More Trek Talk From Quinto

It’s been at least a couple weeks since we heard anything from Zachary Quinto, so let’s rectify that some excerpts from an interview (seemingly conducted before Star Trek film began filming) in the new issue of the official Heroes magazine. The actor discusses what drew him to the role of Spock, the negotiation and makeup process, his relationship with Leonard Nimoy and a hypothetical battle between Spock and Sylar.

Quinto states the he was not a Trekkie while growing up. He explains:

I was a peripheral fan. I had seen a few episodes and a couple of movies, but I wasn’t really into the franchise. I was more drawn to the characters and the point in their lives that we meet them. I was drawn to the character elements of the story rather than the international success of the franchise.

Quinto explains that he knew he had won the role of Spock six weeks before it was officially announced at Comic Con in June, describing it as "a very difficult secret to keep." However, he admits:

I told a few people I was very close to, but I waited until the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week we made the announcement to spread the word to the wider circle of my friends and family so they weren’t completely taken by surprise.

He describes the negotiation process he endured for the role as “long” and "drawn-out.” He explains:

Obviously, it is a huge project, to negotiate the terms of the contract, but also to negotiate the schedule, and to get [the Heroes people] to let me do it. [Heroes creator] Tim Kring was behind it from the beginning. He, [Star Trek director and producer] J.J. Abrams, and [Trek producer] Damon Lindelof are basically the three people to whom I ultimately owe gratitude for this.

Quinto also discusses his working relationship with the original Spock,
Leonard Nimoy:

I’ve had many cool conversations with that guy. He’s endlessly fascinating to me, really intriguing, and a genuine, deep artist. I feel real fortunate to not only have his blessing, but have his involvement in this endeavor. It is going to be enormously helpful and inspiring to work as closely as I already am.

Quinto could not wait to see the final results of his makeup. Having just made a plaster mold of his head and silicon casts of his ears the previous week, Quinto states:

I am really excited to see the technology and how they the ears are made and applied. It is going to be a lot of meditating in the chair, since I imagine it is going to be at least an hour and a half between my ears and eyebrows. … It will also really inform the character hugely to actually have the ears and step into the character from a physical perspective and balance out the emotional work I’ll be doing leading up to production.

Lastly, Quinto was asked who would win in a battle between Spock and Sylar, Quinto’s evil character from Heroes.

That is a tough position to put me in, because who would I want to come in first? Good always has to triumph at some point… Or it could be "The Wrath of Sylar?" We’ll see…

We will?!

The full interview, including Quinto’s insights on Sylar can be found in The Heroes Official Magazine #2


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FUN

Now that’s out of the way, I am getting more excited about this film by the day. It seems to me that Quinto is very down to earth, and appreciative of his good fortune. What an honor to be able to have the blessing and friendship of Leonard Nimoy.
Is it Christmas yet?

I’m pretty excited about this! I think Zachary Quinto will be an awesome Spock. I love his Sylar, and I think he definitely has the skill to play a great Vulcan, though Spock and Sylar are rather, uh, different. Quinto is the cast member I have complete confidence in for this!

Is the ear prosthesis so very difficult to apply? I wonder how the younger Spock is it sit in the chair of of-same, which was found with Nemoy in the 1960s — I also have to be wondering why do the makeup, when they now could do do grafic Design on the computer for the new makeup styling. Also who is Sylar?

–Manrum

***
REMEMBER DARMOK

Quinto yaps in interviews so much I’m surprised he’s got time to memorize his lines for the movie!!

I don’t even know what that first quote is supposed to mean … I’m reading it as “I never considered myself a fan because I was drawn to the characters rather than the success of the franchise,” which is just an odd thing to say.

The quote about Nimoy is very groovy.

Still happy about Quinto as young Spock, but … very confused about what that first quote is supposed to mean.

#6. So am I. IMO sounds as if he didn’t really watch the series at all. But having seen him as Sylar, I think that Abrams made the right decision. I just hope the eyebrows work as well as Nimoys did.

He hates the show but loves Nimoy, how is that hard to understand?

Quinto seems like a good guy and could perhaps someday be an A-list box office draw. The more he says, the more I like him! This may be the best casting move of the film…

REMEMBER: George Clooney and Tom Hanks started out as TV stars before becoming movie A-listers!

One actor is not required to be a Trek fanatic to be in a successful Trek movie. Do your work in a professional way and you will always be appreciated, no matter how much you are into Star Trek affairs. Look at Patrick Stewart: terrific perfomances but not too tied to Trek fandom.

Quinto just doesn’t have the voice. It’s been said and said, but Spock is so much about that authoritative voice. No other actor since Mark Leonard has brought a Vulcan character to life with such power and dignity. Nimoy also has a masterful grip on the language, you know, the formal structure of English (nothing personal Manrum). Quinto’s grammar on the other hand is awkward and a bit clumsy. My gut tells me we’re going to get a very different interpretation of our favorite Vulcan. That could be good, or really bad. What I’m getting at is that Nimoy IS Spock. The man has that natural confidence and the character is a very personal extension or facet of his true self. I would imagine it will be much more difficult for Quinto to find that strength and formality and to project it convincingly. Sure, he looks stunning in makeup. I was breathtaken by the photos, however, if he opens his mouth and it sounds like Bull or Ted this whole thing is gonna fold like a deck of cards.

That was harsh, I know. It’s just that he’s carrying the weight of this movie on his shoulders. I wish him luck. Sincerely.

Of Course Leonard Nimoy will always be Spock and no matter how good how good Quinto is I will not like him over Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy is Spock

These new actors will be good at playing our fav characters but they will never be our characters.

Anyone who comes liking the new actors better I will not be happy with.

But remember I said the new actors can do a good job, they juast cant replace the original actors who will always be the best ones.

*SPLODES!*

He’s amazing….and so intelligent and wonderful. He’s going to make a great Spock…. *Sighes* I love that he hangs out with Nimoy-sama. That has to be the awesomest, craziest thing for Zach-san ever. Thinking about it, they would make pretty good friends….lol.

# 4 … Why is it that everybody else here can spell Nimoy right and you persist in spelling it wrong? This can’t be a language thing since all you have to do is to copy and past the correct spelling of the name from the article above or go and take a look at your Star Trek DVD’s, for god’s sake. You find the names of the actors spelled correctly on the backside. Reasons, please.

Can I ask for how long you have been a fan and what was your series of entry into fandom? I suspect it was not TOS. May I refer you to Memory Alpha for most of your questions? It is the most comprehensible data base for Star Trek I know. If you want to know more about Sylar, start watching Heroes on RTL II or do a search on Google. There are some good German Heroes fansites out there. Forgive me, but since you not only mangled the English language but also my native tongue in some of your first posts, I’m somewhat wary of your reasons for posting.

And yes, it does take rather long to put on the ears. Nimoy had to be the first to come to work on the TV series and on the movies. There is a funny anecdote from the Motion Picture that involves DeForest Kelley about putting on the ears:

The Making of Star Trek—The Motion Picture

Leonard Nimoy’s first visit to Freddy’s makeup chair, after ten years, found it a happy reunion for both, although there were a couple of minor problems in transforming him into Mr. Spock. Fred had become a bit rusty from lack of practice in applying pointed ears, and together he and Leonard struggled through that first session. For example, Fred had forgotten that the first step was to glue Leonard’s own ears back, which Leonard suddenly remembered about halfway through the session, when he began looking like the Vulcan version of a hobgoblin. Leonard agreed he felt a little strange having the ears put on him again after all those years. He had never expected this would happen again when he became Mr. Spock for what he assumed was the last time on the day the final television episode was filmed in 1968.

Leonard Nimoy was usually the first to arrive and settle into the makeup chair. He has always been Fred’s special responsibility, and the two men have built up quite a good rapport during all these years. One morning, after the movie had been in production for about five months, DeForest Kelley arrived earlier than usual and settled into the chair, ready to be made up as Dr. McCoy. Fred, conditioned to put ears on the person who was always in the chair at that hour, didn’t bother looking up from his powders, creams, and spirit gums, assumed it was Leonard who has just seated himself, and began putting ears on DeForest! The actor was startled, but didn’t say anything, wondering what Fred was up to. Finally, the makeup artist downed some of his morning coffee, opened his eyes a bit wider, and realized what had happened. He had turned Dr. McCoy into a Vulcan! Much to De-Forest’s relief (and no doubt the good doctor’s, as well), the ears were quickly removed.

Freddy was also responsible for the final look of the upswept eyebrows which further characterize Mr. Spock and other Vulcans. For the movie, the eyebrows had to be applied hair by hair each day, and often Leonard was kept in the chair for nearly two hours, more than twice the amount of time needed for the television series makeup.

Sackett, Susan & Gene Roddenberry, “The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture”, Pocket Books, New York, 1980, p.139.

So nice to see more people “becoming excited” over meaningless blather from Quinto.
I wish they would actually show something from the movie so I can go off on my final tirade and get it over with.

@15 – Thanks for sharing that! Great story – too bad there were no pictures taken of Kelley with the ears on.

Quinto – also has to have ear lobes applied in order to match Nimoy’s so that adds time to the process.

#16 His Majesty, The Exalted Stanky McFibberich ( I can’t believe I actually typed that… )

Your ‘final (?) tirade’ will surely be the full, finished Movie itself Stanky, and I for one will certainly be interested to read your conclusions, and will be around for that one… ;)

It’s going to be a long year…

This story just proves what I’ve been saying all along. This movie is either going to be great when it comes out, or it’s going to suck worse than death. It’s just not possible that there could be any middle ground… :-)

#15 “# 4 … Why is it that everybody else here can spell Nimoy right and you persist in spelling it wrong? ”

Chill. Everyone knows WHO he is referring to. Why does a mispelling bother you so much that you would expend the effort to get so worked up over it? Rather anal isn’t it?

And you mis-spelled the word “paste”, but my point it, who cares? These aren’t college papers we’re writing here. He seems to be doing his best at a completely foreign language. Give him a break.

8. trektacular – January 14, 2008
He hates the show but loves Nimoy, how is that hard to understand?

Obviously, it’s not so easy for you to understand. He didn’t say he hates the show. He said he was a peripheral fan, which means he was not a hard core fan. He didn’t go out of his way to watch to watch all of the episodes or movies over and over, but he certainly didn’t hate it. He’s drawn to it because of the characters – that’s an acting challenge he likes.

How hard is that to understand?

if nemoy, hate star Trek in such should a very large extent, then why not skylar become with spock during the future? I understand, how its a fan is a changing experience, but i watched out it for years and spock in my understanding. Does this allow me, to become an actor?

How hard is that to understand?

–Manrum

***
REMEMBER DARMOK

#20 thank you — you are a true star trackie, as your name assumes.

everone else — the formal structures of English are difficult, including the agreement of the verb and the article word or the personal accusative parts, the article tense. This is my language difficulty.

–Manrum

#15 Black Fire

du bent enkel Amerikaanse immigrantenegoist, en du kant mijn begrip van mijn moedertaal en mijn liefde vor mijn land waarderen niet. Als du een probleem met me hebt, zou du me als een soldat moeten onder ogen zien. Mijn grammatica is fijn, hoewel i buiten een belangrijk stedelijk stadsgebied groeide, zo du vergeeft me. En personlich, denk i du een vertraging bent. Tach.

ALSO: i have become a fan for many years, beginning with TNG but watching old TOS too on the weekend. I saw parts from DS9 and some Voyager, little Enterprise, but never did I enjoy them as so much as TNG and TOS.

–Manrum

LAMENT OF THE TREK O.C.D. CANON-ITE #234:

Quinto doesn’t have the same voice as Leonard Nimoy! Quinto’s eyebrows aren’t being shaved correctly! Quinto’s teeth are too perfect! Quinto doesn’t have the same earlobes as Nimoy! They aren’t the same height! They aren’t the same age! One’s nose is more crooked than the other’s! Quinto wasn’t born in Boston like Nimoy!

DOES NOT COMPUTE! DOES NOT COMPUTE! DOES NOT COMPUTE!

LANDRU! LAAAAAANNNDRUUUUU!!!

*fizzle* *pop* *sputter*

Mention the trailer and we fizzle pop sputter
This time next week, we’ll talk with a stutter
We’ll be excited, you see
The trailer filling us with glee
Or feeling so low, we’ll be in the gutter!

#20 : ) If I wanted to get myself worked up on something I would join the chorus of those wishing the “First” posters to kingdom come. Or I’d write myself into a frenzy over those who post endlessly and endless story ideas on how to bring back Kirk. Have you seen me writing paragraph over paragraph on that? I just read something he wrote in German a few news items back when he was asked to as a joke (not by me, but other…uhmm…well meaning members of this community) and it made as little sense as what he wrote in English. Just a feeling I acted on. And it certainly was not meant to steer this thread off topic.

Manrum

N I M O Y

#28

OKAY NIMOY!!!!

#27

ich spreche gutes Deutsches — und wieso auf Hochdeutsch, darf ich fragen? Auf Rhenish-Falian ist schon zu viel geschrieben? Du spricht nicht meine Sprache — die übersetzung ist ein wenig krum. :)

–Manrum

“I was more drawn to the characters . . . .”

is actorspeak for :

“They are paying me the big bucks, and this is my break in the movies!”

I don’t mean to be a cynic, but come on this is just a job for him. Do you think Kevin Costner or any other actor or actress gives the characters they play a whole lot of thought after they have played them? Naw, I think they look for the next gig.

I’m glad he’s a nice guy, and I’m glad he’s being open and respectful to the fans. But sometimes I think we as fans tend to think that these actors have now joined us in some sort of Kumbaya Star Trek Circle of Love.

It’s just a movie. A movie I hope to enjoy when it comes out, but nevertheless it’s just a two-hour movie. It’s just a job for him. A job that I hope he does well, but nevertheless a couple-of-month job. But beyond that, he could hate Star Trek and that’s fine by me. Just make a good movie to entertain my brain for two hours.

#30 “It’s just a job for him. A job that I hope he does well, but nevertheless a couple-of-month job. But beyond that, he could hate Star Trek and that’s fine by me. Just make a good movie to entertain my brain for two hours.”

Totally agreed. As long as the movie is good and the actors deliver a professional performance, it’s all fine.

#31 “As long as the movie is good and the actors deliver a professional performance, it’s all fine”.

Hmmmm…..substitute the words “movie” and “actors” with other verbage and it could be describing the oldest profession in the world!

Then again, there really isn’t that much difference between these respective occupations, now is there? :)

#32 Harry Ballz

Like the professional actors, I am professional Acoustic Engineer for performance spaces (concert hall, auditorium, classroom, theatre), and in a similar way my profession is a job that is good and professional, and gives a professional performance. In my work, too, It’s all fine. No, there is not much difference between these respected occupations, now.

–Manrum

I’d like to throw another language in… Hovleng taHjaj!!!!

#5, aw, Harry, yer just jealous! ;-)

Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|

#23
Welcome! It’s nice to hear from fans ’round the world! You will find out though, that we can be very particular (“picky” is the slang) about our Trek.

Keep trying with the English! :-)

Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|

#30, the original TOS was just a job for Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley et al. They did their work and gave us something for the ages.

I think I understand about Quinto being drawn to the characters, it probably applies to most Trekkies. Trek became huge because we could read so much more into it than what was on the screen. At face value a TOS episode is an hour of low budget sci fi, campy or well written depending on your luck. There was enough good writing and direction that the actors could give a rich life to their characters.

There is probably only several hours’s cumulative footage of Nimoy playing Spock, but millions of words since written to expand on this character we feel like we know.

#37

Nicely put. It’s *always* been about the characters and relationships for me.

Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|

#33 manrum “and in a similar way my profession is a job that is good and professional”

Is it my imagination or did manrum’s english suddenly get a whole lot better?

Hey, what the………I smell a Borat stunt!

Where’s my baseball bat???

#39 Harry Ballz

I think I speak for everyone here when I say: HUHH?????

My English is as good, as my English is — If i type slowly, I can write better. If I write fastly, my English is worse.

–Manrum

Boy im certainly not sick to christ of interviews with Quinto.

Who would want to hear anything else about the movie than what a honour it is to play spock.

MORE QUINTO INTERVIEWS. I JUST CANT GET ENOUGH!

#39 … Harry, if I’d said the same thing I’d get clobbered. Oh wait, I have been. I bow to your superior clout in this group.

The only Spock will FOREVER be Leonard Nimoy.

Quinto is no more Spock than the other younger version who got to ‘Pon Far’ Saavik in Star Trek III.

#7: Yeah, I think he’s a spiffy choice. I just keep staring at that first quote and going “buh-wha? hmn? whu … ah? hrm? wha?”

My hope is that he meant to say “I never was much of a fan growing up, but now that I’m studying it the characters seem cool,” and just stumbled over the delivery :)

28-

“Manrum

N I M O Y”

…Orbitalic

D I C K

#45 Cpt. Sheep

You have a problem with spelling someone’s name right?
—————————————–

The rest of your post is juvenile and apparently…quite envious. I pity your plight. I suggest you check the “spam” folder on your email. There are usually hundreds of solutions offered there for people lacking like yourself.

If you need to comment further, ask and I’ll give you an email to send to so this isn’t clogging up Anthony’s site.

#30 thanks for posting :) I coudnt agree more…
^
I had to laugh when I read the part about meditating in the makeup chair. you know he’s typing away on his handheld checking in with his peeps..

Looking for the next gig is just part of a normal day for actors.

It is just a job afterall…
^
#15 liked some of your comments but Manrum is cool and he seems to know his Trek…
^
Cap Shemp is Andy Dick?

I too am a tad concerned about Zacery Qinte’s voice. But he is a good actor. I’m thinking he might be able to adjust his voice down some to be more, uh…. bass-y, like Nemoy’s. Hopefully.

#45 lol…..

And…

Do they ever interview Chris Pine?

I know he has done a lot of interviews, but his interviews I think have helped people feel comfortable with him, as he is really the star of the movie

But I am glad that TrekMOvie.com was the first to do an interview with him about Trek…at Comic Con

#49

Agreed and agreed. Your faithful minions here at trekmovie appreciate *any and all* news this site brings us daily.

Just one satisfied faithful-minion opinion.

Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|