HIYA FOOLS!!!
So we went to the Opera House for the Star Trek Premiere and saw some amazing views and watched a film in it’s best possible format. it was amazing but the Biggeoff review will be up here soon enough. The next day we got to talk to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in the general Roundtable interview. They were cool and open and as you can tell everyone had some fun. For those not in the know on the initials CP – Chris Pine(Capt Kirk), ZQ-Zazhary Quinto(Spock), OF-Other fools , PJ-Prester John and BG-Biggeoff. So have a read and when this sucker comes out go see it.
ZQ-Hi Guys
Hi are you
OF-Welcome to Australia
It’s been great down here so far. It’s too bad we have to leave tonight.
OF-What preparation went into playing such iconic characters?
CP – Well I hadn’t been a fan originally and felt like I do some homework to steep myself in the series a little bit. I began to watch the original show in the first season and I found that for my process the more I found myself in that world , The more I watched Mr. Shatner play Capt Kirk the more that I was picking apart his performance and seeing ways that I could essentially impersonate him and that wasn’t my job. I job was to produce and original incarnation of this character. A time in this character’s journey that has not been brought to film and had not been seen yet. And that was JJ’s mandate in the beginning was that we were there to pay tribute to what has come before and there was certainly breadcrumbs along the way that it was really our job to bring a new perspective to it.
ZQ-I myself took great advantage of Leonard’s involvement in the movie and his support from the beginning. I also had the bonus to be the first cast in the film so I had months of preparation it was like June of 07 when I knew that I would be doing the movie and we didn’t start shooting until November and that also really valuable. And I really leaned heavily on my connection with Leonard and immersed myself in a lot of source material and one of the great things about star trek is that there is no shortage of encyclopedias and books and one of my really good friends and business partners is a huge trek fan so he was also really a helpful resource. I actually did not watch any of the original series in preparation for the film except for 2 that I watched with Leonard and it wasn’t until I started making the movie that started to watch the films. I had seen a few of them when I was a kid obviously but in terms of my relationship with this character I chose to go about it with my own point of entry.
OF-Just a follow up to the last question. Leonard’s a talented director we know that and you said you watched a couple of episodes which episodes did you watch?
ZQ-we watched Amok time and the other one. What was the one where he and Kirk fought?
OF-That was Amok Time.
ZQ-Maybe I just watched one then (Laughter) Yeah maybe it was only one. Yeah Leonard’s a great director and now a incredible photographer and he was always very much “This is your experience” and I never felt like he was trying to steer me in any one direction. Even in watching the show it was about the impact it had on him just so I could understand it more fully
OF- How did you guys feel taking on the role of a series that has been around for forty years? The 2 lead parts of that show
CP – yeah it was… I want to pick a different word than daunting but I have been using that forever but it is daunting and I think that we all were very aware the community was passionate and protective and wanted the make sure this incarnation of the series was as good as the ones they had seen before. So clearly that the 2 people were taking over 2 of the most iconic roles would do it justice. And that sort of weighted on my shoulders and JJ was very clear in the beginning on what our task was with this and felt confident having JJ at the helm and leading us through that journey. I think the general counsel that we had was JJ and Bob Worsey and Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindeloff and it only helped us that we had the self confessed non fan who was JJ and the avid passionate fans that were BOB and Damon so you had a really nice mix of the two and I felt I was in good hands. JJ on set was always very conscience in creating a atmosphere that was fun . I don’t think we ever felt the weight and the responsibility and only the fun on being on set creating a really -Hopefully knock on wood- fun ride
PJ- so how interaction did you have with the Star trek Fan base and community obviously because it’s so deep and so much involved did you have fans sending emails .
CP – they invited a president of the US fan club and they reached out and certainly JJ and the team reached out to the fan base
ZQ-It was done with a real regard for the investment that so many millions of people of the world have made in the past 40 years definitely. That didn’t necessarily translate for us personally our process was so much more about the task at hand and about immersing ourselves in the world of this particular generation of the franchise. But now as we travel around and as we are sharing it with people we have the opportunity to engage with fans in a much more direct way which is always exciting. I’ve been really. It’s been a marked, supportive kind of enthusiastic energy for the most part and that was really nice.
BG-This really does scream Franchise. I wanted to see more the second I left the cinema. Are you guys signed on to a number of Star treks? Are we going to see 3 or 4?
ZQ-Well the hope is for. Well for Chris and I and everybody else that here on this trip. We are here because this is the first one and it hasn’t even come out yet except for a few thousand people last night in here and Austin where they had a surprise screening which I thought was really fun and cool and very JJ. But they hope is we will. We all signed on for the option and if Paramount want to do more we all want to be involved in the next 2 if there are more. We’ll see but we are pacing ourselves. At the end of the night last night we all went out for dinner after the premiere and I was like “okay that was awesome like let’s go home!!” just because it was such a full day. It was like a whole day of press and this whole event, The opera house and the lights and the people and it felt like how could this sustainable for a month and a half But we are just getting started. I think that’s really key. I think we really want to engage people about this movie and use the sense of excitement about this one before we get too far ahead of ourselves.
OF-the previous star trek franchises and all its different arms have very involved fan bases with the conventions and things like that. How do you guys feel personally about part of it and what expectations do you have of that going onto the future.
ZQ-I have actually done a couple of conventions and it a natural progression because there is conventions that go on the work I’ve done with Heroes in the states. I think I’ve done 3 convention and 2 of them with Leonard and for me that was great. People were cool. It was really fun to have him by my side which was all the more enjoyable. My goal as an actor is to really diversify my career now. This and heroes have put me in a position to really be able to do some other stuff as well. But I am sure that over the years we’ll hang out and do some conventions Chris.
CP – Sure thing Zach…yeah I feel that the closest I have come is wonder con in San Francisco. maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago and….
ZQ-nothing like a Star Trek convention.
CP – Yeah …I am absolutely willing to do it and I think this again in talking about the community of the star trek fans. It’s a unique experience this world and all of us realize how important it is to continue that connection and foster that relationship and grow a hopefully new generation of fans but like Zach I am an actor who craves diversity in as mush as I love playing James Kirk I am sure I’ll love playing and exploring different roles and characters as well. If I could have the longevity of Mr Shatner I’d be a happy man.
OF- Can you sing Tambourine man?
-Laughter-
PJ-Can you do Green Lantern?
CP – ha-ha (Takes on serious voice)the Green Lantern Rumor is not true.
OF-After this movie you are both going to e really famous even in the SCI-FI world you’ll be recognised. Has that hit home?
CP – Yesterday at the premiere which was so funny it felt like a very small. When Eric Bana gets there and Karl everyone is cheering. There was just a very…it was like a BBQ or something. I felt like I wanted to have a beer. I loved it I could have just hung around outside all night. Especially with that view. I don’t know if that part’s settled in yet, I don’t want to count any proverbial chicken before they are hatched
ZQ-it’s also like you know this experience has evolved in such a way for both of us in a big way and now that we are getting into a public phase of it you know it’s apart of everything we have conditioned ourselves to be available to it during this time . I don’t know I mean I think Chris and I are both pretty …we both live in the same neighborhood in LA which is a very quiet, very pedestrian town. I hope that I am able to hold onto as much of my own life and as much of myself as possible. I don’t want to sacrifice but at the same time it’s a great honour to be in the positions that we are in. we both recognize how lucky we are and that we worked really hard to get here. You just have to walk the line and know your boundaries
CP – I thinks it’s a small price and inevitable a big price to pay if you were Brangelina or something but I
ZQ-I know you’ve been called the next Brad Pitt
CP – but if it were to happen with something like this I would be very proud. I think what we did was a hell of a lot of fun. I met a lot of good people that I call friend now and we get to fly to Sydney and show our movie at the opera house. Life could be a lot worse.
OF-When you found out you got the role. How good did it feel?
I talked to my father about it and you have just ten minutes of just outright jumping up and down with the hand hitting thing (throwing his fists in the air) your screaming and calling everyone you know then the reality sets in that you have to actually do it. It was a great challenge and I am still in kind of awe from last night.
ZQ-It took me quite a while for it to set in t believe it. It took weeks for me to really believe it was happening. Also cause I had to period of negotiation between paramount and NBC about whether I’ll be able to miss the show and all of this kind of thing, It wasn’t like a definitive “It was done” With Chris it was much more so as he got the job a couple of weeks before started shooting.
CP – I guess I was the last
ZQ-the lynchpin as it was, as it is
CP – to be associated with this cast is a pretty awesome thing.
OF-Last night the portrayal of both your character s was so powerful. And there seemed to be an instant chemistry between both of you in the movie. How instantaneous was that chemistry on set?
CP – it’s like with anybody if you meet them and you have an instant connection and you’ll know you’ll be friends for a long time. It was pretty much that. The worse thing that could ever happen is when you know you have to build chemistry. You Spock and Kirk have to have great chemistry. And the last thing you want to do is have to manufacture a thing and try really hard to have that electricity.
And never felt. I knew Zach socially a little bit before I even went in for the audition and he was helpful in prepping me about JJ and the Script. And we w2ent together on the Friday afternoon long ago and I knew I would work well with this guy.
ZQ- I knew that immediately as well. Even after the last 4 guys for the role all of them were great in there own way but it was far, far away that Chris was the only choice. Just in terms of how I related to him and how he related to the character and I think all that helps. You spend a lot of time training and in the theatre process to have a shorthand and vocabulary to understand how these relationships work .it wasn’t an effort. That was key and if yopu8 don’t have it that when you are in trouble. It has to be easy.
Thanks guys
