LOS ANGELES — The fresh-faced leading men of J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek face a rare challenge: As they assume the roles of Kirk, Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew, they must provide their own unique takes on characters that transformed the original actors into pop-culture touchstones.
William Shatner's James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock and DeForest Kelley's Dr. Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy — few actors are as closely identified with their screen characters as are these giants from the original sci-fi television series.
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Now the new Star Trek cast must convince audiences around the world that they — not the faces burned into viewers' memories since 1966 — make up the crew of the Enterprise.
Starfleet's newest officers discussed how they approached stepping into their predecessors' giant space boots during a weekend press conference ahead of the movie's May 8 release. The new captain addressed the question first as Chris Pine described the daunting task of becoming only the second man in history to play Kirk on the big screen.
"I started watching the first season pretty feverishly," Pine said. "Just to kind of acquaint myself with the dynamic between the characters and the aesthetic. But I found myself midway through trying to create the perfect William Shatner impression of doing Captain Kirk. And I felt that that was not the best move for me."
That approach also didn't jibe with Abrams' promise to reboot the franchise.
"It really went against the mandate that J.J. put forth in the beginning of the process, which was really to re-imagine these characters and to bring a unique and specific take on them as our predecessors had done," Pine said. "It really became a matter of having a conversation with J.J. about what little nuances I could take from Mr. Shatner's performance to use in my own to give a sense of continuity between the characters."
Unlike Pine, Heroes star Zachary Quinto had the advantage of having his predecessor available on the *Star Trek *set for first-hand consultation while developing his performance as the young Spock.
"I was not a Trekkie growing up," admitted Quinto, who came of age in the Star Wars generation a decade after Trek's television debut.
"(Star Trek) was also dealing with themes and ideas that I think were a little intellectually advanced for my young mind at the time," he said.
To catch up, Quinto says he researched the series extensively. He also turned to Nimoy, who "was so available and supportive and open to my questions — many of which had more to do with the impact that this character had on his life than they did about how to play a specific moment. I felt like that was my job, as an actor, to define for myself."
Karl Urban's take on young Bones includes many of the most idiosyncratic elements of DeForest Kelley's portrayal of the doctor in the original series.
"As a long-term fan of the show, I felt that if I was going to go and see this movie, I would appreciate seeing some semblance on continuity with the characters," Urban said. "So the task for me was to try and identify the spirit and essence of the wonderful work that the late Mr. Kelly did."
It was a great gig for a Trek fan, he said.
"It was, at times, quite surreal to be on the bridge of the Enterprise saying some of those truly iconic lines," said Urban. "But, at the end of the day, it was a dream come true.
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