Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz Wants In On Star Trek Sequel

The film isn’t yet in pre-production, but there is already a big name actress who wants in on the Star Trek sequel. In an interview promoting her new film, Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz (Constant Gardener, The Mummy 1 & 2) expressed her love JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek movie and her desire to appear in the next Trek.

 

Weisz wants to Trek

In an interview with Collider promoting the Roman historical drama Agora, the subject moved on to if the actress would be interested in returning to the world of big effects movies, and she had one in mind. Here is an excerpt:

Weisz: Yeah. You know what? I loved Star Trek. I mean, I couldn’t even believe how great, I meant to write (Star Trek director) J.J. Abrams a letter. I haven’t written it yet, though. I just thought- Didn’t you think it was tremendous? … And I’m not a Trekkie. I mean, (Weisz’s longtime fiancé) Darren (Aronofsky) took me thinking, he says, “You’re gonna hate this.” Cause I didn’t grow up watching Star Trek. I mean, I, Dr. Spock, I mean, I vaguely know. But, I loved it. I absolutely—I thought the acting was just phenomenal. Really, really great. So, yeah! No, I’m totally open to doing a big, big blockbuster.

What about the sequel? is Weisz interested, the answer is yes:

Weisz: Me? I would LOVE to be in the Star Trek sequel! Yeah! I would love to! I better write that letter to J.J. ….I was really, wildly impressed by that. I thought it was an incredible piece of work. Yeah. It just had such a freshness and the acting was, the acting blew me away.

In the run up to the Star Trek movie a number of actors actively perused roles in the film, including Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban. Surely the Abrams team can find use for an Oscar-winning actress, who looks good in a catsuit (see below).

Go to Collider for more from Weisz and to listen to the audio.


Rachel Weisz wants to be in the Trek sequel – if they bring in the Borg, this photo shows she is ready

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Nurse Chapel?

I LOVE Rachel! She’s a great (and gorgeous) actress…..hopefully JJ will fit her in the movie!

“Doctor” Spock?
As a trekkie a moviegoer, I’d love to see Weisz in the sequel, but somebody needs to educate the woman.

Nice curves.

She’s certainly a talented actress, so why not if there’s a role?

I agree with Rach. If she’s willing to commit to more than one film, Nurse Chapel would be a tremendous fit for her.

But only if she wears the catsuit.

How about a ‘revamped’ Number One? One wonders what happened to the ‘original’ crew of the Enterprise in the movie’s altered timeline.

I can’t imagine an Oscar winner like Rachel Wiesz signing on to be the ship’s nurse… unless she’s Doctor Chapel now (as the character was in ST-TMP). Or better yet, something altogether new for her would be best.

She’d make an elegant Vulcan.

Carol Marcus?
Or failing that I wonder how she would feel about an all over green body paint? Luckily I’ve got a brush, and will be more than happy to apply as many coats as seems necessary.

Oooooh… please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeease. She’s has wonderful screen presence. Weisz would be a *great* addition to the cast.

But maybe she could also play a villain. :)

@3, you mean you need to be educated? Do you not remember Doctor Spock?

Resistance is Futile! I just love to listen to the girl talk, let alone gawk at her. Hire her JJ – there’s a role for her somewhere, and don’t mess up that beautiful face and bod by your fraking lens flares!!!!

Oscar cred is always good for Trek.

Oh, and so are good-looking women. ;-)

Excellent. Can anyone say ‘Borg Queen’? The whole point of using a Hollywood A-lister is to show him or her off. There’s no point hiring someone so famous and successful if you then hide them behind lots of makeup. So the prime candidates are Khan and The Borg Queen. The Borg Queen has the advantage of being quite fresh; after all, how many (important) villains in film or TV are female? How many female villains have there been in sci-fi?

Let’s make the sequel a darker, grittier film than the original. The Borg would be perfect. The Klingons, in contrast, with their appearance and infamous made-up language, are not nearly so scary; although, they could be… The Borg are relentless, emotionless, killing (or, rather, assimilating) machines. The great thing about the Borg is that they are closest of all to non-Trek sci-fi: they look like the terminator meets cybermen meets generic sci-fi robot. The great thing about this is that the audience will connect with them more than with, say, the Klingons.

The story is, as always, all-important. Get the rights to remake, with a few alterations, ‘Best of Both Worlds’ – if the persons involved don’t already have these rights. Add a little hint of ‘First Contact’ and some originality. And then JJ and co could create a sci-fi epic that would really resonate with the mainstream audience.

Resistance is futile!

There’s no way she’d play Nurse Chappell: the part is far too small. If she wants (as she will) serious screen-time, then she has to play a villain. Even No: one wouldn’t offer enough screen-time. Moreover, wouldn’t she just get in the way of Kirk-Spock-McCoy? These are the main characters, after all. And these characters need to be explored, not just introduced, in the sequel: we need the Triumvirate to form. Furthermore, no: one was in no small part a statement of progressive equality; but to put her in the crew so quickly and in this role, which is ultimately supporting, would be self-defeating or at least dubious.

So the best part for her to play, for all manner of reasons, is the Borg Queen. There’s a potential problem, though, in that she’s heavily rumoured to be playing the Bond Villain; so, might this be overkill for her and the screen were she to play both, presumably in close succession?

PS: I like the suggestion of Carol Marcus. This could be good, too: I’ve wanted Kirk to get a proper love interest in the films. But this role is unlikely to be as meaty as the lead Villain. I bet she’d prefer to be the villain than the damsel in distress or the standard love interest. Besides, perhaps Kirk has to do some maturing before he starts that kind of thing…

The Borg are so TNG.

The ‘logical’ choice… is… T’Pring

No Borg, no Khan, and definitely not “darker & grittier than the original.” They need to make a Star Trek film that’s true to the ideals of Trek, and not another rehash of “madman with a doomsday weapons bent on revenge/galactic domination.” I loved Trek XI as much as the next guy, but the sequel is J.J. & Co.’s chance to really go boldly (sorry… not really), and not where practically one out of every two Trek films have gone before. Trek XII needs to do two things: introduce the Klingons (so we can build to the Klingon/Romulan alliance in Trek XII, and the kickass Federation/Klingon/Romulan naval battle that I know Abrams has in him), and adapt ” For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky.” But that’s just my thought…

Oh yeah, can she say “I am for you, D’amato”

and I’m sure Heidi Montag loved Star Trek as well, and will be making an audition tape for JJ!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IYtLmvkHEk

The Borg are Boring. IMO, of course. They are a one-dimensional villain who have overstayed their welcome in the Trek Universe. I think there is still a lot more to learn about Klingons and Romulans.

#15: “The ‘logical’ choice… is… T’Pring”

Hear, hear!

Given the diminshed Vulcan population, there could be a drive for re-population. T’Pring and Spock are already engaged. She might insist that he uphold his promise. Brings up issues of what happens to Pon Far without the planet Vulcan. And Zoe mentioned something about wanting to kick some serious butt…

– Harry

The suggestion for Marcus isn’t bad but gorgeous as she is, wouldn’t she be a bit too old? Kirk’s in his mid to late 20s in the new movies and Weisz will be over forty when the sequel comes out.

I think an original will probably work for her best, given how young the original characters would be in this new continuity.

As much as I love the Borg, I do NOT want to see them in any Trek movie at least for a while. The Federation does not meet the Borg until 100 years after the days of Kirk and Spock (in the prime universe).

And I think it would be too big a shake up from the prime universe (as if destroying Vulcan was not enough) to make feasible.

A story with Klingons and/or Romulans, hell yes.

How about making Weisz the Romulan Commander from “The Enterprise Incident” (aka Charvanek)?

Now THAT would be sweet! Thoughts?

Borg? Good grief. They’ve been done to death and are so NOT relentless.
‘er, concentrate weapons on this spot’.
And we’re done.

What does Roberto Orci think? ;-)

Great actress, I’d love to see her in it!

I say let her in.

I love Rachel!!!!! Put her in the movie!!!!!!!!!

#12 Oscar cred is okay.

didn’t help a whole lot with F.Murray Abraham in INS.

Bob orci ,,,,seria genial contar con Rachel Weiz, Saludos.

Rachel Weiz strikes me as among the top 10 most intelligent actors in Hollywood.

To me, that she loved Star Trek merely confirms that fact.

May she live long and prosper.

^^Rachel Weisz. Sorry for the typo.

To 16. Phil – May 29, 2010

Just a few points:

1) You don’t want another rehash of ‘“madman with a doomsday weapons bent on revenge/galactic domination.”’ Yet you do want a ‘kickass Federation/Klingon/Romulan naval battle’; i.e., a big space battle. Well, that’s completely original: much more original than a revenge/galactic domination story!

2) I thought that Trek 2009, like all the films, was ‘true to the ideals of Trek’. So I’m not sure what you mean by, ‘They need to make a Star Trek film that’s true to the ideals of Trek’. They’re not going to make an episode-style Trek. After all, we’re now in the business of big budget blockbusters and a key mainstream audience.

3) If you don’t want the sequel to go ‘where practically one out of every two Trek films have gone before,’ then why do you want the Klingons in it!! I’m amazed that so many fans don’t see this. The Klingons featured in every TOS film bar TWOK and in too many episodes to count. Enough already! Khan featured in one film and one episode. The Borg have featured in one film and a dozen or so episodes. Second to Khan, the Borg are the most unused villains in Trek! (At least of the major villains).

15. Yammer – May 29, 2010

‘The Borg are so TNG.
The ‘logical’ choice… is… T’Pring’.

The Borg are to TNG what the Klingons are to TOS. But the mere fact of this doesn’t preclude our wanting or liking the Klingons in TNG. No series has an exclusive villain. As for the Borg in TOS, we know this didn’t happen – in the Prime Universe. But what we do know, of the Prime Universe, is that the Borg featured in the Enterprise episode ‘Regenration’. So the Borg are canon, already, in the new time-line: Enterprise, apparently, is still canon!

The ‘logical’ choice – I see what you did there. But I must disagree. To capture the mainstream, we need an iconic character. That’s why the ‘uninitiated’ went to see Trek: partly because they were interested in seeing the beginnings of two iconic characters: Kirk and Spock. But they won’t have heard of T’Pring; and the name won’t capture their imagination. But they will know of the Borg. And they will know of Khan. And with the Borg Queen, Rachel, or some other A-Lister, might want to take the role.

No Borg. No Khan.

NEW ADVENTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That girl was born to play Number One!!!

Everyone wants to be in the movie, Dr Spock, give me a break.

I have been watching ST TOS since the early 70’s, I don’t remember seeing a Borg. Even if I watch TOS another 200 times, I doubt I will.

Borg = Bad idea

@33. Alec

Don’t agree with (2), since the division between episodic Trek and movie Trek has historically been unclear with plenty of diffusion between, but I fully concur with (3) for the reasons you stated, and simply because as Star Trek wasn’t simply about the characters in its universe, but the business of that universe. This ‘sub-series’ of movies should not rely too heavily on past villains, and equally given the lack of a series should not try to create a new staple villain whose development will invariably be limited by short screen-time. Iconic characters are needed, not old-clones or forgettable Neros.

Oh wait, I didn’t read that properly did I? I don’t fully concur with (3) if you thing Khan and the Borg remain viable.

Number One.

@13
There are already enough movies with darkness. We need a sequel glowing with optimism, and confidence (to boldly go) not another Space=death film. The Borg are too dark for TOS, it should be the Gorn or the Klingons.
@15
If T’Pring survived the destruction of Vulcan, there’s no way Spock would be all smoochy with Uhura, he would still be parted and never parted to T’Pring.

Yeah “Dr. Spock” the classic mistake……but she’s a great actress….and like T’Pring would be ok, I think!

I still say its going to be Khan for the sequel.

What…are they supposed to write the movie around people who want to be in the film now that Trek 2009 was a “big blockbuster” but can’t be arsed to tell Mr. Spock from Dr. Spock?

If she is an Oscar winner, she may not be willing to take a bit part, and they already have more than enough main characters to explore.

I think they should go with actors who won’t take a huge piece of the budget. Rachel Weisz is a talented actress and she was great in “The Mummy” 1 and 2, but she may be “too big” of a name for “Star Trek”. I think they should go with people who are up-and-coming, so that they don’t overshadow the up-and-coming cast.

Rachel Weisz is certainly a great actress. I think she should be in a command role, not Nurse Chapel. Maybe she could be a Number One on another ship. I’m also not crazy about her being cast as Carol Marcus, because that would make her just a love interest for Kirk. Another thought is:as a villain.

Number One! Someone has to cover the night shift on the Enterprise, right?

She’s Number One on the Constellation with Commodore Decker and the next movie is about the Doomsday Machine, except this time we don’t have a Starship to sacrifice so we go to the Guardian of Forever and venture into the future to get some more red matter and we encounter Admiral James T. Kirk (Shatner).

What do y’all think?

^ and Commodore Decker is played by Tom Hanks.

@49: Hanks is a great actor, but I’ve never seen him play anything but decent fellows. He’d play a great starship captain but it’s hard to imagine him as twitchy, PTSD-angsty, Decker after the Constellation gets eaten.

And yes, Rachel Weisz would make a terriffic Number One.