Star Trek XI, 2009 acting in an alternate timeline

April 22, 5:25 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

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I am a graduate of Starfleet Academy; I know many things."
-- Worf (The Darkness and the Light)

Coming Soon! - May 8, 2009

Star Trek XI is a 2009science fiction film directed by J. J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and produced by Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk. It is the eleventh film based on the Star Trek franchise and features the main characters of the original Star Trek series, who are portrayed by a new cast.

This film explores the backstories of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), before they unite aboard the USS Enterprise to combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from the future who threatens the United Federation of Planets.  Don't forget Star Trek's The City on the Edge of Forever...

The film will be released in conventional theaters and some IMAX theaters on May 8, 2009, following a limited number of advanced screenings starting at 7pm the night before.

Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. Pine described his first audition as awful, because he could not take himself seriously as a leader. Abrams did not see Pine's first audition, and it was only after Pine's agent met Abrams' wife that the director decided to give him another audition opposite Quinto. Quinto was supportive of Pine's casting because they knew each other as they worked out at the same gym.

After getting the part, Pine sent William Shatner  a letter and received a reply containing the original Kirk's approval. Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe, but stopped as he felt weighed down by feeling he had to copy Shatner. Pine felt he had to show Kirk's "humor, arrogance and decisiveness", but not Shatner's speech pattern, which would have bordered on imitation. Pine said when watching the original series, he was also struck by how Shatner's performance was characterized by humor. Instead, Pine chose to incorporate elements of Tom Cruise from Top Gun and Harrison Ford's portrayals of Indiana Jones and Han Solo.

Jimmy Bennett plays James Kirk as a boy.

Zachary Quinto as Spock. Quinto pursued the role as he was interested in the duality of Spock's half-human, half Vulcan heritage, and how he is constantly exploring that notion of how to evolve in a responsible way and how to evolve in a respectful way. I think those are all things that we as a society, and certainly the world, could implement.

For the audition, Quinto wore a blue shirt and flattened his hair down to feel more like Spock. He bound his fingers to practice the Vulcan salute, shaved his eyebrows and grew and dyed his hair for the role. He conveyed many of Spock's attributes, such as his stillness and the way Nimoy would hold his hands behind his back. Quinto commented the physical transformation aided in portraying an alien, joking

I just felt like a nerd. I felt like I was 12 again. You look back at those pictures and you see the bowl cut. There's no question I was born to play the Spock role. I was sporting that look for a good four or five years." Adrien Brody had discussed playing the role with the director before Quinto was cast."

There are Star Trek lookalikes galore, and here is one you'll never forget - Bob Caldwell as Patrick Stewart's Capt. Picard.  If it wasn't for the Roddenberry family we wouldn't have Star Trek!  What are some of the original actors doing now?  Such as Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner?