Alice Eve Watched All Of Star Trek TOS To Prepare For Sequel Role + Explains How Abrams Keeps Cast Mum

Star Trek’s latest starlet Alice Eve is not going to reveal any spoilers for the upcoming sequel, and in a new interview she explains how director JJ Abrams is able to keep the cast mum. But the actress did reveal how she prepared for her role in the upcoming film.

 

Alice Eve: Abrams ‘generous’ filmmaker + prepped for role by watching all TOS

Speaking to Access Hollywood at the press junket for her upcoming film The Raven, actress Alice Eve explained how Star Trek sequel director JJ Abrams prevents leaks is by creating a sense of loyalty among his cast:

"J.J., I guess, really wins your trust… and you don’t want to do anything that would like, rock his ship," she said. "He runs a real gentleman’s set and we’re like his amazing army and he’s the kind general," she added of their "Star Trek" captain behind the scenes. "He’s like a very efficient, generous filmmaker. It’s been an amazing experience working with him. It’s really special, actually."

Eve also revealed she has reviewed the entire original Star Trek series to prep for her role in the sequel:

"I’ve watched all of them. My grandfather used to watch the original series in the ’60s every Saturday at 5 o’clock, so it was nice for me because it was the only TV show he watched," she said. "Now, I’ve watched them all and there are some scenes with [William] Shatner that break my heart… It’s so sweet."


Alice Eve at "Raven" press junket – April 12

While we will have to wait until the summer of 2013 to see Eve in Star Trek, she will be seen in two big films this year. She has a leading role opposite John Cusack in The Raven (opening April 27), and she appears as the younger version of Emma Thompson in the time-travel focused Men in Black III (opening May 25th).


Alice Eve and John Cusack in "The Raven" – opening April 27

VIDEO UPDATE: Eve Talks MiBIII

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Well then, I am going to have to force myself to view all of Alice’s work and photos before I see the movie. It is a tough job, but someone has got to do it, right? :-)

Carol Marcus – cmon its gotta be!

Someone who really cares about TOSource-material? Marry me.

Nice to know that she’s gone to that effort to prepare. She does look like Carol Marcus….and all the actors linked with the lead villain do look like Khan…..is that a coincidence?

I love ‘Starter for Ten’.

@4 alec

They have someone that looks like Ricardo Montalban in the movie? Who? I didn’t know they cast another villain in the movie. ;)

“and all the actors linked with the lead villain do look like Khan”

may i suggest a trip to the opticians?

Janice Rand perhaps? Although, that would only really entail watching half of Season 1.

I don’t know. TOS depiction of women really wasn’t the best at times. There are some exceptions, such as Uhura (obviously) and the prosecutor in “Court-Martial”. But generally just be the love ’em and leave ’em interest, wearing Theiss creations that mirculously didn’t malfunction.

Carol Marcus was not in TOS – can’t study a character that didn’t show up until later.

How JJ keeps everything under wraps? I’m guessing a random actor is selected for a morning flogging. That ought to do it.

She has to be either Ruth or Carol Marcus. But Hey. Kirk had more then a few blonds and of Course Brunette’s and Green Women and so on and so on.

I do love the fact that Alice watched all of TOS to be ready for the role. She is a Beauty and a Class Act.

What about Nurse Chapel?

@ #9

This is a new timeline – they can introduce characters who were not in TOS.

@ #12

I agree…. could be.

The only other recurring female role that ran all 3 seasons in TOS besides Uhura is Christine Chapel. (Although this actress reminds me more of Janice Rand!)

I’ve seen “The Raven”.

It. Was. Bollocks.

Carol Marcus please.

at least she is not as skinny as zoe saldana….gosh I wish JJ will tell zoe to eat some food.

I am still a zoe fan

Bravo, Alice Eve. Harve Bennett did the same thing when he got the job to produce Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. And he got Star Trek. I’m going to guess that the scenes that broke her heart were from “The City on the Edge of Forever.”

^9 Carol Marcus was not in TOS but David Marcus had to be born before the events of TOS, when Kirk was the age Chris Pine is now, in fact. Of course in the alternate timeline there’s no reason Kirk would ever meet Carol Marcus, unless it was truly cosmic destiny.

I’m kinda hoping Alice Eve isn’t playing Carol Marcus in the sequel. I was never a fan of that character. Before TWOK, she was never seen or mentioned. After TWOK, same thing. She was important to TWOK, and that is it. Which, considering that she had a relationship with James T. Kirk and had a child with him, seems very underwhelming for a character that should have at least been mentioned or seen (if only a cameo) in either TSFS or TVH in the wake of their son David’s murder.

Didn’t Abrams say Alice Eve is playing a character that isn’t from canon?

psst….it will have Khan in it…wink wink

Chappell or Rand. Of course in another interview at MTV she said she was in the make up chair a long time….but not as long as Spock

On a note not related to this article
RIP Garry Walberg – Commander Hansen from TOS “Balance of Terror”

“”I’ve watched all of them. My grandfather used to watch the original series in the ’60s every Saturday at 5 o’clock, ”

Hey baby. I used to watch them everyday at 5:00 too on KXTX TV 39 out of Dallas. How old are you? I’m only 45 and I’m not a grandfather.

Your Father was many things, but he was NEVER a Boy Scout.

I hated that line in STII. She sounded so smug, but she never had any context.
Dittop for whole David character in II and III.

Kudos to Shatner with his ability to act passed all that.

24 RIP (for the Empire)!

#4: You wrote:
“and all the actors linked with the lead villain do look like Khan”

Have your eyes always not functioned properly, or is this a new development?

^20. Kirk actually does mention Carol in the Genesis report in TSFS. Supposedly Harve Bennett left her out of the story for budget reasons. Of course it’s plausible that after David’s death Carol never wanted to speak to Kirk again. “You had your world and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine.” As soon as David goes on a Starfleet mission he gets killed by Klingons as a negotiating tactic against Kirk. Whatever Kirk told her about that, she probably blamed him.

Her hair! It’s young Carol Markus’s hair!

@ 28

Look all the clues point to Khan. Yeah, I could be wrong. But let’s examine the evidence shall we?

1. There was a search of Hispanic actors to play the antagonist. Benicio Del Toro was asked. After that fell through, other Hispanic actors were looked at. Significance? The original Khan was played by Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban.

http://screenrant.com/star-trek-2-villian-casting-sandy-142680/

2. Benedict Cumberbatch who now is the antagonist, gave an interview to MTV about the need to work out for the role. Hey, he’s not playing a nerdy scientist.

https://trekmovie.com/2012/01/16/benedict-cumberbatch-talks-prep-for-star-trek-sequel-role/

3. We’ve all seen the footage of the Spock and Cumberbatch fight. Cumberbatch gets out of a Vulcan neck pinch. He chokes Spock with one hand. And he beats the daylights out of him. Since Vulcans are much stronger than normal humans that means Cumberbatch is some type or superhuman. Hmmm. Famous superhumans in the TOS. KHAN.

Now the video did show Cumberbatch to be human looking. He didn’t have pointed ears. But it is possible he could be some other type of superhuman. I mean he was wearing what looked like a Starfleet undershirt. And he had pointed sideburns. Stil, superhuman strength and the search for a Hispanic actor points to Khan.

#29.

Carol Marcus’ story arc just didn’t seem very organic to me. I just didn’t think there was a reason to care about her. She was there for the benefit of the Kirk character. But I did think David worked. That character gave Shatner something to work from, and allowed him to explore another side of Kirk we hadn’t seen before, as well as elevating his own acting to another level not seen before, nor since, as Kirk.

#31.

“Still, superhuman strength and the search for a Hispanic actor points to Khan.”

Agreed! I myself deduced that Khan would be the villain from the fact that the supreme court writers, whenever they talk about Trek, and how to make the sequel better than the first, always reference Khan and TWOK. I think, from their point of view, Khan was the elephant in the room that just couldn’t be avoided.

18… “City on the Edge of Forever”, “Paradise Syndrome”, and “Requiem for Methuselah” all qualify as heartbreaking moments for Kirk. I think there is no longer any doubt that Eve plays Kirk’s love interest.

#31

I may be wrong about this, but didn’t one of the superhumans in Space Seed get nerve pinched by Spock? That would seem to indicate that the villain is NOT Khan.

And really… if you’re going to have Khan, whose an INDIAN, why get a BRITISH actor to play him?

Sorry – I just don’t see Khan as a likely possibility.

where no man has gone before.lockwood/kellerman.

I hear all this speculation online about how she MUST be playing Rand, Chapel, or Carol Marcus (personally, I think she looks more like Sally Kellerman’s Elizabeth Dehner from “Where No Man Has Gone Before”; hee, hee…). But didn’t they already say (when Alice Eve was first cast) that she’s playing a character NEW to the Star Trek universe?

IMO, I think we ST fans need to think more outside the box on this one. It’s always the same speculations; Khan, Carol Marcus, etc. I really doubt this is a $200 million remake of “The Wrath of Khan”. Heavens help the franchise if that is the extent of the filmmakers’ imagination.

Cool, I watched all TOS episodes as well. We have something in common…there’s my “in!”

…after all this time, Shatner’s acting back then moved her.

Impressed.

#34
Captain Gorn

I so totally agree; 110%. It’s absurd. Not just casting wise, but it also shows a complete lack of imagination. I very much doubt they powers-that-be would go through all the trouble to create a whole new universe of Star Trek only to serve us reheated leftovers….

And yes, you’re right; one of Khan’s ‘genetically engineered’ henchman was felled by Spock’s nerve pinch in “Space Seed”. Another was felled by a hypo (so much for super peripheral vision…). ;-D

Dr. Elisabeth Dehner?

Sheesh – this thread is about Alice Eve and the fact that she watched all of TOS. What she did mention was, “Now, I’ve watched them all and there are some scenes with [William] Shatner that break my heart… It’s so sweet.”
Yet so many still just obsess about whether Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan or not. Get a grip.

This thread is not about the villain; it is about Alice Eve’s experiences of working with JJ Abrams and of TOS. She is absolutely right- there were some very memorable, heartbreaking, sweet, whimsical scenes where Shatner/Kirk revealed his humanity – his ability to love (in every sense) and his vulnerability. At least she can see that. I do wonder sometimes who else has ever been able to, except me. I hope this film is able to show that side in the nuPine/Kirk. Maybe she is playing Kirk’s love, maybe not. Just another 13 months until…!

@ 34. 39

The way I viewed the footage was that Cumberbatch was able to grab Spock’s hand before he could do the full nerve pinch. Look how Cumberbatch grabs Spock’s hand and overpowers him. It’s like he knows he can’t let Spock grab him by the neck. Then he chokes Spock by one hand and beats the daylights out of him. Superhuman.

Look at the first picture. Our leader writes this, “There is a scene where the villain fights with Spock hand to hand, and villain appears able to avoid or escape from a Vulcan nerve pinch.”

https://trekmovie.com/2012/02/24/more-photos-from-star-trek-set-imax-camera-spotted/

Second, again, Khan was played by a Mexican actor named Ricardo Montalban. So the idea that Khan must be played by an Indian is wrong since he was played by a Mexican. Montalban didn’t leave his Mexican accent at home. He didn’t use an Indiann accent when he played Khan. You’ve got to answer why they were so intent on trying to get a Hispanic actor for the villain. The reason? To keep some continuity with Montalban. My understanding, Cumberbatch came in late in the process. They could have gone in a different direction. But note his hair does look dyed black.

Third, I don’t advocate bringing back Khan. It’s just that we’re trying to deduce who the “villain” is. Frankly, they should write a new adventure because we’ve been there, done that.

Carol Marcus and this time Kirk marries her, she dies while she is pregnant. So ends the Genesis string and all is set for Khan to come back in the third movie and kill everyone

She’ll be playing a Gorn and is in a body suit through the whole film. No one will recognize her.

Alice Eve is Marla McGivers, Cumberpatch is Khan. All you naysayers get over it! Wrath of Khan is everyones number one, but we fear seeing it redone in the modern era. JJ is a very skilled film maker and Bob, Alex, and Damon are very skilled writers. It was done before but I can’t wait to see how these passionate men will do it again.
Put all of your patronizing trekkieness aside and just enjoy the ride, Trek is still vibrant after 46 years. Unbelievable. There has never been ANYTHING like it in modern media history.
So quit all of your bitching and relish the reality of us still being able to discuss all that is Trek in 2012.
Live Long and Prosper indeed.

It won’t be a 200 million remake of “The Wrath of Khan”.

It will be a 144.5 million radically different Khan story.

It will be a 200 million dollar remake/reimagining of Space Seed, not Wrath of Khan.

It will be a $150 million vague reimagining of “Space Seed”.

@ 45

You don’t work for the publicity department at Bad Robot, do you? :-)

@ 44

Ha , ha, ha..

She’ll be playing either:

Dr. Carol Marcusberg
Nurse Christine Chapelsian
Dr. Elizabeth Dehnerski
Yeoman Janice Randerini

See? They’re totally new to the canon.