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Last week TrekMovie.com revealed that Spock’s parents will be appearing in the new Star Trek movie. And now Variety is reporting that Winona Ryder has landed the part of Spock’s human mother Amanda Grayson, a role originally played by the late Jane Wyatt. The Oscar-nominated veteran of dozens of films may be the best known member of the Star Trek cast so far. At 36, Ryder is only six years older than Zachary Quinto who plays Spock. It is possible that Ryder (and perhaps the actor playing Spock’s father Sarek) will be seen in some sort of flashback to Spock’s childhood or adolescence.

Last week TrekMovie.com reported that Paramount was ‘close’ to signing their new Chris Pike, and now they have. According to the Hollywood Reporter the role of Captain Christopher Pike in J.J. Abrams new Star Trek has gone to Bruce Greenwood. Although he is not necessarily a ‘big name,’ the 51 year-old Canadian actor is well known with 90 TV and film credits to his name. He most recently starred in the HBO series John from Cincinnati. Pike was originally played by the late Jeffrey Hunter in the un-aired first Original Series pilot “The Cage.” After Hunter declined to return for the second pilot, William Shatner came on board as Captain Kirk. “The Cage” was later reworked into the 2-part episode “The Menagerie” as a series of flashbacks. Although the character of Pike only appeared that episode, as the captain of the Enterprise before Kirk he will have an important role in the new prequel.

Rachel Nichols has seemingly confirmed the rumor that will be in the Star Trek movie. In an interview with the Toronto Sun the 27 year old actress said “I’m very restricted on what I’m allowed to say, but yes, there’s a good chance you’ll see my shining face in the new Star Trek.” Nichols said she did not even know the name of her character and even her mom didn’t know about it until she saw the rumor reports online. As noted in the first report on Nichols, she has worked with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams before on his show Alias. The connection is not lost on Nichols who said “J.J.’s one of the most generous people I’ve ever met … He’s very, very loyal.”

Lately the focus has been reporting on principal casting for the new Star Trek film, but what about the extras? TrekMovie.com has learned that Headquarters Casting, the agency handling extras for the new Star Trek feature, are currently looking to fill the backgrounds under the code name “Corporate Headquarters.” The agency will be holding an open casting call this weekend. They are now trying to find people with the right look to play Vulcans, Cadets as well as those with ‘unique facial features.’ More details below.

James Doohan’s son Chris Doohan’s name first came up in relation to the new Star Trek film last February when he started a somewhat tongue-in-cheek campaign to land the role of Scotty. He has since gracefully endorsed the selection of Simon Pegg to fill his father’s shoes as the Enterprise’s engineer. That might have been the end of the story, but recently rumors arose that Doohan actually got an audition. TrekMovie.com contacted Chris and he confirmed that he recently read for an unnamed ‘minor speaking role.’ Doohan wouldn’t go into details, but stated:

The new Mr Spock, Zachary Quinto, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Friday night Transcript of his Trek answers below

Of all the casting announcements for the new Star Trek, the one that seems most obvious is the first one – Zachary Quinto as the new Spock. He is talented, a break-out star on a hit TV series (Heroes), has the right look, and was highly motivated to get the part. But apparently it wasn’t a slam dunk after all. In a new Hollywood Reporter article about Quinto moving up to a bigger agency, there was this tidbit: When he did a work session for Spock with the “Trek” casting director in June, the response he received was that, after seeing his tape, Abrams “wasn’t convinced” he was right for the role and had to move on and see other actors. That changed a couple of weeks later when Quinto met with Abrams. Soon after that, he became the first actor cast in the movie.

J.J. Abrams has his entire new Star Trek crew, but he still has casting to do on a number of important roles. TrekMovie.com has learned that although casting has progressed on a number of minor roles (such as crew members on other ships), no major roles have been cast since Karl Urban signed on as McCoy. However, a source tells TrekMovie.com they are close to picking their new Captain Christopher Pike. The source confirmed that Josh Lucas was considered, but implied that he wasn’t the leading candidate. Although Pike is said to have a “significant role,” the source also disputed recent rumors that Pike has a larger role than Kirk.