In a new interview with the official Star Trek site, Trek legend Leonard Nimoy talks about his visit to the set of the Star Trek sequel (and what it means and doesn’t mean). He also talked about Walter Koenig finally getting his Hollywood star and other under recognized people in Trek.
Nimoy talks about visiting sequel set and unsung heroes of Trek
There has been a lot of talk about Leonard Nimoy and the Star Trek sequel, especially after he told CNN that he and JJ Abrams were "talking" about him appearing in the film. In an interview with the official Star Trek site, the actor talked about his visit to the set and the speculation:
Nimoy: I visited the set one day and that started some speculation about whether I was doing the film. It’s all speculation. I talk to these people regularly. Zachary Quinto and I have dinner whenever we can. We just had dinner three or four weeks ago. I talk to J.J. about family. His parents and I go back a number of years as friends. I knew them long before I ever met J.J. So we talk regularly. I visited the set one day because I had never seen the bridge. When I was in the last film, none of my work was on the bridge of the Enterprise. So I wanted to see the bridge, and the bridge was extraordinary. It’s beautifully designed and put together. We talk. It’s great. I expect that it’s going to be a gigantic film. Look, I think he’s put together a wonderful cast of people. His writers are imaginative and energetic. I think we’re going to see another great Star Trek movie.
Nimoy in 2009’s "Star Trek" – says sometimes a sequel set visit is just a set visit
Nimoy also talked about how he is going to be speaking at the ceremony for Walter Koenig’s Hollywood star and how some people don’t get enough credit for their work on Star Trek:
Nimoy: Let me tell you something, if people were to ask me, “What are you thinking now about the original Star Trek series?,” one of the things that comes to mind immediately is the people who have not had enough recognition, and I include Walter and Nichelle (Nichols) and George (Takei) in that, as well as DeForest Kelley, Jimmy Doohan and Gene Coon, who gave us some wonderful writing and worked very hard as a producer. Harve Bennett doesn’t get enough credit for having put Star Trek back on its feet when it was beached after the first Star Trek movie. Nicholas Meyer did a terrific job of shaping up the script for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. When I first read it, it was not very good, and I told him so. He said, “I agree with you. I’m working on it.” Sure enough, he did a great job shaping up that script and then helped us a lot on Star Trek IV. Nick and Harve elevated the audience and spread the audience.
So those are some of the things that come to mind when I think about Star Trek. Matt Jefferies, who did the sets for the original series, is another one. Out of cardboard and plaster, he gave us usable sets every week. Sure, they shook every once in a while, but to be able to turn that stuff out week after week the way he did, it was an incredible job. The directors – Marc Daniels, Joe Pevney, Ralph Senensky – were wonderful people who worked very, very hard under tough conditions. We shot fast, never more than six days and, occasionally, we shot faster than that. Most TV series, they take 9, 10, 11 days. These are people you don’t hear about very often, and I think they deserve credit.
Designer Matt Jeffries – according to Nimoy one of many who doesn’t get enough credit for the success of "Star Trek"
nice
Leonard, you are magic!
I love that he appreciates the new Enterprise bridge. Gives it a little more cred. Personally I was very happily surprised by the exterior of the “Nu” Enterprise.
I don’t think Trek would have had half the appeal it had if not for Matt Jeffries’ iconic, brilliant designs. Imagine what he might have come up with if he’d had a 2009-sized budget to play with — the mind boggles!
Some cool sketches of Jeffries’ original concept for the shuttlecraft:
http://www.starshipdatalink.net/art/images/dgs-2.gif
2- Yes Leonard is a Magic Person
There you have it, Mr. Nimoy is not in the sequel.
Great to hear that Walter Koenig will get Hollywood star, it was long over due. He was amazing not just on Star Trek but also as Alfred Bester on Babylon 5.
Not so fast Ahmed. He did not say he is or is not in the new film.
I think what matt Jefferies did was so far ahead of it’s time when he built the set’s of the Tos Enterprise. Before Star Trek all of the Sci had these goofy set’s and old style 40s and 50s look. Matt made Tos Enterprise look like it could have been in the 23rd century.
@8. Commodore Mike of the Terran Empire
“Not so fast Ahmed. He did not say he is or is not in the new film.”
Well, here is what he said,
“Nimoy: I visited the set one day and that started some speculation about whether I was doing the film. It’s all speculation. I talk to these people regularly.”
True, he did not say that he is not in the movie directly but he said, “It’s all speculation”, I will take that as a no.
Hmmmm…???… I love Mr. Nimoy… but about this thing “We talk”… OK… “They talk”… whatever……………. ;-) :-)
I’m always happy when Senensky (for my money, Trek’s best director EVER) and Coon (probably the reason this site even exists is due to what he did), but I just don’t get the appreciation for this Target-store-Cosmetic-aisle of a bridge set.
It’s glarey and would be impossible to work in without sunglasses, plus all that light bouncing around the too bright interior cuts down on contrast and makes the imagery even less impressive than I’d thought possible (and given my abhorrence for the lens flare nonsense, ‘less impressive’ is putting it mildly.)
then again, I haven’t found ANYthing to like about AbramsTrek yet, after what I guess would be close to two viewings (have to hit fastforward during a few parts, so I guess I’ve never made it all the way through.)
What a classy guy Mr Nimoy is.
Its great for him to recognise everyone who made Trek great.
I have never understood why any TV series only gets about 5-7 minutes of usable footage per day. That figure is staggering to me considering these people are supposed to be pros at their craft.
That number stuck in my head when ER did its famous live episode and it looked as good or better than what they put on film in however many shooting days it took to get an episode on film. I realize doing something live puts a lot of stress on everyone and it’s not something an hourlong would want to do on a weekly basis; even in the ‘old days’ when TV was done live, most of the live stuff was not with a recurring cast, more of an anthology type of deal….
But still, 5- 7 minutes??
Applause to Leonard Nimoy. His going out of his way to applaud the other members of TOS, on both sides of the camera, is a nice gesture and very refreshing in the entertainment business.
@ Bob Thompkins: They have to shoot each scene several different times to get a master shot and a close up of each actor. Plus all the set-up needed, double for any space series (like a certain space show. :) ), takes time as well. The actors and crew can be epic pros, but they have their limits too and have to work hard just to get that 5-7 minutes. I was a film major and trust me, 5-7 (I personally heard 10-11 for the modern Treks) minutes of professional footage is pretty darn good.
The films are worse in that regard: One of the TNG cast members said that the films got 2 minutes of useable film a day (Granted, not to downplay the TV shows, the films are more polished).
Wow. Mr. Nimoy really is so eloquent and gracious. My love for the original series is so pure and absolute, and I am extremely grateful to the amazing group of people that put it together week after week.
Thanks, Mr. Nimoy, for acknowledging such people. Dang, I’m gonna watch me some Star Trek right now, I’m feeling “Galileo Seven”.
People have to accept that non-answers are non-answers. It’s extremely rude to put your own spin on someone else’s words and then come back six months later and claim,
“He lied!”
Thank you Mr. Nimoy.
Ah, Gene L Coon and Matt Jeffries… the left and right arms of the show.
Good of Nimoy to give them and so many others their due credit!
;-)
Who else read it in his Fringe-voice?
At least Matt Jeffries had tubes named after him. But then again, Fallopian had tubes named after him, too.
A class act.
Every time I read quotes from Leonard Nimoy, I can hear his commanding voice speaking the words– one of the most underrated Hollywood voices of all-time.
Leonard Nimoy always strikes me as the “Great Diplomat” of the Star Trek universe. Not only did his character Mr. Spock in many ways help to keep things together on screen but also real-life Mr. Nimoy is always a common denominator when it comes to Star Trek. It’s funny how life imitates art.
What Leonard said about Matt Jefferies, reminds me about what Dr. Soong said about Lt. Malcolm Reed on Borderland.
Class act !!! Always loved the Nimoy.
Leonard Nimoy IS a classy guy. What he said is right in the money and needed to be said. I DO believe Harve Bennett SAVED Star Trek!
Now don’t get me wrong — I loved TMP, but I think what failed about it was the 2001-like approach it took. Personally, I like “thinking mans” Trek but TMP was not really big enough of a success to carry Trek forward.
Only Meyers and Bennett’s Star Trek II could save Star Trek and they deserve all the praise in the world for that!
The “minor” characters of Star Trek deserve as much praise as anyone else. Star Trek was the sum of its parts…
I agree with Nimoy a hundred percent–I’ve always been a big fan of those underappreciated guys, especially the behind-the-scenes ones. To that list I would add Michael Piller (who in my opinion saved TNG by getting it turned around in the writing department), Andrew Probert, Michael Westmore, Herman Zimmerman, Ira Steven Behr, Colm Meany, and a lot of other people. Waaaaay too many people to name made Star Trek (of whatever era) great, and a lot of them don’t get the respect they deserve. My respect for Nimoy has advanced quite a bit with this statement.
“It’s all speculation” and “It’s not happening” are two different responses. He gave the former, so I’m inclined to think he’s got a cameo.
Well, I am sure that when Mr. Nimoy visited the set there where no lens flares in his eyes and sets probably looks a lot different in person than film. To each his own, I respect his opinion, and in regards to my beefs with Trek ’09, really set design is low on the list. Whether or not he’s in the new one is not important, that he’s alive, healthy and still happily productive is. I agree with others, he is a Class Act.
Spock, you bloodsucker. You’re going to have to do your own dirty work now! Do you hear me? Do you?
Great elder statesman for the show.
Classy guy.
Nimoy is the man!
and Matt Jeffries was brilliant, as was Gene Coon.
:)
@5 CarlG
Couldn’t get your link to work mate.
I love the art and design of all the Treks (most science fiction, actually)