February 2008

Last August The Hollywood Reporter revealed that one of the important roles being cast for the new Star Trek movie was an unnamed ‘Federation Captain.’ In the fall TrekMovie reported that the role was cast but we haven’t been able to put a name to it…until today. TrekMovie.com has confirmed that Pakistani actor Faran Tahir is the ‘Federation Captain.’ The 44 year-old actor has dozens of TV and film credits including a featured part in the upcoming Iron Man. His Star Trek role is said to be both important and not your typical Trek movie captain.

Bruce Greenwood didn’t know anything about Trek before being cast as Captain Pike in the new Star Trek, but he does now. MTV caught up with the actor at the Independent Spirit Wards last weekend where he told them that after doing his homework he “became a fan pretty quickly.” Greenwood was keeping mum on the plot, but did talk a bit about his impressions of the film and his cast members…see below with video.

A couple new video interviews with Star Trek actors have popped up. Yelchin spoke to Leonard Maltin on Reelz Channel about getting the role, views on Chekov, meeting Walter Koenig and more. As part of the press junket for the upcoming Harold and Kumar sequel John Cho talked about meeting Takei and the differences between the Harold/Kumar and Trek franchises.

In early January Leonard Nimoy revealed that the new Star Trek movie will not only have two Spocks (himself and Zachary Quinto), but three Spocks. TrekMovie.com has identified this third Spock as twelve-year-old actor Jacob Kogan, who will be appearing as the adolescent version of our favorite half-human half-Vulcan. As a child actor, Kogan has few credits to his name, but he did feature in the title role of the 2007 horror film Joshua, starring Sam Rockwell.

Two Star Trek stars have been spotted sporting new looks for their for roles in the 23rd century. The most stark of these is Eric Bana, who plays the villain Nero. Bana showed up for the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday with a shaved head. In addition, Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) was scene on British TV last week without his usual blond look.

TrekMovie.com has confirmed  a couple of more actors in small roles in the new Star Trek movie. 32-year-old actress Darlena Tejeiro has an unknown part and 46-year-old actor and stuntman Paul Townsend is playing a Starfleet security officer. Both actors have extensive experience and for Paul, this is not his first time in the Star Trek universe.

John Cho, Sulu in the new Star Trek, has been given the thumbs up by the original Sulu, George Takei. In an interview conducted at San Francisco’s WonderCon yesterday, Cho told SCIFI WIRE that, like his fellow cast members he was doing his best to “pay homage” to his predecessor and felt that he had “big shoes to fill,” but a lunch with Takei set his mind at ease.

Boy Anton Yelchin is certainly the chatty Cathy this week. While the new Chekov is promoting his film Charlie Bartlett (opening tonight), he keeps dropping more and more hints about the new Star Trek. The latest is from The Chicago Sun Times where the young actor talks about his first day on Enterprise, a bit about the plot and the design of the new Enteprise. check it out below. [minor spoilers]

In a new video interview with MTV, Anton Yelchin talks at length about Star Trek. The new Chekov talks about aliens, a ‘gracious’ meeting with Walter Koenig on the set, a photo shoot, working with two Spocks, the move to May and more. Check out the video plus a new excerpt from his Star Trek Magazine interview below.