Aug 2008 - At the Los Angeles press junket for Bottle Shock, an indie film all about California wines and wineries, Chris Pine answered a few questions about another one of his films – Star Trek. Pine takes on the role James T Kirk (originally played by William Shatner) in this prequel to the Star Trek series and film franchise.
Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Trek was initially set to hit theaters in December 2008.
Trekkies had their patience put to the test when Paramount Pictures bumped the release date to May 8, 2009, deciding the film would play better during the summer movie season. Whether or not that was the right decision is yet to be seen, and Paramount's playing its cards close to the vest by not releasing much on the movie thus far. Even Comic Con attendees had to go without a real Star Trek movie fix as the film didn't have much of a presence at the biggest event for comic book fans (and movie geeks) in the world.
He's Not a William Shatner Clone:
Chris Pine: "I think what J.J. set forth in the beginning of the whole thing was to pay tribute to what was done before, to respect what these men had already given us in terms of creating their characters, and then to bring our own unique take on it. I think that opened up just really myriad possibilities. I never felt in particular, I don't know about Zach [Quinto] but I'm sure he would say the same thing is, I never felt encumbered. I only felt, 'Thank God that we were given such a great foundation for these characters because I don't really have to do all that much different from what they've given us.' Then J.J., being the kind of wonderful, positive creative force that he is, kind of let us do whatever we wanted."
On Shatner's Dramatic Pauses:
Chris Pine: "You know, really what Mr. Shatner did was very specific and very unique to him. All I really tried to do is do justice to what he did. I think if I went to Mimic-ville, I went to try to do Shatner-ville, it would not have been smart. J.J. never really asked for that so it was finding the balance, I think, between what was done before."
Getting the Relationships Right:
Chris Pine: "I think what's new about this particular version of Star Trek, and what J.J. and Bob and Alex were able to bring to it that's new and really exciting, is an incredible amount of humanity to the roles. For a project that can be so, there's a lot of spectacle to it, there's explosions and graphics and computer graphics and that. There's a lot of - it is really character driven. You really get to see why Kirk is Kirk, why Spock is Spock, how this crew got together. I think they did an incredible job of casting. Really to make something like Trek work takes an incredible… Like Bottle Shock is a good ensemble that works well together. You have to believe that these people would fight and die for one another. That's what made the original series so good, and I think they did that. When people see what Zach [Quinto] did with the role and what Karl [Urban] did with his role, what Zoe [Saldana] did with Uhura, she really expanded on a role that I think people will be really surprised and really excited."
On the 'Enterprise' Set:
Chris Pine: "The set is incredible. The production design, I think, will blow people away. I think it really is enough of that kind of, it pays tribute to that '60s look but it's very of the now. And the gadgets are incredibly cool. The production design… Really, what's great about working on a movie like that is you know that everybody that's involved is the best at what they do."
Stepping Onto the Enterprise's Bridge:
Chris Pine: "It's spine-tingling for sure, for sure."
On Kissing Green Girls:
Chris Pine: "Oh, man, you'll have to wait and see."