The third character profile video for Star Trek Into Darkness features a look at Uhura, including some more glimpses of the movie and some behind the scenes. You can watch that below along with actress Zoe Saldana’s official EPK soundbite video.
Uhura Character profile
Speaking of Uhura, here is Saldana’s EPK Soundbite video
Note: subjects discussed on soundbite videos are listed briefly at the beginning
More Profiles and from Paramount EPK
If you missed them, here are links to the previous two character profiles…
TrekMovie will post more from the Paramount electronic press kit soon. Here is what we have posted so far…
This international release business is starting to stress me out… Need to see this movie!!
Feels like there was a significant gap between Australia release and USA.
2 things
1. the movie is not out anywhere yet. There have been gala premeires but no actual releases. Some countries get it on the 9th (Australia, NZ, UK, Germany)
2. The Australia gala premiere for ST2009 was five weeks before USA premiere (longer gap than Into Darkness)
So Uhura will get the “action girl” treatment for this movie? Oh well, guess that’s just about staying in tone with the previous one in which everyone at the very least got to run around a bit (thinking of Chekov’s “I can do that! I can do that!!!”-scene). But darnit, thinking about the character: Why would she have wanted to become a COMMUNICATIONS officer is she had intended to take part in fighting activities?
Only 9 days to go!!!
#2: Isn’t everyone trained, not just the security personnel? Granted she’s not on security, but still, she’d have to know how to fire a weapon, disarm someone, and a least be able to protect herself hand to hand. Besides, in TAS, Lt. Uhura lead an all woman rescue mission. It’s not without precedence.
Only 3 days to here in Switzerland. Sorry, my friends. I wish I could beam you all up to watch the movie earlier.
Only 3 days to go here in Switzerland. Sorry, my friends. I wish I could beam you all up to watch the movie earlier.
2. KHAAAN the weasel
“Why would she have wanted to become a COMMUNICATIONS officer is she had intended to take part in fighting activities?”
This makes no sense. That’s like saying — Why would Spock have wanted to become a SCIENCE officer if he had intended to take part in fighting activities? Surely all star fleet personnel would have to partake in combat training. Who would feel confident going on away missions without knowing how to defend themselves? She can’t stand around waiting for the big strong men to save her now can she? As we all know those away missions can go very wrong, very quickly.
While the Polish premiere is still 25 days away (congrats to our distributor…), I’m traveling to Bulgaria in 3 days and it just so happens that STID premieres on the 10th there incl. IMAX (it’ll be my perfect birthday gift!).
Anthony – Thanks for clearing that up.. I’ve been reading it as “It’s been released EVERYWHERE but here”…
I’m now living Stress Free :-)
Such a classy, intelligent and talented lady!
#2. KHAAAN the weasel – May 6, 2013
Yeah, what jojo said and drawing from the first movie she’s damn well going to go on the mission and make sure that her emotionally compromised sorry-a$$ed boyfriend doesn’t go and get himself killed. Afterwards, Kirk may find she has an aptitude for such and is better at it than most. Then in future away teams he will include her as he sees fit.
@8: Well, that’s a valid point indeed!
@5: Yeah, but that doesn’t make everyone some kind of expert in hand-to-hand combat… which SEEMS to be what they’re aiming at…
For me in Ireland…
2 days, 2 hours, 53 minutes and 47 seconds to go…
@2
Piggybacking off Rebecca’s response @5.
There’s also TOS’ Mirror, Mirror in which she not only slapped Mirror Sulu and found the weapon to ultimately take out Mirror Spock, but disarmed and took down Mirror Marlena, as well.
And let’s not forget the Gamesters of Triskelion in which Uhura was forced into armed combat and aptly defended herself from sexual assault from a much larger male.
So, I always assume people who criticize the alternate version of Uhura (and Zoe’s calls) for being more of an “action girl” must not have watched or paid much attention to TOS.
Just because Uhura didn’t have to fight much, that didn’t mean that she didn’t know how when she had to.
Obviously, in Into Darkness, she has to.
# 15
Well said. Some people need to do their homework LOL
I hope the unfair hate for uhura will cease now that we all know that Bones gets more on screen time than her.
@) Anthony Pascale
“Some countries get it on the 9th (Australia, NZ, UK, Germany)”
It is really the 8th for Germany. They show absolutely everywhere previews on Wednesday.
Another thing to look at, is in Enterprise. Specifically, communications officer Hoshi Sato. Why would a com officer need hand-to-hand combat training, or weapons proficiency training, if all she’s gonna do, is sit at her station, answering hails?
Bottom-line is, “Action Uhura” is not something new. Happened quite a few times during TOS where Uhura had some action-filled sequences.
I’ve found, that most people who “hate all things JJ”, are people who haven’t done their homework in the first place. Complaints about everything from the ships registry font, to Kirk having too much sex. 60s TOS implied alot of sex going on with Kirk and “his women”.
2 days from now i’ll be sitting in the theatre with my 3D Glasses on. Already got my tickets and try hard not to read anything till then.
LLAP from Germany!
Only 3 days to go here in the UK!
It is 7 May here in NZ and I am (hopefully) going to see STID before any of you, because NZ sees the dawn of a new day before the rest of the entire planet, including Australia…just saying.
My (almost 20 year old) son is coming to watch two movies with me on Wednesday 8 May at the local Events cinema. At 9pm they will screen the first Star Trek movie, followed by at 12.01am 9 May, STID (3D). Just gotta book the tickets. Unfortunately, it is a school night so my better half has graciously stepped in as babysitter for the two younger children.
I do intend to see STID at least twice. The next time will be on my son’s birthday 15 May – hopefully at IMAX in the Auckland CBD. Bank account may see something of a dent, then again, it is not all the time that we have this opportunity…
BTW, nice gals don’t/won’t tell…:)
@17
That’s fantastic (if true) and should also silence people who prejudged before actually seeing the film.
…but I doubt it. :)
I do have a feeling that some of that hate will shift to Alice Eve, which I’m also dreading.
*looks on jealously at all the folks outside of the U.S. who are getting Star Trek early.*
gingerly – please, don’t be jealous. I certainly did not plan it this way, but I can’t really say that I am not happy that I will see the movie sooner rather than later.
Uhura is an interesting SECONDARY character and I absolutely hate the fact that McCoy was down played in the last film, so as she could be elevated. Even in one of the recent promos Kirk is described as the heart of the ship. Makes no sense to me, doesn’t Kirk’s character always represented the ethical decision maker? The reason Star Trek worked very well in the past is play between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. I guess in today’s Trek you cannot have 3 main characters that represent archetypes, you have to sell sex so that younger, perhaps dumber audiences can ‘get it.’ I am still waiting for a new Trek movie that will embrace logos (logical Spock), ethos (ethical Kirk), and pathos (emotional McCoy.)
#2, Uhura would logically be part of “first contact” and diplomatic contact teams. As a translator, she would have know a fair deal about the culture they are contacting. Being human, with that knowledge, she’d be better able to better interpret and render cultural interpretations than a Universal Translator.
Also, any cadet will go thru combat training. All military recruits do today; extrapolating to the future, Starfleet would not *hope* for combat, but would give their cadets training in case encounters with the new life and new civilizations go wrong. Uhura would need to have fighting and weapons skills in case things go hostile on the part of the other party.
As to the “sorry-a$$ed boyfriend” remark, Altverse is Altverse. Who’s to say that a planetful of Vulcans didn’t telepathically “broadcast” strength and solidity and equilibrium to all other Vulcans [see “Immunity Syndrome” TOS to examine that possibilty]?
Spock immediately sensed the deaths of over 400 Vulcans on Intrepid; is not such “mental contact” possible from the race on their planet as well? Why would Vulcans be “called” to return to their planet in Pon farr? The contact with their bondmate can “broadcast” to reach the mate at a distance. All by way of saying, Spock has lost his entire home planet *and its people* – this must have caused a considerable shock to his normal stability, and I find it admirable that he is able to function in Starfleet at all.
#25, Please keep in mind that this is AltVerse with a younger team. Kirk is not yet as evolved as Kirk in TOS. Kirk is still Pathos, and McCoy is serving as Ethos.
know this has noting to do with this artical just passing some Trek information you mite want to watch..
on friday may 15th on the history channel at 10: 00 pm eastern time(check your local listing for time in your area )a program called “star trek:secrets of the universe” will air,.
the three things they will talk about is” the physics of warp drive”. ..” living in the star trek universe”.. and… ” on the set of star trek:into-darkness” it is a 2 hrs long…program
live long & prosper
captain spock
@25
Have you watched 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture?
Did you happen to notice the entirely new character who is on the poster, who was never in the original series?
Yeah.
http://www.impawards.com/1979/posters/star_trek_the_motion_picture.jpg
That’s not Bones in the trio.
But, that must be the only one, right?
Nope:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L15bVf9OnhM/TdsO74gGc2I/AAAAAAAAByw/ouRFQ3oRp6g/s1600/Star+Trek+2.jpg
and there’s this too:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kRoPpzkTIco/UVm6gjG7PaI/AAAAAAAAGVY/zRXqDaDw0Bw/s1600/star+trek+IV.jpg
So, what’s different about the promotional material this time is that the third aspect of the film present actual is an original cast member.
The one who was actually the third most popular according to fanmail proportions (Kirk, Spock, and Uhura), but had this hidden from her because she was black.
Seem’s that Trekkies should be praising this move instead of being bothered by it.
@29 gingerly
The problem for most people here has nothing to do with Uhura, or even really that it is not unlike the promotional material of the previous Trek films. It’s that within the film itself, Uhura has basically taken the posting of McCoy from a creative direction standpoint. That’s troubling to many because it was always McCoy – the emotional voice, Spock the logical voice, Kirk – the action borne from those two conflicting halves.
#25 oh stop it. Kirk, Spock and later Dr McCoy all had their strengths and weaknesses which were brought into play. Captain Kirk did what a good commander does – ie ferrets out informed opinions and facts and delegates, even if he decides to delegate himself for certain duties on occasion. Star Trek did not even start off with this Kirk/Spock/McCoy triad, given that it was only later that DeForest Kelley’s name appeared in the opening credits.
Most of the time, the only reason that Dr McCoy was on the bridge was that his friend who was also the captain, liked him being there.
The only reason that communications officer Lt Uhura did not play a bigger role in the TOS Star Trek was due to ignorance, racism, sexism and misogyny. Finally, after 40+ years, the character is getting to do the work in accordance with the skills she had acquired and is not being sidelined just because Lt Uhura is a she and not a he.
I get it. Nobody has had to “dumb” anything down for me, least of all the Supreme Court. What’s more there is no sex being *sold* at all. The only dumb and objectionable stuff that I see and read is what is written in the comments section of sites like this.
Star Trek Into Darkness had been rated as “M (Violence)” by the NZ Film Classifications Board, under an Act of the NZ Parliament, ie a legal classification with ramifications associated with that rating. Nowhere was sex mentioned.
#31 “The only reason that communications officer Lt Uhura did not play a bigger role in the TOS Star Trek was due to ignorance, racism, sexism and misogyny”
Im afraid I have to disagree. The reason Uhura did not play a larger role on the original series is the very same reason George Takei and Walter Keonig and John Winston never had larger roles. They were the supporting cast. Their names were in the end credits, if they were lucky to be there at all. They were never part of the larger picture, the show simply wasn’t structured to showcase the supporting cast. No more than you would expect to see a Bonanza episode showcasing Hop-sing or a Gunsmoke episode revolving around Sam the bartender. That’s just not the way television worked in the 60’s.
Uhura again? Yawn.
IMO they should try to have Uhura be a lot like Sam Carter on SG1. Hot as hell, smarter than (almost) everyone around her, and can kick some serious a–.
#34.
I think they’re already doing that….
@33
I know right?
Im really starting to dislike Zoe Saldana because of all the Uhura character focus. I dont think she is a good Uhura, she plays herself. Its pretty annoying. I really liked her, thought she was beautiful and far better action star than Angelina Jolie. But this is really turning me off of her and the new Star Trek movie. Its putting a bad taste in my mouth and its killing me. I really want to love this movie but ugh, Zoe’s Uhura is terrible. And Im really starting to dislike Pine’s Kirk. I hope the 3rd one he is grown up.
@31. Keachick & @Jonboc
I think you both have valid points in what you say. The 60s TV was not ensemble, so if Uhura had been white male he might not have had more to do on the show than black female Uhura did.
It was a ground breaking step in the first place that Uhura (a bridge officer) was not a white male. Lest we forget, Roddenberry originally wanted a female XO, but that was a ‘bridge too far’ for the studio executives at the time.
However, this is not the 60s. TV shows (at least the sci fi ones I tend to watch) are more ensemble, and do include strong female characters. It’s not about selling ‘sex’ , although Star Trek actually was still an offender in this area as late as 2005 – 7of9’s and T’Pol’s outfits, anybody? Why weren’t they dressed like everyone else in the crew?
It’s about acknowledging that females are actually half of the population, are fully capable of doing the same work as males, and expect to see that reflected in the shows they watch. The sex ratios are still out of kilter with reality, so more progress is still needed.
If you want to watch 60s Star Trek, you’ve got the DVDs to do it. I still do. In the meantime, we are in the 21st century now. JJ Abrams and company have given Star Trek a makeover for the 21st century.
@34 Unwanted & @35 Red Dead Ryan
Yes, Sam Carter was an example that sprang to mind when I was trying to compose this post.
@32
Except that evidence doesn’t really support that hypothesis.
Yeoman Rand had a relatively large part (in comparison to Uhura) during her short time on the show…
The producers actively tried to push Nichelle Nichols out by, not allowing her on the main cast’s payroll (Gene paid her by the hour) by keeping her fanmail from her, and even requesting the Shatner not really kiss her in that famous scene from Plato’s Stepchildren…
To his credit, Shatner ruined the takes in which he did not kiss her, so they had to air the interracial kiss.
…I have to add that I find it hilariously sad, that so many keep rationalizing a sentiment that is neither surprising nor uncommon, these days.
And yet, back in the supposedly less enlightened 60’s, Uhura’s interracial kiss only got one negative fan note from a fan who claimed to be against interracial relations, but couldn’t fault Kirk for kissing an amazing woman like Uhura…
And now, so many Trekkies about Uhura taking Bones’ place.
Isn’t it great to see how far we’ve come?
*are annoyed
Thinking of that TAS episode where the Enterprise’s female officers had to save the men reminds me of an SG1 episode where Sam and Dr. Frasier had to figure out how to stop a base full of mind controlled men, good stuff.
@25TreK_Fan-
Well in the latest OUT magazine Chris Pine gives an interview where he mentions the importance of the Kirk/Spock/Bones trio and pretty much being the makings of a great team. So if anything at least CPine remembers the better days :)
I will now await those few who will whine at me for calling them “the better days” lol
Its not that Uhura can’t fight, its just I have no interest in seeing her fight.
#42 In Anthony’s review he says the Big3 are still very much in evidence, which was a big relief to hear.
@gingerly in general.
You really need to stop putting words in peoples mouth. This IS the 21st century and nobody here has even hinted at a racial motivation except you. It’s sounds like paranoia.
I love Zoe Saldana’s take on Uhura. I think she’s done a lot with the character. That’s fine. In fact i’d say most of the supporting cast has gotten to do a bit more than their TOS counterparts did on an “average” episode. That’s great, too. The problem for people has nothing to do with race. It has to do with that very special core dynamic that made the original series so beloved in the first place. When you mess with that core, and change it’s level of importance for other relationships. You risk ruining the fundamental bedrock of the original Star Trek’s success.
You may disagree with myself and those who feel that way, but please do not imply it is racially or sexually motivated.
#39 oh dear, are you actually playing the race card? Shame on you.
Its not about race- and i’m shocked that you would think it is- its about Bones being a far more interesting character than Uhura. Nothing more, nothing less.
@44 and 45
If you two actually did your research you’d know that gingerly is paraphrasing from Nichelle’s biography, in which she speaks of her experience with racism on and off the set of Star Trek. That’s kind of common knowledge.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0629667/bio
So no paranoia, no putting words in mouths, no playing race cards. Uhura was stunted as a character because of the times she was created in. I’m sure if other circumstances were involved, she would have become a “more interesting character”. I’m assuming you’ve seen TOS? Then you will notice Rand more often making googly eyes at the Captain (placing her front and center of the camera), while Uhura quietly sits in the corner doing her job. A child could see that it was so blatant.
So this Uhura gets a piece of the action and that’s wrong? And who says that Bones is being replaced? We haven’t seen the movie yet so who knows. It sounds like a bunch of haters complaining about nothing.
Hater:
A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success. So rather than be happy they make a point of exposing a flaw in that person.
Hating, the result of being a hater, is not exactly jealousy. The hater doesn’t really want to be the person he or she hates, rather the hater wants to knock (someone else) down a notch.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hater
All this drama aside…
I’m really stoked about this movie! No amount of negativity will make me doubt this movie now. Don’t get me wrong. I was in doubt last late summer/early fall. I was wondering if this movie would see the light of day. I even went a few rounds with some posters here. And yet here it is! We have trailers, interviews, posters, etc., more than we could ask for. And of course there will be those who dislike it. That’s normal. But still… a week and 4 days (US) till showtime!
Also, here’s a compliment to Zoe. She is very well spoken and thoughtful in her interview. She genuinely seems to be a decent person who cares about what she’s doing. I’m very glad she got the privilege to play Uhura.
Chris Pine has no memories of those “better times”. He was born 11 years AFTER the TOS series was cancelled.
The Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship developed as more TOS episodes were made. It became important, such as we no doubt see such a development in this film series. However, they are showing that the communications officer, a bridge officer, who happens to be female, also has an important role to play. Nichelle’s Uhura was never given much of an opportunity that Zoe’s Uhura is. That’s a good thing.
This is much more of an ensemble team unlike the TOS series where it was more usual for there to be one main star (or two) with others barely getting a look in.
“Chris Pine has no memories of those “better times”. He was born 11 years AFTER the TOS series was cancelled”
Your point?
The fact that he was born 11 years after it was cancelled mean nothing. I was born 16 years after it was cancelled but even I remember the “better times”, anyone can by watching TOS reruns.
@44 Steve Johnson-
YES. Thank you for that comment. It’s so annoying to hear them complain about it being all about race and/or sex.
Look my WHOLE childhood was watching Star Trek with my friends and idolizing the team of Kirk, Spock and Bones. Being heroes that ran off to distant planets and saved them. It’s bothersome to see Bones get ignored. They say he has plenty to do in the new film, but I’ll wait and see for myself. He’s only had one poster and no character profiles (unlike Scotty, for some reason) or John Harrison messages (Uhura? Really?)
Neither Bones OR Uhura were on film posters in TOS films. Do they deserve to be on them? Yes, they both do. Only Uhura however has been getting them, and yes I now alot of it is because ZS is more famous but between the two characters, I will argue that Bones is more beloved and more fans would be pleased to see him on posters.
I gave the biggest eyeroll when they called her the soul of the Enterprise. This slowly feels less and less like any kind of Star Trek I knew. I hope when I watch the new film I’m proven wrong.
@32. Jonboc,
“They were never part of the larger picture, the show simply wasn’t structured to showcase the supporting cast.”
Anybody remember this little PR photo from the original series?
http://flic.kr/p/4vSvz9
Yeah, didn’t think so.
It seems to me had the times been different, Uhura’s role in Star Trek would have been much more involved. Seems like even in 1966 they were trying to market Star Trek with The only principal female in the cast.
FYI, Directv is currently using this PR photo as the image for TOS listings in the program guide.