Orci Opines on Pine

One Star Trek actor that still remains a bit of an unknown is Chris Pine, the new Kirk. Today SciFi Wire has put up some more quotes from the SciFi magazine interview with Star Trek co-writer and executive producer Roberto Orci that provide some insight into why the actor was chosen for the iconic role, as well as giving some insight into how the film makers are approaching the character…

Chris Pine has two things which are very difficult to find simultaneously. He has the maverick nature of an extremely motivated, cocky guy who doesn’t play by the rules, who is intelligent enough and can command sufficient respect to be an astronaut.

But Pine also conveys the intelligence of a starship captain. It’s difficult to find a good-looking guy who you would believe can fill the old Kirk shoes of getting into a fist fight while also having a Ph.D. in astrophysics. That’s a tough one, because you need that as he has to face the intelligence of Mr. Spock [played in his younger years by Zachary Quinto]. Chris has a great sense of humor but is also able to get serious on a dime to step in and out of leadership while being fun.

See more at SciFi Wire [Note: they are leading with the angle that a role for Shatner is still possible, but regular TrekMovie.com readers should know that already for previous reports here as well as comments from Mr. Orci himself]

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Hope he has the chops to stand shoulder to shoulder with Spock.

1ST!

Great!!

hope he wears brown contacts

I’d agree with that. But I’d also add to that, Pine also will need to walk that fine line of having that cocky attitude (at times) while possessing great charm and charisma at the same time. Not an easy tast since most people who act cocky are usually very annoying.

No wonder they chose him as kirk:

http://s2.supload.com/free/0003.jpeg/view/

They definitely have their work cut out for them. They are going to have to show the germination of a friendship between two characters that we the viewing public have grown to know and love for 40+ years; and make it believable with entirely new faces. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’s going to be a challenge.

I hope Orci is right. if so, sounds like he’d be perfect!

#4: Oh good lord. He doesn’t need to wear brown contacts.

People… watch Chris Pine in his relatively small but high-impact role in Smokin’ Aces…

I know my concerns were out the window as soon as I did.

#6,

Oh God. Is he singing Mr. Tambourine Man in that picture?

I still claim bragging rights for suggesting Pine in the first place (message 104 here: https://trekmovie.com/2007/07/27/tabloid-rumor-robbie-williams-as-kirk/). :D

9 – why not? Routh wore blue for Superman as he had to have the same eye colour as reeve

There has been a lot of fan talk about the design of the Enterprise, how Quinto will look with the ears, whether Shatner will be in the movie, etc. etc. However, there is an 800 lb. gorilla in the room that people are just now starting to talk about: Chris Pine as Kirk.

For my money, the movie will look like a (150) million bucks, it will be cool to see Trek on the screen, seeing Nimoy again will be awesome, but the ultimate success of the movie will be how convincing Chris Pine portrays Kirk. Shatner was by far the best actor on the show, particularly in the first two seasons. Playing a strong leader is not easy to do. Pine has to meld the intellect of Spock and the humanity of Macoy, plus woo the women and kick *ss all at the same time.

Pine will make or break this movie.

^4 Snake

Doesn’t The Shat have hazel eyes?

BUT STILL NO CAROL MARCUS!!!!

Picard/Marcus 2008
Because It’s the Smart Way to Vote

#4:
Yes, contacts are a must, as well as this:

http://www.darrenscollection.com/Masks/kirk2.JPG

Orci should “opine” on Shatner not Pine.

Starring Christopher Pine as “William Shatner”

4. Don’t worry, I’m sure one of the Star Trek nerds out there(not the Trek geeks – of which I am proudly one) will do a digital remaster with all the old crew’s faces and voices…eventually(we all know its the geeks that actually get the job done). So just sit back for, say, another five or ten years and you will get the exact movie you want.

Still haven’t checked out Smokin’ Aces. Gotta put that on my to-do list after the holidays.

LOL @ 18!!!!!

What Orci said about Pine as young Kirk sounds promising at a quick glance. Cockiness and wit surely are important ingredients of that particular character, but it takes much more to bring out Kirk’s depth and distinctiveness. Especially as STXI will be dealing with a pre-TOS timeline, it’s Kirk’s tentativeness and his self-doubt, G. Mitchell is hinting at in WNMHGB, which are essential elements to be highlighted. Kirk is an amazingly multi-layered personality – showing just few pages of the book won’t do him justice.

#17
Yes, and it’s quite significant that the Pine article is leading with the Shatner role angle.

19 – Pine wearing contacts isnt overkill – its just bringing him closer in looks to that of the shatner…

eye colour makes quite a difference in a persons looks

#15 – I was really hoping Carol Marcus would be in this…oh well. I found this out about the same time that I realized that the composer for the Incredibles is also doing Star Trek (yes, I am a little slow, I don’t read this all the time, I was forced kicking and screaming to have a life, but I digresss… >;>}), so the coolness of that and the bummer of no Carol Marcus kind of cancelled each other out. Plus the news (or supposition) that the movie is going to be non-linear, like Lost, is not exactly encouraging either. So currently I am much more cautiously slightly pessimistic at this point.
Hazel contacts for Pine!

#13 – No, Routh had to wear blue contacts to have the same eye color as SUPERMAN.

Are we Trek fans really now so petty that we gripe if the new actor doesn’t have the same eye color as the original actor? Seriously? Do all the Bonds have the same eye color? More importantly, was Bond’s eye color ever a matter of fact like Superman’s? I don’t think so and I don’t think it matters what friggin’ eye color Kirk or Spock or Sulu have. It’s whether the actor can pull off the character, not whether they look like the OLD actor who pulled it off in the 60’s – 80’s.

Tell me we’re not discussing eye color again. Hazel, schmazel. Contacts, schmontacts. Whatever.

I like Orci’s take on the character. I like Pine. I agree that everyone who’s worried should see his tiny but vivid part in Smokin’ Aces (though frankly, you could chuck the rest of the movie). And in Princess Diaries 2 he’s quite charming in a Kirky-cocky sort of way. He’s a handsome fellow and a smart one, and he has a good voice, and he’s willing to ham it up when the occasion demands, and he’s funny, and and these are all good things, and everyone should just relax about his blue eyes. Give the boy a chance.

I’m darn glad _I’M_ not in this movie. I’d be terrified of the fandom!

If Bill gets his ‘appearance’ in this, then Chris will surely have the ‘contacts’…

And if he doesn’t, it’s hardly worth caring about…

To clarify –
If Bill doesn’t get his ‘appearance that is.

19. If you even care for one second about the color of the eyes, then there is no possible way you will like this movie. What about the color of the hair, or the depth of the receded hairline, or the shape of the ears, or the overall height in relation to the other characters(etc., etc.)? Worrying about the eye color IS overkill, or the worst kind. You can’t possibly enjoy the movie if you are that much of a picker of nits.

Chris Pine’s the only good thing in the lame-ass movie Just My Luck..and for that I give him 100 points..
I’ve also seen him in other movies and I found him to be charming,funny, energetic,cocky-in a likable way,smart and serious…and I agree with #25 he has a really great voice almost kirk-like

1ST!

wait, nvm.

:P

Oops 28 was meant to be @22. Sorry

I agree with the poster above that states the success of this one rests heavily on Chris.
I’m really rooting for him, but he has a HUGE ask on his hands.

no wonder they chose him as kirk part II

http://s2.supload.com/free/photo_16.jpg/view/

I just read the ful article.. and it seems it the fans fault that Bill isn’t in it as we are ‘sticklers for canon’. !!
Mr Orci- just this once I think most will happlily forget it or live with it.
Get it done!

he looks like a schoolboy,and DOESNT look he has the authority he needs for a starfleet officer like J.T.kirk!
come on people dont epect anything like the legacy movies we saw from the 80s!!!
mr jj you are playing with fire!
as for the uss ncc 1701 dont you dare mr jj to touch anything!

I’m waiting for the first comment that Chris must shave portions of his head, and then get a mid-1960’s vintage toupee — or, if he doesn’t, the movie will suck.

I actually have to agree with most of Iowagirl’s post #21.

I go lie down, now.

#37. hah!
Put a crappy Beatles wig on Anton Yeltsin’s head, too.

And while we’re at it, doesn’t Simon Pegg have all 10 fingers? Maaaaajor continuity problem.

#36. C’mon, he’s playing the YOUNG kirk!

to paraphrase simonkey. . .

mr jj go ahead and play with fire. dont you dare mr jj make a bad movie thats all i ask!!

#4 #16 #22

of all the cosmetic, fan-boy erection having, william shatner worshiping, cannon fa-lay-shing, circle jerking talkin’ about brown eyes….

…. who flippin’ cares?

1-18 can’t get here soon enough.

I’m surprised no one said Pine needs to be able to overact. Uh, I mean… I hope the new Enterprise has wings and flame detailing on the side. That would be awesome! Oh, and dice hanging from a fake rear view mirror at the helm.

On a more serious note, I can’t friggin’ wait for this movie.

#38

I am appropriately filled with consternation. ;-)

“… And an untried captain!”

Two things yet to be proved: The writer’s ability to do justice to these legendary characters. They are as untried at writing Kirk and Spock as Pine is at playing Captain Kirk. So like post #21 you are right Kirk is as much a self doubting charactcer in his past (and throughout the original series, Balance of Terror, Ultimate Computer). He’s as much a flawed character as he is a tactical genius (this continued even up til the 6th movie and crept in, in the first film too).

What makes Kirk 3 dimensional is as much his flaws as his strengths. McCoy and Spock can dillute those flaws when one of them wins him over; and in most cases convert them together into winning strategies.

As for the Shatner issue, if that interview was November, filming likely had started the script was finished, the strike on.

THEY KNOW. THEY KNOW!

They are either teasing to conceal a great surprise. Or they are back pedalling and letting it drag on so not to damage the movie.

It would be classic if when the movie comes out, Pine’s portrayal pales in comparison to James Cawley’s.

A uniform thought:
Whether or not what we’ve glimpsed so far are valid uniforms, compared to what’s come in the past, objectively, they are FAR cooler looking, I think.

24 – well Dean Cain had brown eyes when he played superman…but because Routh was playing the Christopher reeve version of superman he had to wear the contacts..

#13 — “why not? Routh wore blue for Superman as he had to have the same eye colour as reeve”

Actually, Routh wore blue contacts because traditionally Superman/Clark Kent has been depicted as having blue eyes in the comics. His other two live-action versions, Reeves and Cain didn’t have blue eyes; the former brown and the latter black.

Have to agree with #21 Iowagirl; Kirk is a highly-intelligent man, who is as complex a character as Spock. He is a suburb tactician, smart enough to recognize what Spock is thinking, a skilled starship pilot, a bookworm (“a stack of books with legs”), a deep-thinker (“in his class you either think or sink”) and filled with a underlying self-doubt especially in the early 1st season. And I am glad that Orci and the others on the production recognize that he is more than his generalized public perception of a space cowboy and womanizer.

Of course he should have hazel contacts, that’s a given. The character of James T. Kirk was born into the body of William Shatner and through TV shows, movies, comics. novels and even a lunch box or two, over the past 40 years, this character, in an official capacity, has ALWAYS been a likeness of William Shatner. Not always the best likeness, but a likeness none the less. The character of Kirk in Star Trek 2008 is no exception.

James T. Kirk has hazel colored eyes. If this movie is not a reboot, as the producers claim, just give Pine contacts and move on.

47 – EXACTLY

#39

ohhh… you’re RIGHT!

Me? I’m going to be really PISSED if they don’t have service crawlways with pipes labelled “GNDN.”

Considering that ZQ’s prosthetic ears include prosthetic earlobes, I shouldn’t be at all surprised by contact lenses for Pine.

And, seriously, those photos of Pine doing Shat-hands in other roles actually do kind of show he has the same physicality as Shatner.

BTW, my spellchecker doesn’t believe in Shatner (or, indeed, “spellchecker”) but is happy to accept “shat-hands”. Hmmm…