Nimoy Talks Trek, Spock and New Photography Book

After 40 years, Leonard Nimoy is still amazed and grateful for the popularity ‘Star Trek’ and his character, Mr. Spock. In an interview with The Jewish Chronicle, the actor says he is "flattered, amused and delighted" that ‘Star Trek’ has endured

They were good stories, interesting stories, stories that are universal and stand up over time. Star Trek has never been a millstone. It has always given me opportunities to make choices about what to do with my work and my life.

Nimoy has nothing but respect for the fans who are responsible for that popularity. "I have three words for the Trekkies," he said. "God bless them"

Nimoy Loves Spock
Nimoy insists that he has no ambivalence towards Spock, as some have concluded from the title of his 1977 autobiography I Am Not Spock."Anyone who read the book would be able to tell that I enjoyed playing the Spock character," he says. "I loved the Spock character. Given the choice of any character in the history of television, I would have chosen Spock." It must be true, since Nimoy has opted to return to acting to play Spock in the new ‘Star Trek’ movie. Explaining his decision, Nimoy says:

A very talented man called JJ Abrams will be directing the movie. He has a very talented team of writers, and they have come up with a strong idea.

New Photography Project
Although Nimoy is returning to Trek and acting, fine art photography has been and still is his primary passion these days. The actor turned photographer says "I don’t have to deal with large organizations and I love being in control of the creative process." He is currently promoting his latest book, Full Body Project, a collection of photographs depicting mostly nude, obese women. Explaining this new project, Nimoy comments on America’s obsession with body weight. “There is an enormous industry built up around selling things to women to make them feel better about themselves, essentially telling them: ‘You don’t look right’," he says. "It’s a cruel message, because being that slim is an unattainable goal for most people.” He says that the women in his book "are comfortable with their bodies. They are unembarrassed, functioning, and,I think, happy people.”

 

For more, see the full interview at The Jewish Chronicle

 

Nimoy’s "Full Body Project" Photography Book Available At Amazon

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WOOHOO!

Yeah, very good interview and he is still praising jj…

“Playing Spock has allowed me to indulge in very strange hobbies.” ;)

I have little confidence in this project but it is quite amazing that the guy can still be playing this character 40+ years later. Why he would want to sign on to this thing I don’t know, but to his credit, he is still wanted for it.
Since they are going to do this thing, I see no sense to having Nimoy without Shatner. Shouldn’t be that hard to contrive some scenario where both can be in it if they can come up with the ridiculous idea of recasting their parts.
As for the people who have been cast so far, it makes little difference who they are. I will not believe in them as those characters any more than I do those in New Voyages.
They can make a movie and maybe even a good movie on its own terms, but it will not be Star Trek.

Nimoy+Shatner-MUST HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nimoy endorses the new movie, and a Nimoy endorsement means quality. The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins is proof!

OK, that was below the belt. Mr. Nimoy, my apologies, if you happen to actually read that.

Actually I think that he does have a keen eye for what works and what doesn’t work, which is why I respect his decision not to appear in Generations. I think this movie is going to kick ass, and those who can’t deal with the fact that we won’t have a 70 year old Kirk without Scotty or Bones will just have to skip the movie so that they may protect the sanctity of their memories.

Once upon a time Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, and the rest of them had to audition for the parts of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. They were not born into those roles and while they may have exercised some degree of creative control over the years, they are not the characters and the characters are not them.

Yeah, let’s find a way to bring the guy back..ONE.. MORE.. TIME… and please announce it soon, the BBS campaign on the threads was old months ago.

well said NZ

THERE BE WHALES DOWN HERE !!!

Man time flies. Its been 21 years since he last played Spock!!!!!! Holy frakkin’ saints.

So when will we have a thread where one of the first five posts is NOT someone whining about casting choices?

9.
When there is no more trekmovie.com. That’s when the casting complaints will end.

Well we already had a Shatner post so the casting choice one can’t be too far away. :)

“Trek been very very good to me.”

9. “So when will we have a thread where one of the first five posts is NOT someone whining about casting choices?”

It’s the internet. Whining is the only thing fanboys do around here. ;)

Can’t wait to see Mr. Nimoy back in action. Please bring Mr Shatner back with you.

#8. CanuckLou –

Timeflies but not quite that fast. Nimoy played Spock in “Unification” (2 TNG episodes) and Star Trek VI, both in 1991. So it’s 16 years, not 21.
Still, it’s a long time, and I for one am thankful that we (Nimoy and us) are around to see him as Spock again.

and #4- Nzorak- good point.

Others have said it in other articles the past couple days but it is logical to think Shatner will play old Kirk in the finale of the film, once Spock restores the timeline. And the choices Kirk makes as result avoids his nexus fate in Generations. Nice and tidy…and logical. I have consumed animal flesh and enjoyed it…what is wrong with me?

I’ve said this before, here.

Nimoy is one of the very few people in front or behind the camera that gets Trek. He’s been very protective of Spock as a character during and since TOS.

His willingness to participate in this movie (say, rather than Generations) speaks volumes in and of itself.

2. Stanky…

It seems increasingly obvious that Nimoy is playing an ancient, post-TNG “Future Spock” in the new film, which will finally – 21 years later! – resolve one of the biggest dangling plot threads in Trek lore… namely,whatever happened to Spock after “Unification”? Given that, logic (and canon/continuity) dictates Shatner cannot appear in the new film as Kirk, since Kirk is long since dead at that point.

Also, I hate to break it to you, but you don’t actually get to decide that the new movie “will not be Trek”. By definition (and, um, _reality_), it will be.

Correction – 16 years later. (Thanks, Gary.)

#16

Spock tells Kirk not to try to save the people in that cargo ship that’s trapped trying to get into the Nexus so that….

The Enterprise-D never crashes, so that….

The Enterprise never had the down time between Generations, where many crew members were reassigned, so that….

When Shinzon decided to kill the Romulan Senate, a different starship responded, and lost some of their key personnel stopping him, so that….

Data is still alive and takes over as first officer aboard the Enterprise when Riker takes command of the Titan.

Now it’s all nice and tidy, and logical.

I too have consumed animal flesh and enjoyed it…. nothing is wrong with me.

Well, Robogeek, I can decide for myself whatever I want…and your speculation as to the era of the Nimoy Spock appearance is just that….speculation.
For those “optimistic” people out there, good for you.
I hope that whatever this turns out to be meets your expectations.

I will be satisfied either way.

21. Esteemed Mr. McFibberich, I hate to pull a Spock on you, but to claim that you “can decide for myself whatever I want” is highly illogical. You can’t decide that the Sun orbits around the Earth, or that the moon is made of cheese, or that 1+1 = 3, or that the new Star Trek movie won’t be a Star Trek movie. Sorry. It’s Star Trek, regardless of what you think of it.

That said, you can of course decide whether or not you personally think the movie is worthy of the Star Trek name and mantle. (For whatever it’s worth, I happen to think Enterprise wasn’t, and for that matter I don’t think Lucas’ prequels were worthy of being called Star Wars – but sadly I have no existential authority regarding either.)

But I do appreciate the rest of your post (though I wouldn’t be so sure that what I wrote about Spock is merely speculative).

I am indeed in the (cautiously) optimistic camp, and take considerable comfort in Nimoy’s involvement/blessing/endorsement/validation (not to mention Abrams’ track record, and most of what he and his collaborators have said publicly about the project so far).

Quoth the Vulcan, “there are always possibilities.”

WOAH:

“Although he states adamantly that he loves his life as a photographer, he will be acting at least one more time — as Mr Spock. He will be shooting the latest Star Trek instalment in the next three to four months, along with many of the surviving members of the original cast.”

Correct me if I wrong, but Nimoy is the only member of the original cast confirmed for XI. I doubt this quote is anything more than a reporter getting his facts wrong, but it is…fascinating…nonetheless.

P.S. #22 — Sure he can say the Sun orbits around the Earth, etc…all he has to do is take his measurements from a non-inertial frame (earth), redefine ordering of the integers, and…uh, redefine cheese? ;)

It will be “fascinating” to watch Mr. Nimoy don the pointed ears one last time!

#23 Or does he know something we don’t? *hopes*

#20… What about Guinan? She was ‘beamed away’ from the NEXXUS. She helped Picard many times in TNG, including his first and second enounter with the BORG. Without her help, the Federation might have been assimilated! She is to important to TNG for Kirk to not have intervined.

There really is no ‘tidy’ way to clean it up, with the exception of somehow saving him from the Nexxus, or at the momment of his death (perhaps the KIRK on the ground who Picard burried was really a hologram with a holo-emitter on him, while the real Kirk was beamed away by Spock before he touched the ground!!! Hahahha!! That works!!! ) :)

Horray for the Ballad of Bilbo Bagins. I saw that On Lord of the Rings documentary and I was like “What the…That’s spock, singing about Bilbo Baggins” But then it occured to me that the poor guy was doing anything to keep his family aflot. So, I forgive him for the ridiclous tune.

I believe Mr. Nimoy (if I call him Lenny, he’ll neck pinch me) has both a critical and commercial eye. I think that for him to jump back onboard ship after so many years, there has to be some substance to this project AND it will probably appeal to a mass audience. Nothin’ wrong with that. If we want Trek to stick around, we gotta get some masses into the theatres.

Once again, People, the LAST thing Paramount is going to do is refilm sizable potions of a previous film to ‘re-do’ something. Remember- to change Generations, they need to have AT LEAST Stewart and McDowell, neither of which probably would want to rehash something that they did 16 years ago.

All ideas for Shatner’s return down to these generalities:

A) Changing the timeline to allow JTK ot survive Generations. This accounts for Shatner’s aging.

B) Using JTK previous to Generations. This would NOT account for WS’s aging.

C) Shatner playing some other character, probably a relative. Most likely would be James’ father. What do we know about Kirk Sr. ? The Making of Star Trek quotes from the Writer’s Guide that he’s dead by the time of Kirk taking command of Enterprise.

D) WS doing something like a voiceover. I’ve said before that the easiest way to bring Sahtner in is to Spock read Kirk’s memoirs, and have an introductory narration. The main problem is that Nimoy basically doesn’t do ANYTHING except read/listen…

Any other possibilties that I’m missing?

Has anyone picked up Shekhina, Mr Nimoy’s first photgraphy book? Great cover!