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Star Trek has tried to come up with new captains who could equal that magnitude of the original James T. Kirk. An argument could be made for Captain Picard, but with all due respect, it was diminishing returns with the Janeways or Archers. So, we’re back to Captain Kirk, only now it’s young Chris Pine showing us how Kirk got his bravado in the first place, only without the dramatic pauses.
Crave Online: Chris, the scene with the green girl brings down the house, and you’re probably only the second actor in history to have a love scene with a green girl. Did the make-up come off on you? Were there accidents?
Chris Pine: Were there accidents? It brought the house down, and I don’t think I had anything to do with it. It wasn’t my acting ability. I think it’s because the green girls have a certain place in the Star Trek canon. I remember that day being very long and, yes, that poor girl, Rachel Nichols, was in the make-up chair for two hours getting painted, so there was a lot of green paint on my nose after many a take. It wasn’t as fun as it looked. It was a long day and, yes, the make-up proved to kill any buzz that I might have gotten otherwise.
Crave Online: Obviously you don’t “do” William Shatner. What qualities did you want to maintain?
Chris Pine: There are certain things that are just very inherent to the character. I used the script that Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci wrote as kind of my bible, and that gave me my back story, in the sense of who this guy was and why he was who he was. And, going back and watching the series, what I was able to take away from it, or what appealed to me about Mr. Shatner’s performance and things that I felt that I could use without hitting people over the head with a bad impersonation, were little physical characteristics. What really appealed to me was the way that he moved about the deck of the ship. He’s got a very theatrical quality, just with his physicality, that just made my smile every time I watched it. There were things about how he sits in the chair that are very small. I felt less is more, in my case, at least. At the end of the day, it really was a conversation between me and J.J. On any given day, it would be, “So, what do you think about this? Do you think it would work now?” It would just be very small things, but it wasn’t anything conscious, as far as characteristics I must take from Mr. Shatner. It was way more of an ever-changing thing.
Crave Online: Have you talked with him since you played Kirk?
Chris Pine: Yeah, I saw him last night, for the first time, in the flesh and shook hands. He was very busy last night. It was a charity event for him, and he raises money for all these wonderful children’s charities, so I was there more to support him, in the great work that he does. But, it was great to finally meet him and I hope to have more of a chance to sit down with him, for a longer period, and actually talk to him about his experiences.
Crave Online: What were your childhood experiences with Star Trek?
Chris Pine: I was not a fan growing up. I kind of knew of the series through my grandmother, who’s a big William Shatner fan, but I was more of a Star Wars kid, and only gained a greater appreciation for Star Trek once I started watching the series, after I got the part.
Crave Online: Did you want to set anything up for the Kirk he would become?
Chris Pine: Yeah, there was a conversation with J.J. about what bread crumbs to leave along the way and I think we came up with a couple things. And also when I got it I began watching the episodes and I think just by process of osmosis, just watching it, there were things that I just enjoyed about it. His performance in the original series is really interesting to watch because he’s operating on many different levels. The original series, there’s a camp factor to it that’s very fun. It’s that same sense of humor that he brings to Boston Legal that you actually see him bringing to Star Trek that is done with a wink. I think that people sometimes don’t appreciate the kind of complexity to what he’s doing because I think there’s a wink and there’s a nod knowing that he’s playing a sci-fi character. He was a Shakespearian actor before that so he’s bringing all of that kind of projection, and carriage, and straight spine kind of stuff. There’s a way he moves on the deck of the enterprise which is almost balletic and there’s certain ways that he sits in the captain’s chair. There’s certain poses that are very iconic Kirk I think. But in terms of making a list of Kirk is bold, Kirk is confident, it’s just the nature of the character. I wouldn’t have had to have watched this series. It was in the script. The script that I was given gave me everything that I needed to play the part I think.
Crave Online: We’ve heard that a sequel is already being thought of. Have you talked about it already?
Chris Pine: I think it’s presumptuous to start talking about future installments before the movie has come out. We’re very excited about this one. I think people will enjoy this, whether they’re fans or non-fans. I know that Bob and Alex, and Damon Lindelof, the producer from Lost and a friend of J.J.’s for a long time, are now attached to write a second one, if there is, in fact, going to be a second one. But, I know that I loved making this and I loved the team behind it, who were my fellow crew mates, so if I were to be asked, I know that I would sign up.
