In Star Trek, the crew of the Enterprise are always the stars, yet they frequently have memorable villains. Everyone knows Khan and the Borg Queen, but sometimes they’re just generic Klingons. Eric Bana and Clifton Collins make sure that the new Star Trek has villains as powerful as the young enterprise crew. Bana plays Romluan captain Nero and Collins is his number one, Ayel.
Crave Online: How much did the makeup help you in creating the character?
Clifton Collins Jr.: With the make-up, I knew they were revamping the characters, and that was really exciting, especially with J.J. and his team surrounding it. The first time it was longer. We got it down, on a real good day, to about two and a half hours. On a bad day, it might have been four. When I saw myself for the first time, it was pretty frightening. I looked in the mirror and I was like, “Wow, this is scary! Who the f*ck am I going to kill now?”
Eric Bana: I wasn’t as scared as my agent was, when he came to the set to visit me. He freaked out. “Where’s my actor gone?” It was a weird thing, at first. I was really excited. It was actually one of the reasons why I wanted to play the part. I could tell, in the script, that I would be unrecognizable, and those opportunities in Hollywood are so rare. It was amazing. The first time you put it on, you realize that you can’t read facial expressions. It just stays still, so initially, as actor, you’re recalibrating. Everything you’ve done before is in the bin because otherwise the audience won’t see your face move at all. You have to push through the prosthetics, as amazing and cutting-edge as they are. The advancements in prosthetics have changed, but they also haven’t. It’s a piece of latex glued onto your head. It was fun. Each morning we’d sit there and get high off the chemicals and, after three hours, go onto the set. We don’t recall much that happened before lunch on the film, but after lunch, I remember some things. It was interesting.
Crave Online: What is the mind-set you have to get into to play bad guys?
Clifton Collins Jr.: I’m pretty much Eric Bana’s bitch. I go and do his dirty work. I carjack spaceships. “You want the USS Enterprise? Let’s go get it.” “You want me to chalk out Captain Kirk? All right, I’ll do it.”
Crave Online: With the main thing being restarting the Enterprise crew, how much of the power of the franchise did you feel was on your shoulders?
Eric Bana: I think the reality is that, every time you do a film, as an actor, there’s crazy pressure, and I think that pressure comes from within. It comes from yourself, and taking on external pressure is the biggest creative killer. When I read this script, not only did I want to get involved immediately, but I turned to my wife and I said, “The crew of the Starship Enterprise have got the coolest roles for coming-out character performances, ever. I hope they cast these roles well because there’s amazing potential in all of these characters.” I cockily thought that I would be the free-est because I was playing a villain who’d never been seen before, and the other guys had all this baggage and weight and pressure, and I was completely wrong. All of the crew of the Starship Enterprise have done the most comprehensive, respectful, re-imagining of characters. I think all of them had the hardest job in Hollywood this year, without a doubt, and they’ve done the most incredible job. By the end of the film, I was like, “That’s it. That’s them.” It’s an amazing thing that they’ve done, that they’ve been able to just brush that pressure off, but the reality is that it’s there on every movie.
Crave Online: Why do you think we love villains so much?
Eric Bana: I think we only love them when they’re good. Hopefully, Nero is a worthwhile adversary for the crew of the Starship Enterprise. That was all that I was interested in because I realized, very early on, that this really is a hero’s movie, not a villain’s movie, but you also need the villain to be strong enough to pose a threat. I think we have to be interested in them because it just makes the drama more dramatic and makes the peril more perilous, and so forth. I think we only love them if they’re good and, if they don’t work, they can just be a bit of a thorn. Hopefully, Nero’s not a thorn.
Crave Online: You’re now in a big franchise that the world loves. What was the reaction to you playing this role?
Eric Bana: I think rabid fans are a bit of a myth, really. I’ve only ever encountered pretty calm, reasonable fans. The Star Trek fans that we’ve come in contact with, the last few weeks, have been unbelievably polite and very excited. I see all that stuff as nothing but a positive. When you go into a film and there’s already an established awareness and fans, whether they’re saying good things or bad things, all that energy is just great. It’s a walk up start for a production to have, that you can’t take for granted, so I see all that stuff as a huge positive. Obviously, the dream come true for us is if, at the end of the second week, they’re all thrilled.
