Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto: The Two Faces of Spock

May 3, 2009

The makers of Star Trek can thank their lucky stars that the spacetime continuum isn't thought to be very continuous these days. The new Star Trek film turns its back on everything that Back To The Future ever taught us about time, and embraces the possibilities of infinite alternate universes that come along with the relatively recent science of string theory.

In the domain of string theory, the paradox issues created by time travel are resolved by a split in the fabric of time, with new offshoots creating alternate futures. This non-linear vision of temporal theory, which is now favored by many scientists, has conveniently allowed Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who worked with J.J. on Alias and Fringe), to reboot the series and open Star Trek up to a whole new world of possibilities.

The character of Spock lies at the dramatic center of the alternate universe depicted in the new Star Trek movie, with Leonard Nimoy's original Spock traveling back in time to aid a United Federation of Planets inhabited by his younger self, played by Heroes' Zachary Quinto. In this timeline, which was created by the elder Spock's leap through time, the young Spock (and not Kirk) gets to kiss Uhura (played by Zoe Saldana).

In an otherwise utterly brilliant film, it's this one storyline that may have hardcore Trekkies and Trekkers up in arms. Science fiction fans might need to remind themselves that the word "science" comes before "fiction" in this genre, where multiple alternate timelines/universes are (quite literally) the way of the future. Fans can also console themselves with the fact that a Spock/Uhura relationship is perhaps not without precedent in Star Trek's hallowed canon -- as actor Karl Urban (who play Dr. Leonard "bones" McCoy) points out in the group discussion with Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto below.

Question: Obviously this Star Trek takes place in an alternate timeline and the younger Spock is very different from your Spock, he's much more emotional, much more human -- he has the relationship with the girl.

Leonard Nimoy: He does doesn't he? [laughs] I noticed that.

How did you feel about that when you first read that in the script? Were you resistant to that?

LN:

I'll tell you, I was bemused by it when I read it in the script. I was amazed by it when I saw it on screen. I thought it was incredible.

Do you think it works?

Well I understand that Spock is half human and half Vulcan, and I guess it's more of a human Spock and less of a Vulcan Spock.

Zachary Quinto: I don't necessarily agree with you, I think there's a duality and an internal conflict because he's really split between those two halves of himself but I just don't think he's gained the kind of control over that duality that Leonard had when he played the character. That's the journey of this character. It's not that he won't arrive there. It's not that he possesses more humanity than Vulcanity, it's just he's juggling to define it.

LN:

[laughs] That's great I love that. Write that, "Vulcanity" -- that's a new one!

Zachary, you play one of the most iconic of all the characters in the Trek universe. How intimidating was it for you to do that? And how much more so for you to do so with [Leonard] present? And Leonard, what do you think of the new Spock?

ZQ:

I think all of us were faced with a certain level of intimidation stepping into these roles theoretically, although J.J. did a great job of diffusing that from step one, in terms of really dictating that we were encouraged to use the original performances as points of departure, but from there we were expected to develop our own points of view and perspectives on these characters.

And for me Leonard's involvement was only liberating frankly. I knew that he had approval over the actor that would play young Spock, so when I got the role I knew from the beginning it was with his blessing, and from that point we developed our own relationship. I was the first one cast in the movie. I got cast in June and we didn't start shooting until November, so over those months Leonard and I spent a number of times hanging out and talking about life and about the characters. Just getting to know him personally was incredibly freeing and helpful in the process.

LN:

I think it's appropriate when the old timers walk on the set that everybody be intimidated. [laughs] It's classic. I used to be the kid on set and I was intimidated. Why shouldn't they be? [laughs]

This relationship didn't exist at all in the series. Uhura never expressed any interest at all in Spock that anybody could see. How did you approach this relationship that was brand new to the Star Trek canon?

Karl Urban: If I may just express some of my Star Trek knowledge here, there was, I do remember, one particular episode where Spock was playing, what was that instrument?...And Uhura was singing and caressing his ears, and it was one of the most hypnotic scenes in the original series. So I think, while that relationship wasn't developed, it certainly was there in subtext.

ZQ:

Snap! [laughs]...And for me the relationship really provided a great source of levity in the film between Kirk and Spock, between Kirk and Uhura. But between Spock and Uhura I think it provides a really interesting depth in that Uhura ultimately represents a canvas on to which Spock projects the emotions that he can't otherwise express.

I just think that dynamic for me was really rewarding as an actor, and the scene that Zoe [Saldana] and I played in the elevator was definitely one of the most present experiences through shooting, and that has a great deal to do with Zoe and her emotional availability and her openness, and it was such a comforting confined space that we were in.

LN:

[talking to Zachary] What is it that Kirk says to you, I missed the line, when you're on the transporter and he says something and you say, "I have nothing to say about that." What does he say to you?

ZQ:

He says, "Her first name's Nyota?"

LN:

And you say?

ZQ:

And I say, "I have nothing to say on the matter."

Leonard, did you have any hesitation going back to this after all this time? And was it the script, was it J.J., what?

LN:

It was a combination of the script and J.J.'s enthusiasm, and then J.J. and the writers, [Roberto] Orci and [Alex] Kurtzman, talking about their sensibility, their sense of what Star Trek was all about and what the Spock character could be about. And frankly I had felt marginalized for a long time. I hadn't been asked to be involved in Star Trek for something like 17 or 18 years, and this felt like somebody said there's a value here that we'd like to take advantage of and do something with, and it felt good. It felt good. It felt like being, frankly, appreciated. I was happy to go back to work.

What were your fondest memories of Gene Roddenberry?

LN:

He was a brilliant complicated man and we had a complicated relationship. There were times when it was like a father /son relationship -- a typical, classic -- and sometimes it was great and sometimes it was really bad. Sometimes we disagreed strongly about certain issues. But obviously he was a very, very special mind.

Zackary, did any of the Vulcanisms give you any trouble?

ZQ:

I spent a little time actually training my hands to be able to do the salute. That wasn't something that came particularly easy, so I would rubber band my ringer finger and my pinky finger together and when I was driving around Los Angeles I would do little exercises....

Somewhere in the press kit there's a quote from you, Mr. Nimoy, where you say that this Star Trek has the opportunity to go places that the original never accomplished. What are those things?

LN:

When we were making the series I was always curious about what issues the writers were going to tackle in Star Trek that they could not tackle in other series, in other television. Those were the things that make Star Trek interesting for me. In this Star Trek, I think it's a question of vengeance. It's the defeatism and emptiness of vengeance.

That makes it meaningful to me. We tackled some very interesting issues all through the years, racial issues, economic issues, ecological issues, all kinds of very interesting subject matter, and I think that's what made Star Trek meaningful for a lot of people.

Writers were given an opportunity in Star Trek to tell stories about issues that they could not express in other television shows - and they did. They often came in and said, "I have a great feeling about this subject. I'd like to write a script that deals with that issue."

Were you surprised that it took this long for the studio to recast the roles you guys had played before?

LN:

I frankly didn't spend a lot of time thinking about that. I was busy doing other things. I simply figured that, for me, Star Trek was finished. I had done what I could and was asked to do, and it was over for me. When the First Generation's film came along I was left out of it and Kirk was killed. I think someone was sending us a message. [laughs] It's over for you guys, it's somebody else's games now, and that's the way it was for a long time.

Zachary, in the film it seems that Spock has to strip himself of virtually every emotion. For this character what did you have to strip yourself of?

ZQ:

I didn't really see it that way actually. I think Spock, I think he experiences deeply run emotions and I think that especially in the context of the relationship with his mother, I think there's a real depth of feeling. The only thing I feel I had to strip myself of was the ability to express it in a conventional way. I think that's really the dilemma of Spock ultimately, because if he doesn't feel emotion, then there's no conflict within him. So the conflict exists in the feeling, the deeply rooted and sublimated feeling of emotion without the opportunity to do much with it other than hold it, which is really challenging and can be painful.

Zachary, you play two beloved characters, Sylar in Heroes and Spock in Star Trek. Do you foresee a backlash with either one of your fanbases?

ZQ:

A fan war? Fan reaction doesn't tend to be something I attach myself to very much. I mean, I care deeply about the work I do, I'm grateful on so many levels for these contrasting and challenging opportunities that I've had in the past couple of years, but my focus is my work and people's reaction to my work falls under the category of things I have absolutely no control over. I would certainly love to invite my Heroes fans to join us on this journey and, don't be pissed, it's all good.

Zachary, at the end of the original series it's perceived that Mr. Nimoy tried to distance himself from playing Spock -- he even wrote a book entitled, I Am Not Spock...

ZQ:

I read it.

Are you concerned at all about now being too associated with Spock as an actor?

ZQ:

Well I think that was a different time. There was a stigma attached to science fiction that doesn't exist anymore. It's become so much more mainstream. I think also people's attention spans, for better or worse, have diminished significantly since that time. I feel like really it's incumbent upon myself to define what kind of career I want -- and for me that's a career of longevity and diversity. So now it's my job to hopefully utilize this exposure as a platform to do other kinds of work and enrich myself with other genres and to invite the avid fanbase of science fiction, of Star Trek specifically, to come with me on that kind of a journey now because that's the kind of actor I want to be...So...No!

Leonard, how did [William Shatner] react to you being cast in the movie?

LN:

Oh, I think he had mixed feelings but it's all worked out fine.

Did you guys talk about your return to...

LN:

...No. We didn't talk about it.

You got to talk to your young self in the movie. What would you want to say to your young self in real life?

LN:

I think the scene with Zackary was a very good father/son scene, really. He's sort of been through it and is giving the best advice he can in a very brief scene. Not a lot of opportunity for that.

Leonard, as well as staring in the first Star Trek series and the first six movies, you also directed. Would you like to go behind the camera again?

LN:

No. No, I'm done with all that thank you. I never set out to be a director. After Spock had died, sort of, in Star Trek II, they brought me in for a meeting and asked if I'd like to be involved in Star Trek III, in the making of it, and I had been told that I should be directing. I took it as an insult because I thought what's wrong with my acting? But I thought maybe now I should do that and I said I'd like to direct the movie, and I suddenly found myself with a directing career which I had enjoyed and I had enough of it. I directed I think five or six films -- I had a good time.

I would like to say this that over the years one of the questions that I've often been asked is what contributes to the longevity of interest in Star Trek, and what makes it successful and so forth, and I think one of the things that's easily overlooked is the fact that all of the people on this Enterprise crew, all of the people involved in these various characters within Star Trek are highly educated and highly professional people. They're for the most part scientists, and they really know how to do their job and I think people admire that.

People may not be consciously aware of it, but you somehow sense that these are very professional people that know what they're doing and each makes a contribution to a solution of a problem. And while I have the opportunity to say that here, I would like to point out that there's a great authenticity in this movie, I think that you believe these characters, you believe that these people are professionals and that, I think, has something to say about the quality of the professionalism and talent of all the people that are playing these characters, that are portraying these characters -- there's a brilliant cast put together here. I'm an admirer of all of the cast in this movie. I think they've done a great job.