RadarOnline.com has the scoop on Chris Pine’s latest acting role and we think Chris in the flesh is even better than seeing him on the big screen!

We were lucky to see the first night preview Tuesday night of the play Farragut North at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles with Chris starring along side an all star cast including Chris Noth, Olivia Thrilby, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Mia Barron, Dan Bittmer and Justin Huen. We won’t give you any spoliers, but Chris Noth surprised us as the political boss, and we loved the sparks that flew between Chris Pine and Olivia during their sexy love scenes!

The theater was packed and the crowd cheered loudly for Chris as he took his bow at the end of the show. And who could blame them? We definitely enjoyed seeing Chris dressed up in hottie suits on stage. The entire cast joined the young theater patrons at an private event after the show, and RadarOnline.com spotted Chris chatting with lots of excited fans.

But he’s not raking in the big bucks in this show. Although he’s starring in the biggest hit of the summer, our theather friends tell RadarOnline.com that the Star Trek stud did this play as a “labor of love,” and was paid favored nation status – which means that everyone in the cast made the same amount of money and our sources tell us this was NOT a big paycheck at all.

So why do we like Chris in this play so much? All we can say is you don’t get to see Captain Kirk strip down to his boxer briefs in Star Trek!

Thanks so much to Chris Alexander of RadarOnline for sending this to me!
source: radaronline.com

CHRIS PINE

“On my first day of shooting [Star Trek], I ended up breaking a stunt guy’s nose,” recalls the 28-year-old. “A word of caution to any young actor out there: Do not hurt stuntmen, because they will pay you back in kind! The next take after that, this big stunt guy kicked me in the stomach. He said it wasn’t on purpose, but I don’t know.”

source: people magazine

5. Chris Pine
Chris Pine heated up the silver screen in this spring’s remake of Star Trek. The actor, who had landed roles in less lucrative, recent films, played James T. Kirk–the character made famous by William Shatner in the original television series–in this year’s movie. The film grossed $75 million opening weekend, just short of opening weekend box office sales of X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

source: forbes.com

SOURCE: Fresh off his lauded New York production of Farragut North, director Doug Hughes reunites much of his ensemble cast, including Juno’s Olivia Thirlby, The Wire’s Isiah Whitlock, Jr, Mia Barron, Dan Bittner and Justin Huen, at the Geffen Playhouse to join the previously announced Chris Noth and Chris Pine. Noth, best known for his longtime stint as Detective Mike Logan on Law & Order and as the (in)famous Mr.Big on Sex and the City, is a fellow cast member from the Atlantic Theater Company’s NY production, while Pine, who is starring as the young Captain Kirk in the new film Star Trek and was recently seen in the Geffen’s production of Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig, is new to the LA production. Written by Beau Willimon, Farragut North was recently nominated for two Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

Set against the backdrop of a close presidential race, Farragut North is a timely tale of hubris, loyalty and the lust for power. Chris Pine takes on the role of Stephen, a young press secretary working for a fast-rising candidate. With confidence and power beyond his years, Stephen is convinced he and seasoned campaign manager, Paul, played by Chris Noth, can steer this team into the west wing without breaking a sweat. But that doesn’t mean it won’t take some spin. Working to snag positive coverage for his candidate, Stephen works with Ida Horowicz, a savvy New York Times reporter, played by Mia Barron (The House of Blue Leaves, The Coast of Utopia). Watching Stephen in awe as he works the system, is deputy press secretary Ben played by Dan Bittner, who recently appeared in The Vertical Hour on Broadway and can be currently seen on the big screen in Adventureland. Enter Olivia Thirlby as Molly, the bright-eyed flirtatious intern, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as the conniving campaign manager for the rival candidate, and Stephen’s invincibility gets a run of its own.

This Is Your Captain Speaking
To the outrage of William Shatner devotees everywhere, the role of Captain Kirk in the new
Star Trek went to Chris Pine—an unproven 28-year-old from L.A.—who didn’t know a Vulcan from a Venezuelan. When it comes to his breakthrough role, we don’t know whether to congratulate him or send our sympathies

You play Captain James T. Kirk. Any razzing from old friends of late?
It’s pretty fucking inescapable. I play basketball with a bunch of guys at 9:30 a.m. and
it’s like, “Yo, wussup,
Captain Kirk!” I don’t have a smart comeback yet.

You weren’t much of a Trekkie, we hear.

I was a Star Wars kid. The kitsch factor in the original Star Trek series is high, but the show manages to take on these huge questions about race, sex, and war. I have a great appreciation for what Mr. Shatner did with the part. There’s a gravity
to it, but he’s having fun.

Surely tiptoeing around the rabid fan base—calling him “Mr. Shatner” and all that—must get old?
The amount of dissection of the minutiae of this movie…I was blown away by the protectiveness. I’m definitely guilty of looking at the blogs, and I’m not a fan of the anonymity [of the Internet], how it allows people to just spew poisonous vitriol like vomit.

You seem interested in playing a diverse range of roles. Are you worried you’ll forever be typecast because of your looks?
I did a movie called Smokin’ Aces, and the casting director didn’t want to
see me for the role of a neo-Nazi hit man. But it didn’t bum me out. I had to prove I could do it.

What was the state of the Lindsay Lohan circus when you starred opposite her in Just My Luck [in 2006]?
She was making a lot of money and attracting
a lot of attention from the paparazzi. It put in stark relief that I don’t want that kind of life.

Isn’t Star Trek bringing it anyway?
Maybe. But I’m not gonna hunt it out. I won’t tell my publicist I’m going to Starbucks in twenty minutes and to call the photographers.

source

Until this weekend, not many among the moviegoing public knew the name Chris Pine, unless you happened to be a fan of films like “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” or the Lindsay Lohan rom-com clunker “Just My Luck.” But his turn as young James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” reboot looks to be a star-making move.

And it’s not just audiences and critics who are raving about Pine’s Kirk and favorably comparing his portrayal to that of original Kirk William Shatner; Hollywood is taking notice too. Count director Kevin Smith among Pine’s growing legion of fans.

“I think what makes that movie work chiefly — aside from, of course, the talents who all came together behind it — is Chris Pine,” Smith said when he stopped by the MTV News offices. “That dude is astounding. To be able to invoke Kirk without doing a Shatner impression? That performance was so electric and so wonderful to watch.

“That dude is an instant movie star,” Smith added. “That dude is gonna work forever. He’s so good and effortless in his delivery.”

Smith is no stranger to breakout stars, having worked with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in early films like “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma,” and Pine reminds Smith of both actors: “He’s kind of a combination between Ben and Matt. You had Ben and Matt in the ’90s, and now you have Chris Pine, who is the combination of those dudes.”

Smith is so enamored of Pine, he’s willing to do almost anything to take in another of the actor’s performances. “I’d watch that dude do anything,” Smith said with a laugh. “I’d watch that dude have sex with my wife at this point. He’s such a good actor.”

But it wasn’t just Pine that had Smith raving about “Trek.” “The opening 10 minutes of that movie are astounding,” he said. “It’s, like, everything could go downhill after that, and you would still leave that movie going, ‘That movie rocked.’ But, luckily, it doesn’t really go downhill. It maintains that energy throughout.”

source