Three additional videos under the cut!

Chris Pine has compared taking on the role of Jack Ryan to “jumping off a cliff”.

The actor realises the pressure that comes with following in the footsteps of stars such as Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, who have played previous incarnations of the CIA analyst. However, Chris believes he will bring something new to the role.

“Once you kind of jump off that cliff, you’re off the cliff. I can’t be Alec Baldwin, I can’t be Harrison Ford; I can only really do my own thing and stay true to the pillars of this character,” he told Empire.

Chris is no stranger to taking on high-profile roles, having reinvented Captain Kirk for the 2009 movie Star Trek and the hotly-anticipated next instalment Star Trek Into Darkness.

Although the star feels a connection to both Kirk and Jack, he insists they are poles apart. Chris appreciates Jack’s cool and calm exterior, claiming he stands out from other action heroes.

“Where Kirk’s a man of brawn, Ryan’s a quieter guy. He’s not Jason Bourne, he doesn’t have 50 kinds of kung fu. He figures it out like MacGyver,” he explained.

Kenneth Branagh is directing Jack Ryan and has spoken about why the character is still relevant to cinemagoers today.

“This kind of character could be a dinosaur, but he becomes somebody who is intimately engaged with what it takes to be in the world right now,” he explained. “We have the freedom to reflect the current climate.”

The plot centres on Russian terrorist Viktor Cherevin – played by Kenneth – who is plotting to destroy the US economy.

“There is a lot of grey in this. What does it take to be a patriot in 2012′ Cherevin is prepared to do certain things for his country,” he added. “It’s very, very personal to him.”

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I don’t think he could be anymore charming!

You can check out the interview in full over at USATODAY.COM

“It’s always a bit overwhelming,” admits Pine, 32. “What I do know is my job is to do my best to bring whatever new colors I have to these franchises.”

In Jack Ryan, directed by Kenneth Branagh, Pine takes the character to its beginning, where the injured Marine is recruited by CIA vet Kevin Costner to work as a high-level analyst. The two are pitted against a Russian oligarch (played by Branagh) who is pulling the strings of the financial market and delving into international terrorism with potential global catastrophic results.

The Russian angle might sound like classic Clancy, who set his novels during and in the shadow of the Cold War. But this original story has been brought to the present.

“We cheated a little,” says Branagh. “Mr. Clancy is very aware of and very behind the concept, but we put Jack Ryan in the here and now.”

“We take the fundamentals of the myth of Jack Ryan and do an original film that was never a book,” says Pine. “We’re making our own story in a modern-day 2013.”

Of vital importance for Pine was keeping Ryan very much the everyman, with his greatest asset being his analytical brain.

“He doesn’t drive great cars, he doesn’t know five different martial arts,” says Pine. “He works in the CIA, but he’s a normal guy with a normal wife (fiancée, actually) thrown into these extraordinary circumstances.”

Costner’s character “shows him right away that it’s not physical prowess or shooting a gun that’s Jack’s weapon, but it’s how smart he is,” adds Pine.

Don’t miss the additional 2 videos with Chris and Zach under the cut!