Christopher Pine hasn’t let Captain James T. Kirk get in his way.
In fact, “Star Trek’s” gung-ho starship commander would probably admire Pine’s “I’ll do it my way” approach to his career.
Pine, 29, is a serious theater actor, and unlike most stage-trained performers who find sudden Hollywood fame, he hasn’t abandoned live performance.
Playing Kirk in last year’s blockbuster movie “Star Trek” has put the handsome Los Angeles native on a career fast track, but he’s still a regular on L.A. stages, too. In 2007 he appeared in Neil LaBute’s “Fat Pig” at the Geffen Playhouse; last year he starred opposite Chris Noth in the tense political drama “Farragut North,” also at the Geffen.
Now Pine will tackle one of British theater’s hottest and most challenging playwrights, Martin McDonagh, in the blood-soaked, pitch-dark 2001 comedy, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore.” It opens July 11 at the Mark Taper Forum.
We talked to Pine recently about “Inishmore,” his love of theater, and his career.
The Orange County Register: Did you see this play before landing the role of Padraic, its dark-hearted leading man?
Christopher Pine: I did not. I was more familiar with McDonagh from his film work, the short he won the Oscar for and “In Bruges,” which I was a huge fan of. From there I discovered his theater work. In college I had done a scene from “The Cripple of Inishmaan.” And I had heard from a lot of my friends in New York about how much they’d enjoyed (“Inishmore”).
