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.
Spock’s father Sarek has appeared a total of eight times over the Star Trek franchise (including four out of six of the TOS feature films). The first appearance was in the TOS episode “Journey to Babel” where it was first established he was a Federation Ambassador. That episode also revealed that Spock’s decision to go to Starfleet Academy instead of the Vulcan Science Academy created an estrangement between father and son. Sarek was last seen at the time of his death in the two part TNG episode “Unification” which also featured Leonard Nimoy playing Spock. More on Sarek at Memory Alpha.
Lenard and Cross…the original and new Sareks
Ben Cross has dozens of film and TV roles to his name starting with a small role in the 1976 WW II movie A Bridge Too Far. He has appeared in a number of genre projects over his career including starring as the vampire Barnabas Collins in the 1991 mini-series remake of Dark Shadows. Cross played an alien in the 1997 low budget sci-film The Invader in which he starred with Sean Young. Cross’ latest genre project was the direct-to-video Species: The Awakening where he starred alongside Star Trek Enteprise’s Dominic Keating. The actor also recently appeared with DS9’s Alexander Siddig in the 2006 TV Movie Hannibal: Rome’s Worst Nightmare and with TNG’s Marina Sirtis in the 2007 TV Movie Grendel.
More on Cross:IMDB Page | Wikipedia Page | Official Site
Cross on Video
Tribute Video with clips from Dark Shadows
Trailer for Species: The Awakening
Nice choice. Under-rated actor who has spent the last 20 years doing crap-tastic movies. This could be interesting….
First?
Oh….my….God!
BRILLIANT! Ben Cross has been one of my favorites for years.
#1: He’s one of the reasons why I watched a lot of those craptastic movies. “Grendel,” anyone? I actually sat through it ‘cuz he was in it.
Had no idea he was 59, tho.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
#2 edited to add:
And he was fantastic as Barnabas Collins, BTW. He was actually scary. ;-)
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
Nice choice – though I still wonder how they’ll address the Winona Ryder thing. Good make-up, I’m guessing, unless we see Amanda at one point in time and Sarek in another.
Fantastic resemblance to Mark Lenard, though.
A very interesting choice. His background and experience should lend itself well to portraying the classic character of Star Trek, one the most loved guest characters in Star Trek history.
I can certainly see him outshine Winona Ryder with ease.
Woah, that’s inspired casting!
This and Uhura could be the best casting so far. And maybe Zach Quinto too. Gotta see him in action though.
Nice choice! This is shaping up to be inspired casting all the way around, except, of course, Simon Pegg, who is totally wrong to play Scotty!! What a STUPID decision!!
Before you start writing an objection to that last comment….think about it….you SHOULD know, in your heart of hearts, that I’m right!!
Awesome casting!!!
Ben Cross… now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Sounds good to me.
He looks just like the Original Sarek. I hope he does well in the role.
YES!
I Like him a whole lot!
And Re:#8, I think Pegg will be a FINE SCOTTY!
So far I like all the news about what JJ&Co. are doing with this Trek. The one exception may be all the rumors about the “new look” ship.
However, until I see some pics or read a CONFIRMED report about “wings” or other such design changes I will keep an open mind because they seem to get it! […and the casting of Cross proves that they are on the right path!]
Oh yea, thats the guy :)
Great Casting.
Species : The Awakening looks bleeding awful though. Dominic Keating really can’t act. He was good in Enterprise but he’s been awful in everything else i’ve seen him in.
Groovy.
Ooooooooooo I like this. Awesome!
Me so horny = Ben Cross
A great choice for Sarek.
The casting thus far has been outstanding, IMO. Even Simon Pegg, who I think will make a great Scotty. The only two I’m wondering about (wondering, not worrying) are Karl Urban as McCoy and John Cho as Sulu. But we’ll see how they do.
cant wait to see sarek do the 4 minute mile!!!
“i must take my leave of you now! do you have a message for your mother?”
” yes! tell her – beetlejuice!”
Okay, that’s weird. Ben Cross’s daughter was one of my college buddies. I’ve met young Sarek. Weird. Weird. Weird.
An excellent casting choice! His looks and voice are perfect for the role!
Great call! “Chariots of Fire” is my favorite film of all time. Cross was outstanding in it. And let’s not forget who was his girlfriend in that movie – the Borg Queen herself (and lookin’ good!). By the way, #4, I think it’s always been assumed Sarek, as a long-lived Vulcan (over 200 when he died in “Unification,” and if one swallows hard and accepts ST:V as canon, married previously), was much older than Amanda, so no extra makeup necessary.
Inspired… I think he’s a great choice. He’s got the look and the voice i think he’ll do fine… I also agree with the majority on the Pegg issue, that really was inspired casting!
I really cant wait now… is it just Kirks Mum and Henchman 2 to cast?
#23
– I really cant wait now… is it just Kirks Mum and Henchman 2 to cast? –
No, it’s not.
hi im new here..ben cross definatley has a reseblance to mark lenard, as to simon pegg, i was watching an old comedy show called ‘big train ‘ on bbc the other night and he does a very good scottish accent.
I’m not familiar with Cross’s work, but he certainly looks the part.
He also gets points for coming out of the English acting tradition.
Ben Cross is a great choice for Sarek.
I agree with #18 – Simon Pegg will be fine. My only concern with the casting is Karl Urban. McCoy was slim (almost slight), thoughtful, articulate, and humane. Urban has made a career of playing the big, dumb, bombastic action hero; from LOTR to Chronicles of Riddick to Doom.
It remains to be seen whether he’s a good enough actor to radically shift gears and play a totally different personality.
I think this ugly photograph doesn’t do his face any justice, but after seeing that first tribute video, I’m sold :)
#8 Harry
Come on Harry–give Simon a chance. If he is an actor, perhaps he has the chops to make this work. After all, none of us were there at auditions or screen tests. Just because an actor has never done a role of this type before does not mean they are not up to it now. I figure since Chris Doohan likes the choice, how man can it be?
#26
For the record, your’s is my favorite screen name. And the choir says Amen!
Perfect. It is nice to see that they are going for talent above names.
Wow – there’s a blast from the past. Great choice.
This guy was great in Dark Shadows. He’ll make a fine Sarek.
Ben Cross is a very good actor who’s flown below the radar for years; he’ll make a good Sarek. Given the disparity in age between him and Winona Ryder, I wonder if they interact with Spock at different periods in his life.
I really like most the cast Abrams has put together. Simon Pegg and John Cho both seem too offbeat given the histroy of the characters they play but hopefuly it will all work out in the end.
Actually, the older age works very well… Remember, Sarek was at least 50 years older than Amanda… when we first met him, he was already onver 100 years old. A great age difference is not a problem, and we could be seeing Amanda while she’s pregnant, or before Spock, perhaps.
Great choice, haven’t heard anything from him in years. I used to have to draw his mug for the Dark Shadows comic!
I tend to agree with Harry , but I recently parts of Shaun of the dead, while ther were seens that reminded me of touble with Tribbles, Iam not wholly convinced about pegg. Ben Cross, that is a name I have not seen in sometime. But Late next year we shall see who is right, where oh where has my TARDIS Gone.
6
Agreed.
That’ll work! They are doing pretty good with this casting: picking actors that are known but outside the normal fan picks and trigger that “a-ha” reaction. Keep up the good work!
Excellent casting – on its face, up there with Quinto and Greenwood.
Since Sarek is at least in his sixties or seventies at the time of Spock’s birth (using McCoy’s vague reference to his age in “Journey To Babel”) it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see him as visibly much older than Amanda if we hop back to Spock’s early life – she’d be a relatively young woman married to a much older man.
Maybe a little creepy looking, but (sorry) logical.
Wow. Excellent choice. Ben Cross is good and “known” enough to give the role some heft, but just off the radar enough not to bring a lot of baggage with him.
I’ve always liked Cross, especially since a cute English girl once told me, “I fancy you look like Ben Cross!” I fancy she was being kind.
Scott B. out.
They should name this movie , Star Trek XI : Meet the Parents.
LAST! Just kidding.
^40 “Meet the parents”
God forbid, it’s looking like that. Et tu, Abrams?
What a great break for a good actor! I think of Peter Cushing (and for that matter Christopher Lee) getting some Star Wars attention after long careers. I loved the remake of Dark Shadows, and some of the other projects Cross has been in.
Wondering though, considering the ages of the characters of Amanda and Sarek, where this actually fits in. Spock as a 10 year old, maybe? Do we get to see him play with his Teddy Bear, a la Yesteryear?
I like this choice. I was worried they’d go for some blandly handsome, all-American looking 30 year old who had none of Lenard’s striking features or his gravitas. Cross works for me.
I still agree w/ Harry re. Pegg, though. The Scottish guy from Stargate was way better for the part; Pegg likely got it because of his built-in geek fanbase. Oh well.
I wonder, after reading what has been written here on TM.com, what comments would have been generated in 1965/1966 about the specific casting choices (not the characters, about which, I believe, much has been written) made for (a) The Cage and (b) WNMHGB?
Hmmm…
The more I consider the casting the least likely I believe that this need be a time travel episode. With parents of various ages around it feels more more of “time jumping” situation. Something Abrams excels at, BTW. But then again, I don’t know from tribbleshit about screenwriting.
Gee Harry B., I adore your posts but I really think Pegg is amazing and will pleasantly surprise us. In “Hot Fuzz” he plays a very straight man to everything else around him, and that’s the hardest part of comedy: don’t expect any “jokes” from Pegg in this film guys, he’ll get any laughs at all, if there are any, by reacting to the uptight command people around him. “Up yer shaft” style.
But then I don’t know from Andorian Pissflaps about acting. I could be so wrong.
29. Admiraldeem –
Cheers!
Great Choice. The casting has been great so far.
I don’t know why everybody is down on Simon Pegg. He is a versatile actor who seems that he can play both dramatic and comedy roles. I think he will be a standout. Watch the audience cheer when he says something “Scotty” :)
I wonder if they’ll reference Sarek’s makeup on Lenard and make the ears for Cross full Vulcan, and not like Spock’s? That would be a nice touch. Full-Vulcan ears were always different on TOS.
# Harry Ballz
I certainly know in MY heart that you’re right about ‘Scotty’… ;)
Never that keen on Ben Cross, but I reckon he’s got a good enough look to be ‘Spock’s Dad’…
Excellent… there is only one minor problem.
Journey to Babel seems to establish that Kirk had not met Sarek and Amanda until that point, so there’s a bit of a limitation on how involved Sarek can be throughout the script, and sadly… any sequels, unless they jump beyond JTB…