Bruce Greenwood talks about 'Star Trek' sequels and scaring off space aliens

Bruce Greenwood

As an actor, Bruce Greenwood is in a very good place. He gets substantial roles in movies and TV shows that are critically acclaimed and/or hits, but he doesn’t have to deal with have the kind of paparazzi hassles that Brad Pitt or George Clooney does. He’s recognizable enough that people know his face, but he hasn’t exposed his personal life to the point that it overshadows his work. Off the set, Greenwood leads a low-key lifestyle in his birth country of Canada (he and his wife, Susan Devlin, have been married since 1985), and in addition to acting, Greenwood also pursues his passion for making music.

Greenwood is known for playing leaders in many of his film and TV projects (such as John F. Kennedy in the 2000 movie "Thirteen Days"), and he’s now added another commanding character to his list of memorable roles. As the stoic starship captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 blockbuster "Star Trek" movie, Greenwood plays a mentor to James T. Kirk (played by Chris Pine), who eventually becomes captain of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise. With this role, Greenwood has entered into the unique world of "Star Trek" fandom culture. In this exclusive interview, I chatted with Greenwood by phone about how what life has been like for him since becoming part of the "Star Trek" phenomenon. Calling from his home in the Vancouver area, Greenwood also talked about plans for "Star Trek" sequels, which "Star Trek" character (besides Pike) that he would want to play the most, and what "horrifying" thing from his past would scare off any evil alien.

What have been some of your personal observations of the "Star Trek" phenomenon?

My personal experience with people who’ve had a long history with "Star Trek" has been really fantastic. They’ve been really supportive and easy to talk to. If they have questions I can answer, great. If they have questions that are too subtly informed by the details of lore of "Star Trek," I just have to beg off in being able to answer it. Nobody says, "If you can’t answer question A-9, we’re going to remove the support." Everybody seems really excited.

I went to Calgary a couple of weeks ago, and they brought in 350 people from the town of Vulcan, Alberta. They have long been devotees of all things "Star Trek." … It was great to be there and a thrill to hang around with them for a couple of hours.

Everybody’s expectations [of the 2009 "Star Trek" movie] were very high. Everybody was worried that it was going to depart from many of the things they know and love. And, of course, it doesn’t.

Bruce Greenwood in "Star Trek"

I have to ask an obvious question. What do you know about plans for any sequels to the latest "Star Trek" movie?

They’re bouncing around story ideas right now. I think, from what I gather, the intention is start shooting next summer.

What would you like to see happen in any of the sequels?

I think these guys are clever enough to do at least two more and have the final one do a really hard dovetail into the beginning of [the storylines] for the original ["Star Trek"] series. My expectations are very high for them. The only thing I’d like to see, from a personal standpoint, is the mentor relationship between Kirk and Pike to continue.

"Star Trek" movie director J.J. Abrams and Bruce Greenwood

It’s time for an off-the-wall question. In "Star Trek," your character comes under attack and is captured by the evil alien Nero and his cohorts. If you were kidnapped by aliens in real life, what would you do to convince them to let you go if you offered them something from Earth?

I would offer them home-baked bread and I would bake it. They would be incapable of digesting it or cutting it.

[Says jokingly] What does that say about your baking skills?

[He laughs.] It just means bread is tricky.

What else would you do?

I would also offer footage of me learning to dance, and they’d realize that there’s no point in sticking around a planet like this, because they’d think it was horrifying.

"Star Trek" co-stars Bruce Greenwood and Chris Pine

Besides Pike, which "Star Trek" character would you want to play the most?

If circumstances would’ve been different, Pike would’ve remained the captain of the Enterprise and there wouldn’t have been a Kirk. The whole thing would’ve been about Pike. To be really honest, I would be Kirk. But I’m a generation too late, that’s all.

Speaking of different generations, what can you say about how this "Star Trek" film has appealed to young people who haven’t even seen the original "Star Trek" series?

Virtually all of my friends who have kids that are between 12 and 15 have seen the movie three times each. One of them was like, "I didn’t know that ‘Beam me up’ line was from ‘Star Trek’! I’ve been saying that since I was a kid!," says a 14-year-old. That’s part of our vernacular that they use and some don’t realize its origins. So it’s thrilling for them. Even people who know nothing about ["Star Trek"] and go to the movie on its own merits are getting a little lesson of the cultural heritage that they’ve been making use of.

Besides acting skills, what other skill do you think is really important to have as an actor?

Absolutely learning to listen.

It sounds you’ve got an inner director itching to come out.

There’s a very vocal inner director that I constantly have to put a lid on, and be open to what you’ve actually heard, as opposed to what you planned to hear.

What do you look for in a director that you think brings out the best in you?

For me, boundless enthusiasm has tremendous value, because it makes for a workplace that’s really safe. If somebody says, "Try this, try that," and the energy is high around those requests, if the idea doesn’t fly or you can’t make it work, it’s not as though you’re failing; it’s just this idea. It doesn’t follow you through the next request. That’s a long-winded way of saying, "If the playground is full of energy, you get to try a lot more stuff and you get to keep it in the air longer."

You’ve played so many different types of characters. What type of character would you love to pay that you haven’t had a chance to do yet?

I’m looking for something musical.

What kind of music do you listen to your personal life?

I listen to the blues. I’m very into blues-based soul music with heavy grooves. I also listen to country a little bit.

Bruce Greenwood in "I'm Not There"

So you sing and play guitar. It’s too bad that you didn’t get to show your musical skills in "I’m Not There" (the 2007 experimental Bob Dylan biopic in which Greenwood played a journalist).

I wanted to so badly!

What can you say about any of your upcoming films?

"Mao’s Last Dancer," I have very high hopes for, although I haven’t seen it yet. Bruce Beresford directed it and it’s just a really interesting story based on the book of the same name. It’s about the cultural revolution in China and the sixth son of a family …

[Poor] kids were plucked from their villages when legions of [former Communist Party of China Chairman] Mao’s emissaries forced them to be dancers or musicians. Of course, many kids were taken to places where they could barely survive.

This one child, Li Cunxin, became a brilliant dancer, and the Houston Ballet sent over this guy named Ben Stevenson, their artistic director [played by me], to do a master class. While he was there, he saw two young dancers he wanted to start an exchange with and bring back for more classes. In our story, rather than bringing back two, they bring back one. The true story is the kid comes back here, falls in love and defects.

It’s the early ‘80s in Houston, Texas. It’s the story of this kid adjusting to a Western lifestyle, coming from Mao’s China.

If you could meet or hang out with any of the characters you’ve played, who would it be?

It definitely would be JFK.