IESB.net posted a transcript of the US press conference with the Star Trek movie cast (Chris Pine, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana and Clifton Collins) held this weekend. Read the full transcript here @IESB.net

An historic first meeting occurred last night in Los Angeles.  The original captain of the starship Enterprise, William Shatner, and the second man to play the iconic role of James T. Kirk, Chris Pine, met face-to-face only a few weeks before the opening of J.J. Abrams stellar reboot of “Star Trek.”

“I saw Bill last night actually for the first time at his charity show in Burbank,” Pine revealed today. “He was very kind and it was a very short meeting.  He had a lot of people to see. It was big event that had been taking place all day, but my interaction with him has only been really wonderful.”

Pine, a 28-year-old star in the making, also described how he first reached out to Shatner before shooting began.

“I sent him a letter very early on in the process and explained to him who I was and who  this punk kid was taking over for him, for the time being, the role and he was very kind and wished me all the luck in the world,” Pine says. “I know Leonard [Nimoy] was the same way [with Zachary Quinto], there was a wonderful feeling of handing over the mantle to us  and wishes for luck and all that.  But it was more about allowing us the freedom to make these characters our own without having the feelings of weight and expectation and responsibility.”

It’s not surprising the in-person meeting took so long.  Shatner has voiced his displeasure for some time about not being a larger part of the new “Trek” film.  The “Boston Legal star’s long time friend, Leonard Nimoy, returns to the franchise in the iconic role of Ambassador Spock.  It’s clear director and producer J.J. Abrams wanted to make Shatner a part of the new series latest incarnation, but what he could offer wasn’t enough for the Emmy winning legend.  Making matters even more difficult was the fact that Shatner’s Kirk met an unsatisfactory end in 1992’s “Star Trek Generations.”

Student Life recently got to join in on a talk with “Star Trek” stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Pine plays James Tiberius Kirk, the rebellious Iowa farm boy going full speed to nowhere. Quinto plays his opposite, Spock, the emotional half-human outcast on planet Vulcan—a world where emotions have long before been eradicated. Read on as the two actors answer questions about the movie that chronologically precedes 726 episodes, 10 movies and a legendarily loyal fan base.

Student Life: How would you describe the characters?

Zachary Quinto: I think, it’s specific to this iteration of the story because I think if you ask Leonard, that you’ll have a different answer obviously because of his relationship to the character and because his character existed in a different sort of time. My version of Spock is definitely a little bit more unsettled. He’s less in control of the duality that exists within him. He’s much more in conflict.

Chris Pine: I think that this version of Kirk is a bit more brash and arrogant, and young essentially. We get to see this character before he becomes the confident commander of the later years, where he’s dealing with what he’s going to do with his life, whether or not he wants to face up to this challenge that’s presented to him by Captain Pike of joining Starfleet, whether he’s going to face his fears or be a victim to them.

SL: Chris, you’ve mentioned in the past a desire to do your own thing with Captain Kirk as a character. Specifically, what are some of the things that you wanted to do differently and what did you feel was essential to keep the same?

CP: It’s a difficult question because it wasn’t as if I have like a sheet of Shatner-ian characteristics that I wanted to keep and then a sheet of new things that I wanted to do in the character. There’s certain things that are just characteristics of Kirk that happen to be the same from the original version to the version that you all will see…He’s decisive and confident and can be arrogant at times. And he’s a flirt.

I’ve added over 200+ captures of Chris from the PonderPop.com interview which took place the day after the Sydney premiere, April 8th.

Gallery Link: Web Videos > 04/08/2009 – Ponderpop.com interview

See more videos of Chris Pine @ Chris Pine Network Video Archive

I’ve uploaded 112 captures of Chris along side Zach from this morning’s GMTV Today television show. You can watch the video below 😉 I love how enthusiastic the host of the show is lol!

Gallery Link: Web Videos > 04/20/2009 – GMTV Today

See more videos of Chris Pine @ Chris Pine Network Video Archive

I’ve added over 200+ captures of Zach and Chris from April 8th’s interview with CoolShite. This too is a good interview, very funny throughout. Chris and Zach are just awesome together <3

Gallery Link: Web Videos > 04/08/2009 – CoolShite TV interview

See more videos of Chris Pine @ Chris Pine Network Video Archive