awkward about it , and we miss her terribly . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 83 ) During the fifth season , Dawson reflected , " " It was hard losing Jennifer . It was something that I guess just happened , and I think Jennifer needed to move on as well . But we did miss her . It was a difficult transition to lose one of our family members . " " ( ) Likewise , Chakotay actor Robert Beltran commented , " " I was sorry that Jenny left , because we were a family . We were very close . [ But ] they weren ' t doing much with her anyway . Except for the Kes - driven episodes , she was pretty much a glorified extra , as we all become when we ' re not intrinsically involved in the episode . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 83 ) At the second annual Fantasticon convention – in August , 1997 – guests Robert Beltran , Neelix actor Ethan Phillips and Kim actor Garrett Wang remarked on Lien ' s departure , comments that included Wang saying , " " We ' re sad to see her go , but the decision was made on the basis of Paramount and the writers on the show . " " ( ) Robert Picardo was yet another cast member saddened by Lien ' s departure . ( ) In summation of the cast ' s reaction to the news that Lien was leaving , Brannon Braga offered , " " I will say that there were definitely uncomfortable feelings among the cast , which is totally understandable . We let Jennifer Lien go , and brought someone new on [ namely , Jeri Ryan ] , and that ' s bound to cause some unsettled feelings . There were rough spots here and there , but it ' s nothing worth noting . Everyone was very professional . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 30 , No . 9 / 10 , p . 78 ) Aftermath . Several costumes worn by Lien in " Voyager " were later sold off on the web including her " Tieran " costume from the third season episode at the Profiles in History auction . After leaving " Voyager " in , Lien began lending her voice to Agent Elle ( L ) on " Men in Black : The Series " , leaving the show in 2000 . Lien made her film debut in the cult 1998 comedy " SLC Punk ! " , which co - starred guest actor Christopher McDonald . That same year , she was seen in the acclaimed " American History X " , a drama which also starred s Avery Brooks . Lien also voiced the character of Adult Vitani in the direct - to - video Disney sequel " The Lion King II : Simba ' s Pride " . Andy Dick , Michelle Horn , and Jason Marsden also supplied voices to this movie , which was released in 1998 . Since then , Lien has appeared in the 2000 film " Rubbernecking " ( starring Corbin Bernsen ) and was a producer of the short - lived animated science fiction series " Battle Force : Andromeda " . Lien also lent her voice to this series , as did fellow " Star Trek " veterans Clancy Brown , Kurtwood Smith , and David Warner . Lien is married to director Phil Hwang . Together they produced " Geek Mythology " , a direct - to - video comedy film in 2008 . They have a son , Jonah , born 5 September 2002 . Legal problems . Lien has been arrested at least four times near her home in Harriman , Tennesee . On July 3 , 2012 she was arrested for domestic violence . In April 2015 she was arrested for evading arrest , resisting arrest , reckless endangerment , and aggravated assault after attempting to flee police . She was arrested again on September 3 , 2015 outside her home , for exposing her breasts and buttocks to young children during an altercation in which she confronted some children that were in her front yard . When arrested , she threatened the officers that arrested her and had to be physically carried to the patrol car . After paying restitution to the Harriman Police Department for damaging a patrol car and staying out of trouble for more than six months , all charges against Lien were dismissed in November , 2016 . However , she was arrested again for driving under alcoholic influence in December , 2017 , and then twice for driving with a revoked license in March , 2018 .