Star Trek’s original Spock Leonard Nimoy is appearing tonight at Boston University. The school newspaper has a new interview with the actor promoting the event, where Nimoy talks about coming out of retirement for Fringe and Star Trek. Excerpts below.
Nimoy talks Fringe and Trek
Leonard Nimoy is back in his home town of Boston to talk at Boston University tonight. The university paper has an interview with the actor, here are excerpts:
You play the character of William Bell on Fox’s Fringe, which just got picked up for another season despite rumors it might be canceled. Were you concerned about that?
The writer and producers are extremely creative and very resourceful. They’re able to take these interesting ideas, and it’s fun to see where they’re going and be a part of it. I consider myself a retired actor. I do small parts on Fringe, but when I was acting full-time I was always concerned about shows being canceled.
Spock has become an iconic character. What was it like being part of Star Trek?
Star Trek is ancient history. When I was doing that show, we had no way of knowing how long it would be on the air, and we were always marginal in the ratings, always in danger of being canceled. I felt strongly that we were doing strong material; the ideas and themes of that show were relevant for so many people in their daily lives. I was so happy to be in that show because I think it had social relevance. I think finally that’s why the show endured. We were only on for three seasons but were very successful in reruns, and then there was a series of movies and other Star Trek shows that came along. It has had a very interesting and prosperous life.
More from Nimoy at www.bu.edu.
Leonard Nimoy is appearing tonight (May 9,) as part of the Boston University Friends of the Libraries Speaker Series. He will be in George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom, 775 Commonwealth Ave. More info on tickets at www.bu.edu.
Self portrait?
Notice Nimoy just had to work the word “prosper” into the conversation. Smooth!
What a Class Act. May he live long and Prosper.
Classy! … :-) :-)
His appearance on FRINGE a couple of weeks ago was great fun!
I’m in concurrence with the others: class act!
Mr.Nimoy is such a wonderful man! Live Long And Prosper!
Fascinating!!!
I hate the way that every time Leonard Nimoy is announced now, he’s called “original” Spock. He IS Spock, meaning that it was HIS nuances and method of acting that created the Spock character. Anyone that tries to portray the character after him has to go by the guidelines that Nimoy had already set many years ago.
He is a true gentleman.
Imagine, decades and decades of answering the fans politely, this takes a in-human patience.
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I agree. Nimoy IS Spock, he is the one who defined not only the character of Spock but a lot of the Vulcan traits.
Leonard Nimoy was the best as Spock. He did a great job in a role that could easily have become static and uninteresting. He portrayed the lack of emotion very well and still managed to create a very dynamic character.
It’s interesting to note that he is the only original series actor to be involved with every phase of Star Trek. He obviously was involved with every episode of the original series and animated series, and all 6 original series movies. But he also was involved one time with the Berman regime and once with the Abrams regime.
And he’s the only actor to play the same character in the first filmed Trek, The Cage, made in November 1964, and then the same character again in 2009. That’s a pretty long time to *be* Spock: over 45 years. We can also note that Pike the character was also both in 1964 and 2009, but obviously, a different actor in the role. ( just wish JJ & K/O had included some of the other characters in the background from Cage, such as Colt, Tyler, Boyce… and of course: Number One!)
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Nifty idea though that over 45 years, both Pike and Spock survive.
That which survives…. Spock.
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And FRINGE has crossed over into greatness. Glad Nimoy contributes to it. His most recent episode… was… fascinating.
8 & 10
Exactly. Regardless of who played a Vulcan in all the ST series, my first thought was usually is that how Nimoy would have played it ? He set the standard!
Met him once at his photography opening in Phila. about 6 years ago or so. Got to shake his hand. The only celebrity I would ever really want to physically meet in person and I got the chance. Wow. Still happy about that one. Keep up the Good Fight Mr. Nimoy.
I can’t even imagine how many times Nimoy has been asked “What was it like being a part of Star Trek.” And such a general question…ugh. And he still gives a detailed answer. That “journalist” really deserved for him to have simply responded, “Great.”
I still have to laugh at the 1st time I got to see Mr. Nimoy live:
I attended one of the Trek cons in NYC during the late 70s where he was not scheduled to appear but he was doing the play Equus in town. Apparently, we Trek fans were, at the time, sending him a lot of “hate” mail (pre-email!) because he had not decided whether to return to the Spock role in the series/movie being developed for the first new live Trek in a decade. So, he made an unexpected appearance at the con to bawl out us fans for the mail he was receiving since he wanted to make it clear to us that he was NOT Spock and that he was first and foremost an actor who had simply played a character named Spock. While I understood his sentiment at the time, it was not one of his most “gracious” moments! :-)
It was, however, a great moment to be a fan because the stream of people who made a beeline to the main ballroom was one of those once in a lifetime phenomenons one gets to observe. And, whether he accepted it yet or not, Mr. Nimoy has always been and always will be….the SPOCK!
I was at that same NYC convention (I’m showing my age here). Mr. Nimoy was seemingly trying to distance himself from Spock and “Star Trek” at the time, especially with his 1975 book “I Am Not Spock”. Yet, he appeared at the 1976 unveiling of the shuttle Enterprise, along with Gene Roddenberry and most of the rest of the cast of “TOS”. Shatner didn’t appear at the shuttle unveiling; I wonder why. Mr. Nimoy has since come to embrace Spock; his appearance in the 2009 film was the main reason I went to see it. He IS Spock; anyone else is just a pretender to the throne.