Articles by Anthony Pascale

The New Spock, Zachary Quinto will be gracing a cover of FHM in what they are calling “most limited edition FHM of all time!” It will not be on news stands, but the special January Quinto issue can be ordered at FHM.com. An excerpt from his interview is at Empire, where Quinto notes that he “never imagined science fiction would be a catalyst” for his career. But he seems to have embraced it, adding: There’s a core faith in the human condition that exists in a lot of science fiction, but in particular Star Trek and Heroes, and I don’t think there’s any mistake I’m aligned with that.

Anton Yelchin, Chekov in the new Star Trek, is really on a roll. In addition to Trek he will appear in 3 other 2008 films. And now it looks like he might move from his Starfleet uniform to some red tights. Superhero Hype is reporting that the 18 year-old actor is one of the up-and-comers attached to the Warner Brothers’ Justice League movie currently slated for 2009, playing the Flash (aka Wally West). For now it is just a rumor and a competing rumor puts Adam Brody in the role. Plus it is likely the WGA strike will cause a delay in the film. Regardless the future seems bright for the new Chekov.

Well the casting for Star Trek is pretty close to complete, so how about a story about people who were almost in it. In an interview with MTV, Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant revealed that he and director J.J. Abrams met about an unnamed part in the film which was followed up by “a series of conversations” and “lots of emails.” At 39 it seems a good guess that Olyphant was likely up for the role of Bones or maybe the villain Nero. In the end the actor says they made a mutual decision it wasn’t going to work out, but Olyphant remains a huge fan of Abrams and noted “I’m sure he got the best cast.”

More shots from Star Trek’s location shoot last week have shown up on a French website. Check out at Buzzline for 15 shots. If you missed it, the first shots are JFX Online

TrekMovie.com first reported that Spock’s father Sarek would appear in the new Star Trek and now we can report who will be playing him. After receiving a tip, TrekMovie.com has confirmed with a trusted source that 59 year-old English actor Ben Cross will be playing Sarek. Cross himself has seemingly confirmed it as well, as Star Trek is listed on his official site. Spock’s Vulcan father was originally played by the late Mark Lenard. Cross may be best known for his his starring role in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. More recently the actor has seen in Exorcist: The Beginning and the BBC mini-series Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial. Cross will be playing across the 36 year-old Winona Ryder who is portraying Spock’s human mother Amanda Grayson.

Zachary Quinto has finally donned his ears and is currently at work portraying Spock in new Star Trek movie. In a interview with Cult Times the actor talks about the similarities between Trek and his regular gig with NBC’s Heroes: The consciousness of these projects is something that is overwhelmingly optimistic and hopeful and leads people towards finding our potential. It’s hard to articulate, but it’s the human condition. It’s what we can create and what we can accomplish. That’s what we need to be reminded of right now.

Bruce Greenwood, the new Captain Pike, is getting ready to dive into the pond that is Trek fandom. In an interview with Blackfilm.com, the actor stated that taking on the role of Pike is a “similar dilemma” to his role as President John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days, noting “No matter who you are playing or what you are playing. You do a movie and people criticize it.” But when asked which role he thinks would be harder, Greenwood said Pike was “riskier” than JFK because “the Trekkies are more likely to have expectations that are cut marble.” Read the rest at Blackfilm.com

Hundreds of would-be Trek stars showed up Saturday at the open casting call for Star Trek. Casting officials would only refer to the project by the code name “Corporate Headquarters,” but did acknowledge that it was a big (but not unprecedented) turnout. More pics and video below

The new Captain Pike is now talking Star Trek. While out doing media related to his role in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, Bruce Greenwood answered some Trek questions. The veteran actor told MTV “I am the second incarnation” of Chris Pike. [actually counting Sean Kenney, Greenwood would be the third] Greenwood said that he is due on the set in three weeks and that he already had his costume fitting, saying “I think there will be a certain nod to the 60s.” Although he remains as tight lipped as everyone in relation to the project, he did confirm the we would not see him in the famous ‘Pike Chair,’ telling MTV “that’s been done.”

Last week TrekMovie.com revealed that Spock’s parents will be appearing in the new Star Trek movie. And now Variety is reporting that Winona Ryder has landed the part of Spock’s human mother Amanda Grayson, a role originally played by the late Jane Wyatt. The Oscar-nominated veteran of dozens of films may be the best known member of the Star Trek cast so far. At 36, Ryder is only six years older than Zachary Quinto who plays Spock. It is possible that Ryder (and perhaps the actor playing Spock’s father Sarek) will be seen in some sort of flashback to Spock’s childhood or adolescence.