Of the main new Star Trek cast, the one we always want to hear more from is Chris Pine, the new James T. Kirk. Variety profiles the up-and-comer as one of their ‘10 Actors to Watch‘ and talks about his process of bringing back an iconic character. There is also a new interview with JJ where he talks about how he doesn’t like to talk about things, yet.
Pine’s Kirk is just human
Pine admits to Variety that he is "not really a sci-fi buff," but he does realise that he is taking on a role that is ‘iconic’ that that the original Trek actors " left that indelible a mark on the social psyche." So he started off by steeping himself in Trek lore, before taking Abrams advice to make Kirk his own. From the artidcle:
In jumping full throttle into cramming sessions with "Trek" lore encyclopedias and watching the original series, however, Pine decided midway that he was doing himself an injustice.
"All I was doing was heaping upon myself an incredible amount of responsibility, weighing myself down with ‘You must remember to act this way’ and such…That’s when I was really able to let go and accept the parameters that J.J. set forth in the beginning, which was to bring what was special and unique about us to the roles.
That meant embracing Kirk’s descriptors — charming, funny, leader of men — rather than a predigested image.
"Just try to be human," Pine clarifies. "I got to do everything: yell, shout, cry, laugh, take charge and be vulnerable. I pulled the lucky straw."
Pine and his new crew
Abrams: Trek a fun secret he wants to share
USA Weekend has a feature on Star Trek’s director titled JJ Abrams: He holds the secrets, all about how Abrams projects are all ‘sworn to secrecy’ projects. From Lost to Cloverfield to Fringe to Star Trek, this has worked for Abrams and according to Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof, it is part of his nature. Lindelof says of Abrams:
He really is a fanboy. A lot of people say that about people like J.J., but he’s a fan first," Lindelof says. J.J. also is an incredibly secretive person.
Abrams has been burned by leaks in the past, both with a leak of the unfinished pilot for Fringe as well as a scathing review of an unproduced script for a Superman movie. He says that he keeps secrets so that the fans can experience things for the first time when they see his work:
That, to me, is the part that’s the most frustrating — having something that is not in a state to be seen, or publicly reviewed, getting out there. I’m keeping things secret ultimately for the audience.
Abrams was specifically asked what it was like staying mum about the upcoming Star Trek movie, here is what he said:
It’s like having a really big secret where you just feel like, ‘Alright, I have to carry this around.’ It’s good news, meaning it’s not carrying a secret around that’s a depressing burden. It’s a fun, exciting anticipation as opposed to dread. All I want to do is show people. Fringe, Star Trek — these are not being made to keep secrets
More on Abrams secret world at USA Weekend here and here.
JJ and his ‘mystery box‘
Hope to see more soon! Love what you guys have added to the offical star trek website Mr. Orci and JJ!
JJ is so right about spoilers and secrets. I just can’t fathom why someone would want to have everything spoiled in advance of a film, TV series, book, etc.
I never watch previews for upcoming episodes. It just ruins so much. Sadly, I already know more than I would like about Trek ’09, despite always looking out for spoiler alerts.
(Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see their take on the ol’ NCC-1701 ASAP!)
– …by steeping himself in Trek lore, before taking Abrams advice to make Kirk his own. –
Once he‘s steeped himself in Trek lore, he‘ll (hopefully) realize that it‘s impossible to make “Kirk his own” as it is impossible for Quinto to make Spock his own and so on. These characters already have become legends. They already have been created. If the new actors are really good, they will be able to add new aspects to the characters we know for more than 40 years, they will be able to tell us some new stories about them, and entertain us with an extension of already established lore. Imo, they should be grateful for that chance and put all their effort in making this film enjoyable. Sometimes less is more.
I hope JJ hires me to perform as the entertainer for the crew party. JJ Call me! Ill show your real mystery and magic.
“Just try to be human,” Pine clarifies. “I got to do everything: yell, shout, cry, laugh, take charge and be vulnerable. I pulled the lucky straw.”
Well, I’d say “just try[ing] to be human” is the right tack to take with Kirk: Humanity’s first and best apologist to the rest of the galaxy.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
I love JJ Abrams’ work, but with all due respect, I’m glad his Superman script was leaked. Simply because we know that you don’t make a Superman movie that way.
Its a reimagining Pre-Rebootquel, of a previous altered timeline, compounded by the events from actions, by people from an untouched timeline thats still within the existing Star Trek universe from the mirror side.
:-D
or,, it really is a musical
What’s in the box?!?
What’s in the box?!?
I gotta know what’s in that BOX!!!!
oh,,and by the way,,
I Know whats in the box too,,,
Its full of crap and hes going to set it on fire,
hes holding a cigarette lighter in his pocket,,,,
you see,,someone will see the fire and stamp it out,,and,,and,,
well you get the picture.
@8: Gwyneth Paltrow’s head. Now you know.
If its not the old burning bag of crap gag,,,could it be Spocks brain ??
hmmm
“That, to me, is the part that’s the most frustrating — having something that is not in a state to be seen, or publicly reviewed, getting out there.”
As a sometimes song writer and onetime performer, I can tell you there is nothing so frustrating as having your creative work put “out there” when it’s not ready.
I hate to admit this, but I think the pace of info-flow has been just about right…
STAR TREK LIVES!
The “I got to do everything” line may be the most promising thing I’ve read from Pine so far; I like the sound of that.
As the song goes:
“It’s my TREK in a BOX”
The more I hear about Abrams the less I want to hear about Abrams.
‘WHat’s in the box?’ Whatever it is you want to be in there! ;D
….and the adventure continues….
the new actors will only add, they will never make the characters their own.
To me the originals own the roles and alwayswill, these actors will just be portraying younger versions of them.
I hate spoilers but with Star Trek you like to know things just so you know this film is respectign our show, our legacy.
The trailer is going to be EPIC! I’ll be seeing it this week,woo!
I know this question may have been asked already, but I need to know….do we know if the ST trailer will be attached to the UK premier of the new Bond Movie?
Is it just me, or do we see some resembalence of Bill Shatner in Chris Pine? At first I was a bit skepticle, but now I am liking him more and more!!! I think the key will be his voice/ delivery of lines. Can’t wait to see the movie!!!
WHERE IS THE ENTERPRISE? WANT TO GAZE UPON THE ENTERPRISE ON MY SMALL LAPTOP SCREEN. GIVE US THE ENTERPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why is Dr. McCoy’s hair parted on the wrong side? The way Bones wears his hair is part of canon! (No, the picture is not flopped.)
I’m glad Star Trek has not been leaked to the press or to the fans. The more time goes on, the more I favor secrecy. I remember my ravinous desire to find out the plot to ‘Nemesis’ in 2002, eventually reading that Data would die before I ever saw it in the theater. Well, I spent most of the movie waiting to see how it would happen, and that probably dampened one part of that movie I might’ve enjoyed…
Frankly, I don’t want to see a picture of the Enterprise until I see it on the big screen. In a way, I’m a little disappointed to see the cast in costume and part of the bridge. Of course I’m excited, and by golly I’ll jump for joy at it, but there’s a part of me that wishes it would all be kept under wraps until next May. Voyuer that I am, I can’t just ignore TrekMovie.com, though…
3: That is where you’re hopelessly wrong.
#19 TK already asked that question, to no avail. I think that its unknown or it would have been answered. It should be. What I’ve heard the UK release of Bond is pivotal in the movies international success.
oh and #20 I thought the first poster with Pine staring at the camera, looked a lot like Shatner’s face did on the Star Trek movie posters, there’s something there.
One thing Shatner did really well was subtext. You could literally hear him think by just watching his face. I hope Pine nails that too.
#19 It will be attached to the UK release of Bond. I’ll be sitting scribbling notes when the trailer comes on so I can relay it back to everyone here.
#27 for deffo? As of what date tho? From the premiere on? Where did you get this info. I’m not doubting you, I just want to be certain :) Thanks.
My main beef is still: WTH is up with an actor portraying Kirk, with sparkling blue eyes?? Even my non Trek-fan girlfriend noticed that. She said: “I thought Kirk had hazel/brown eyes?” Before I’m slammed for minor nit-picking, nobody realistically expects the new actors to look identical to the originals, but this costuming choice rules out the possibility of “reviving Kirk” in a sequel, starring Shatner, unless he opts to wear blue contact lenses, or has his eye color digitally altered. Kirk played by an actor with blue eyes really bothers me for more than simple aesthetic reasons. Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t there already an attempt to portray *some* continuity between this upcoming film(s) and those before? Why not make Spock a tall, beefy guy while they’re at it? The writers/directors of this film are admittedly staunch Trek fans and they “claimed” to try to write Shatner into this movie as they did for Nimoy, but claimed (understandably) that since the Kirk character was killed on Viridian lll, that it would have seemed too contrived to do that all in the same film. Again, that’s understandable but if they *had* figured out a way to do it (or do so in the future) how are they going to explain the eye color disparity? Again on eye color, although Karl Urban seems like a terrific choice for McCoy, his eyes are brown, unlike DeForest Kelley’s who *did* have the sparkling blue eyes. Mr Orci himself recently admitted on this site that eye color “was discussed.” Respectfully to Mr Orci and others, on this I have to agree with the other comments, in saying you (potentially) shot yourselves in the foot with the eye color glitch. That in itself It won’t ruin this film but it presents continuity problems, – at least as far the pre-existing (or maybe future?) big-screen film franchise is concerned.
[29] Dear Crewman Darnell… while I see your problem here, I see two possible outcomes for you. Either you will be blown away by the movie, the Kirkness of Pine and the Bonesness of Urban and the whole scale of the story they will tell… or you will really have the time to concentrate on things like eye color. In that case, we are all in trouble.
This is my brother Darnell, and my other brother Darnell.
29: Ya know, I never noticed that. Maybe they spent all their money on the fancy new bridge and ran out of cash for colored contacts. :P
Really.. who the hell cares about eye color and which side of the hair is parted. Oh wait, I hear that Quinto wears a different size boot than Nimoy… OMG!
I agree with what Fakesteve said… you will be so focused on the eye color and hair that you won’t be actually watching the movie.
Actually, that goes for all the canon nazi’s… you will be so focused on trying to find things that don’t match canon that you will miss the entire movie. Just try and enjoy the damn movie. If the story isn’t great… that will be what I am disappointed in.
I am not going to reference a particular post in this thread, but I have to say I absolutely hate it when a fan or fans feel the need for big spoilers on this movie “just so they can be sure their show was done right”
Huh?
The fans don’t own it. We paid money at the box office or own a collectable, but that does not give us ownership or editorial control of this or any film. I expect the filmmakers to live up to what they said and leave it at that.
IMO, some fans will be disappointed in this movie because they’ll refuse to see beyond their pet peeve to the great story beyond, as #33 Montreal paul mentioned.
It’s just not a real comment thread until Stanky & Iowagirl balance out the wide-eyed optimism with a heaping helping of pessimism ;)
#25
My gut feeling tells me I’ll remain a hopeless case…:)
#35
I was so happy and almost deeply moved when I read your lovely words and I would very much like to thank you for being so kind – you‘ve really massaged my ego. ;)
PS: I very much enjoy Stanky’s comments, too!
Crewman Darnell (#29),
Kirk’s eyes are not hazel/brown. They were, because Shatner’s were. Now they’re blue, because Pine’s are blue. Eye color is not an important part of a character’s physiology, at least not in Star Trek. If such a trivial thing keeps you from enjoying what could be a rousing good movie, then you might want to consider reorganizing your priorities.
Stanky McFibberich (#15),
Ah, Stanky, what would this site be without you? There are a lot of purists here who love to rant about what they feel is the pilaging of their beloved TOS, but yours are the only comments I’ve come to respect. I may not agree with you, but your steadfast determination awes me. It’s always good to see one of your rapier witicisms (sp?) posted here.
To my beloved #3,
Not only to I agree with you, but I must point out that you write beautifully. I”m glad I married you.
G.S.
Although I have to disagree with you on #37. Emerson said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” And an ever greater thinker, James T. Kirk, said, in ST III, (“Fresh minds, new ideas…be tolerant!”).
Secrecy is over-rated. We already know the rough plot of the movie.
I don’t want to see the script… But, I’d like to see more pictures of the main sets, and the exterior of the ships.
Why is this going to ruin the movie for anyone?
Unless of course JJ has lied to us, and the design of the sets and exterior of the ship put a lie to the idea that this isn’t a reboot.
41. Al Hartman
I don’t want to see teh exterior of the ship before the movie at all! I remember going to see TMP and was blown away when they first revealed the Enterprise. I hadn’t seen any pictures of it at all. I was in awe. But seeing something beforehand ruins the surprise and awe factor of the first reveal in the movie. You know what it looks like.. the whole build up and slow reveal is ruined by the fact that you had already seen it. Sorry, I was to be blown away again seeing that ship on the big screen.
What is this, “National I Love Stanky Day”?!
I’m honored.
I kind of agree with JJ, I don’t want to be spoiled before it comes out. But I probably would try to find out as much as I could – I need to stay away from computers starting soon!!
I agree that fresh minds and ideas are what the doctor ordered for Star Trek.
Folks, when I first heard about this movie and the plans being made for it, my initial reaction was that I thought it was a bad idea to recast these characters (AKA “fake actors”). Since that time, I’ve looked at the photos. I’ve read as many of the interviews as I can stand. I’ve read a percentage of the comments made. I’ve rolled my eyes and laughed and cried and stared at the screen in disbelief.
Has ANYTHING here changed my opinion? Has ANYTHING been written or shown that makes me feel any better about it? Have the gushing comments by insiders and the rah-rahs of the die hard supporters of all things Trek convinced me that somehow I will want to embrace and look forward to the release of this movie?
Nah.
For the sake of those who already know they are going to love it….bless you. I hope it lives up to your expectations. I really do.
so Stanky… I guess you will be watching old VHS tape of TOS on opening day while the rest of us are going to the movie.
I guess you’ll rent it some 10 years from now on a whim?
I have to say I saw Bottle Shock with Chris Pine in a supportive roll. Uhh, well I hope it was the director’s fault that he overacted, was “jammy” and…hmmm, he may just work out well as James. T. Kirk after all!
It gladdens my old heart to see more and more folks realizing that the emperor is walking down Main Street in his birthday suit.
#39
My dear husband Gary,
Thank you so much for your affectionate compliment which means a lot to me. I’m very glad about our bonding, too.
I.
#40
Our respectful disagreement is also enjoyable, as always. Although I’m as much an admirer of Emerson as you are, let me muse with you about our greatest hero JTK who indeed said “Fresh minds, new ideas…be tolerant!”, but then spent the rest of this wonderful movie to prove that sometimes it’s the old broom that sweeps cleanest by once again saving the galaxy and – even more important – rescuing and resurrecting his friend and brother. Or, as Joseph Joubert once said “Who ever has no fixed opinions has no constant feelings.“
#29, etc.: It’s been almost seven years since “The Fellowship of the Ring” came out, and as excellent as Liv Tyler’s performance as Arwen in the LotR films was, it still irritates me that she wasn’t given gray contact lenses, because the eye colors of certain characters were “mythologically” highly significant to Tolkien (Arwen was a descendant of Luthien, who also had gray eyes, and their fates paralleled each other).
One’s feelings about the importance of eye colors in the new “Star Trek” movie, therefore, depend on how important a part of the “Star Trek” mythos one considers them to be. They may not seem significant to the general public, but for people who have been devoted fans for years they may well be highly significant. For example, how many “Star Trek” novels have referred to the characters’ eye colors (e.g., Ael commenting to herself on McCoy’s “strange blue eyes” in “My Enemy, My Ally”)?
One further point to ponder. At present Memory Beta lists the characters’ eye colors in their infoboxes. When the new movie comes out next year, will Memory Beta users have to delete that information because the eye colors are now “canonically uncertain”?