Ending months of speculation, J.J. Abrams announced the first major casting in the director's hush-hush re-energizing of the Star Trek movie franchise by tapping Zachary Quinto to play Spock, the hyper-logical science stud with the pointy ears and Vulcan death grip. In case the name doesn't register on your tricorder, the 29-year-old actor plays Sylar, the serial killer who eats superpowered brains on Heroes.
Maybe Quinto can get some pointers from his pointy-eared predecessor, seeing how they'll soon be seeing a lot of each other. As it turns out, Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, will also be in Abrams' movie, which is set to begin filming in November and is due Christmas 2008. Creative details are still under wraps, but Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof (Lost) confirm that Nimoy will be playing the role of... Spock. While we can only guess what this means for the story — framing device? time travel? — here's what we know for certain: Abrams is still searching for his Captain Kirk; Quinto will go MIA during a chunk of the upcoming season to film Star Trek (the logistics were hammered out between Lindelof and Heroes creator Tim Kring, who are old friends); and Nimoy has advised the new Spock to brace himself for scads of ear jokes. The three Trekkers sat down for an exclusive conversation with EW following the casting announcement last week at Comic-Con in San Diego.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: J.J., what were you looking for when you were casting Spock?
J.J. ABRAMS: The same thing you're looking for when you want to get married. You just have to know. You can't intellectualize this. It just has to feel right on every level. And I have to tell you, I want to marry Zachary Quinto.
EW: Wow. How does your wife feel about this?
ABRAMS: Katie's not going to be happy. Or very happy. I don't know. But the truth is this: Zachary possesses a thoughtfulness, a gravity, and a complexity that made me and the other producers know he was the right guy. More importantly, we needed to know: Is he a good guy? We didn't want to get into this with someone we really couldn't imagine [spending] a lot of time with. I talked to my friend Greg Grunberg, who apparently is on a show called Heroes, and he said that Zachary is a spectacular guy. And when I met Mr. Nimoy, I felt a respect that had nothing to do with the appreciation I have for his work. I just admired him. I could see where the character came from. And I could tell he would have a kinship with Zachary. Seeing them together for the first time today, I got chills. It was always impossible imagining they could share the same physical space, and there they were together.
EW: Leonard, when you first heard they were making a new Star Trek film — that they were ''rebooting'' the franchise with a new cast — how did you feel? Skeptical? Angry? Relieved?
LEONARD NIMOY: None of those. I've been away from Star Trek for a number of years. The first thing I heard was that J.J. Abrams was doing this. I have a lot of respect for him, so I thought, ''This is something to consider.'' Then the script came along — that was the second major step. And then J.J. sent me some footage of Zach. I looked at him, and I'll tell you exactly what I said to J.J.: ''He looks exactly right.'' What's more, he has an interior life, which is vital to the character. With all of those elements in place, I'm very comfortable with this new Star Trek.
EW: With this casting, Leonard, you're officially ceding this role to a new actor. How do you feel about this?
NIMOY: Strange. It is strange...but very comforting. I feel like the character is being put in very, very good hands.
EW: Leonard, have you seen Zach in Heroes?
NIMOY: I've seen some footage. Scary.
EW: How do you feel about having the guy who plays a brain-eating serial killer filling the shoes of Spock?
NIMOY: It's going to be a change of character. But he's a good character actor, and that's what he's supposed to do.
EW: When did you guys first meet?
NIMOY AND QUINTO: Today.
QUINTO: Although we've crossed paths previously. Heroes was honored by the TV Land Awards in April, and the award was presented by Leonard and Owen Wilson. We crossed paths backstage, and my audition for Spock was the next morning. So I knew it was auspicious sign.
EW: What was it like to meet today?
EW: What was it like to meet today?
QUINTO: Humbling. But to have the blessing and involvement of the man who created this iconic character — and to have him as a guide on this journey — is going to be important and valuable. I feel enormously fortunate.
Read the entire interview here.
4 comments:
The "mutual admiration society" material aside, this all seems pretty cool. I've never seen Heroes but I've heard it's not bad.
I still wish it was Ralph Finnes.
Ooh - Ralph Fiennes would have been good - but maybe too old for what they are looking for.
I was into Heroes in the beggining, but lost it after the winter break.
Heroes comes out on DVD this month and that's how I'm intending to watch it. I heard that there were many breaks between episodes during its original run so I purposely waited for the DVD set.
There was a huge break in December, that's kind of when I lost interest.
I would like to see it all on DVD too.
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