AP.org — Looking at Chris Pine’s career, it’s hard to imagine that he hadn’t always harbored a lifelong passion to be an actor.
In a little over a decade since his first big screen role (the sequel to “The Princess Diaries”), Pine, 35, has established himself as one of the most recognizable stars of his generation. He’s got his third “Star Trek” movie coming this summer, followed by “Wonder Woman” in 2017. His latest, “The Finest Hours,” is out Friday.
Stardom of this kind doesn’t come accidentally to anyone, but to talk to Pine is to realize that he truly thinks of it as a lark.
“I don’t even feel like I picked it,” Pine said in a recent interview. “I just started doing plays in college. And then I went to LA. Then I got an agent. It just sort of rolled like a very slow snowball into what I’m doing now. It’s very weird.”
Pine did come from acting stock, however. His father, Robert Pine, is a journeyman working actor best known for “CHiPs” (Sgt. Getraer). His mother, Gwynne Gilford, was also an actress, as was his grandmother, Anne Gwynne. Growing up in Los Angeles meant he was even closer to the business. He did production assistant work on Ryan Murphy’s show, “Popular,” and then on a Roger Corman television show that his father was working on.
“Just regular old nepotism,” Pine said, laughing.
That’s not to say he’s not deeply serious about his profession, accidental or not.
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