Interview With Leonard Nimoy - Part 1 & 2

[Vic 17]

Interview With Leonard Nimoy - Part 1 August 1, 2007

by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Interview, STXI Cast, Nimoy, Star Trek (2008 film) , trackback

In a TrekMovie.com exclusive, Leonard Nimoy talks for the first time about returning as Spock in the J.J. Abrams new Star Trek film. In this first of two parts the original Spock talks about the script and new team, why he didn’t appear in Generations and why he decided to come out of retirement for this film.

 

TrekMovie.com: I know you first talked to J.J. Abrams and his team late last year, but when was it first clear to you and them that you were going to be in the film?

 

Leonard Nimoy: When I first read the script…which was about three months ago. I immediately contacted J.J. and said “I think it is terrific…I think you guys have done a wonderful job. There is still work to be done, but it is very clear that you and your writers know what you are doing and you know how to do this movie and know what it should be about….and I am very interested.” Then as time went by we worked things out with Paramount, but the most important things were J.J. and the script. I can tell you is that they have a very fine script and that J.J. is an awesome director and they have done a wonderful job of finding Zachary Quinto who not only is going to look enough like me to make it work, but is also the perfect actor. I am very pleased about that and I am very comfortable with where this is going. I think the writers have done a terrific job. They have a real sense of the characters and the heart of Star Trek and what it is really all about. and I think we have a chance to make a really fine movie

 

TrekMovie.com: When you say a sense of the heart of what it is really all about, what do you think that ‘heart’ of Star Trek is that they have captured.

 

Leonard Nimoy: It is the camaraderie…I am talking the original Star Trek, I can’t speak for The Next Generation or Enterprise or Deep Space Nine or any of them. I am talking about the original concept of the camaraderie between these people. The professionalism of these people. Their sense of humor…which I think is terribly important. And the idea that these are very professional people that work together to solve problems. And the problems are not between these people and amongst themselves, but the problems are from outside forces of various kinds that they have to encounter and deal with. These are people who you enjoy rooting for and you have confidence in and I think that is terribly important. And also to know that when they joke with each other it is out of respect for each other – they respect and admire each other and count on each other. All those elements I think are available and [co-writers Bob] Orci and [Alex] Kurtzman understand that and J.J. certainly understands that and has a grasp of that.

 

TrekMovie.com: You mentioned humor. Humor was a key part of The Original Series and of course the films you were most involved in…especially IV. So is this movie funny?

 

Leonard Nimoy: [laughs] I think it is going to have its share of humor. It is going to be a great adventure. I think the idea of the origin of these characters is going to be wonderfully handled with great sense of respect and a light touch. I expect they are going to do it very well.

 

TrekMovie.com: Many Star Trek fans have voiced concerns over the new film and its place in Star Trek’s so called ‘canon.’ From what you know, do you think the film fit within the Star Trek universe?

 

Leonard Nimoy: Yah…I don’t have any qualms about that. I think these writers and J.J. have taken great pains to see to that they honor the Star Trek history and the Star Trek canon. I don’t think there is going to be any problem with that at all…this is not an issue. I have seen quibbles on the Internet with people very nicely concerned. Saying “who else can play Kirk and Spock…it is not possible.” Well it is possible. Don’t worry. Once people see this film and see how good it is all those quibbles will go away. Are they respectful? Are they trampling on history? Will the canon be intact? None of that stuff is going to happen.

 

TrekMovie.com: back in 1993 you were approached to be in Star Trek Generations along with Bill [shatner] and you declined…

 

Leonard Nimoy: [interjecting] There was no Spock role in that script!

 

TrekMovie.com: There wasn’t?

 

Leonard Nimoy: There was not a Spock role….there were five or six lines attributed to Spock in a scene with Chekov and Uhura and Kirk and whoever else was there, but it had nothing to do with Spock. They were not Spock-like in anyway. I said to Rick Berman “you could distribute these lines to any one of the other characters and it wouldn’t make any difference.” And that is exactly what he did. There was no Spock function in the script. I have always tried to make a contribution to these movies. There was no contribution to be made in that movie. It was just sort of ‘lets get Nimoy in here too.’ I said there is nothing here I can do so I said “thanks, but I’ll pass.”

 

TrekMovie.com: Now in the case of the new movie you have been retired from acting for years. What was it about this one that made you want to act again and go through the make up again? What was it that made you say ‘I really want to do this?’

 

Leonard Nimoy: You are right, this is a special situation. First it is Star Trek and so I have to pay attention. I owe that to Star Trek. Second place is that it is J.J. Abrams who I think very highly of, he is a very talented guy. Then came the script and it was very clear that I could make a contribution here. The Spock character that I am playing, the original Spock character, is essential and important to the script. So on the basis of those three elements it was easy to make the decision. So those three things: Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, and an interesting Spock role.

 

TrekMovie.com: So you have a meaty role in this film?

 

Leonard Nimoy: I would not refer to it as a cameo, it has been referred to as a cameo in various press and I wouldn’t describe it like that. Cameo is a brief appearance in one scene. This is a functional role in the film.

 

TrekMovie.com: So you have multiple scenes in the film?

 

Leonard Nimoy: Yes

 

TrekMovie.com: Could you say if they are woven throughout the film or are they bookends or just at one end or the other?

 

Leonard Nimoy: Don’t push it [laughs]

 

TrekMovie.com: After working as a director, is it at all difficult to be an actor and take direction again?

 

Leonard Nimoy: No…particularly when I have respect for the director like J.J. I am looking forward to this film much more so than I have looked forward to acting in anything for a long time…I really am. Because I have a great expectation that the character is going to play well and that it is going to be extremely well directed with a sense of what the characters are all about with a sense of how to create drama in a scene. I am looking forward to being part of that I really am.

 

http://trekmovie.com/2007/08/01/interview-...d-nimoy-part-1/

 

 

Interview With Leonard Nimoy - Part 2 August 2, 2007

by Anthony Pascale , Filed under: Interview, STXI Cast, Nimoy, Star Trek (2008 film) , trackback

In the second part of the TrekMovie.com exclusive interview with Leonard Nimoy, the actor talks about his thoughts on the new Spock (Zachary Quinto), William Shatner not being in the film (as of now) and J.J. Abrams abilities as a director…and ‘technobabble.’

 

 

TrekMovie.com: What are your thoughts on Zachary Quinto as the new Spock?

 

Leonard Nimoy: When J.J. sent me a compilation of his work on DVD I was very impressed. He is a very solid actor. To find someone who looks right is tricky enough, but to find someone who looks right and is as talented as he is I think is doubly effective. The danger would be to find someone who looks like me, but does not have the sense of the interior life that is necessary for the Spock character.

 

TrekMovie.com: So is it true that you and William Shatner have some kind of approval deal for the new Kirk and Spock?

 

Leonard Nimoy: I don’t think it is accurate to say we have approval as much as consultation rights. And J.J. did consult with me and it was a very easy call. I don’t know what would have happened if I said “J.J. this doesn’t work for me.” That would have been a yellow flag if not a red flag, but not contractually. It is just a question of mutual respect and understanding of what we are trying to bring to this project. But I think I can remember exactly what I said to J.J. I told him “not only does he look like me, but he has an inner life” - which is essential to that character.

 

TrekMovie.com: So over the last weeks William Shatner kind of let the cat out of the bag regarding your being in the film. He recounted some phone calls between you guys with you ribbing him, but he is known to be a joker so were his accounts accurate?

 

Leonard Nimoy: Well I didn’t rib him, but what he said was accurate. We spoke on the phone. I had read the script and he asked me if he was in it and I said “no.” And that is pretty much the way it went. You are right he jokes a lot and he said something like “I reached through the phone and grabbed him by the throat” and that sort of thing, but that is just Bill. I know that he is disappointed. I don’t know what the future is. I have no idea what J.J.’s plans are and I know that J.J. said that they are still trying to find a way to put him in the movie, but I am not the person to talk to about that.

 

TrekMovie.com: Have you talked to J.J. about your thoughts on Bill being in the film?

 

Leonard Nimoy: It is not up to me. I told J.J. that I was with Bill in Philidelphia last weekend and that Bill was disappointed that as of now he is not in the film. He was reported as being ‘furious’ and that is not accurate at all. I think he is appropriately disappointed, but I think he has come to a kind of understanding. After all, and Bill and I talked about this, the fact is his character did die in [star Trek:] Generations. He said “ya but you died at the end of [star Trek] II.” And I said “but I was resurrected…that is the difference between you and I.” [laughs] I also said to him that if I had been in Generations I would not have let him die…and that is a fact. I thought it was gratuitous. I didn’t see why…what was the point? I thought it was a waste of a very important character.

 

TrekMovie.com: You have said that you are playing the original and now older Spock and you are saying that Kirk cannot be in the film because he died in Generations. The implication here is that you are playing Spock in a future time period after Generations right?

 

Leonard Nimoy: You are digging for story points [laughs] you are doing a very good job of it but I am not going to comment any further.

 

TrekMovie.com: Did you see Mission: Impossible: III? As a fellow director what did you think of J.J. Abrams first feature?

 

Leonard Nimoy: I thought J.J. did a great job. I go to some of these movies today and I have to turn to my wife and say “what is going on here.” [laughs] These movies being made today, like Mission and some of the others…Tansformers which you probably know I was involved in originally. It is amazing to me these back stories are coming out of the closet now. The Mission project, the Star Trek project, the Transformers project…I have been involved with them for a long long time. Anyway, I said to some friends in San Diego that the stories we did in the days when I was involved in making these films and were much more linear than they are today. They are much more complex today. The audiences that go to see these films readily accept the complexities, more than I can frankly. I am not always sure what is going on and what people are trying to do. There is a line in Mission where the heavy says to Tom Cruise something like “it’s complicated.” Where he is explaining to him what the real game is…and I laughed out loud and said “damn right it’s complicated!”

 

TrekMovie.com: That’s true, but in that film Abrams made an interesting choice with regards to the central plot revolving around the ‘Rabbit’s Foot’ or the film’s MacGuffin. It was never explained. I always thought that was a daring choice to not overwhelm the audience with the technology. Which brings up an issue that has plagued Trek over the last decade or so…the notion that has come to be called ‘technobabble.’ Often on the recent TV series and even films the characters would go on and on about polarizing this and re-aligning that as solutions to dilemmas…

 

Leonard Nimoy: [emphatically] I agree! I agree! I totally agree. At one point during The Next Generation television series I contacted the Paramount television people and said “I am looking at some of these shows and I don’t understand them.” These technobabble scenes where people sit around a table and pour out information that has no dramatic impact - that is not in character. It is just people putting out information to try and explain what is going on, but it doesn’t explain…it is just boring. I think you are right, Abrams did not do that. He kept this thing moving and some of the scenes were absolutely gripping…gripping. When he gets hold of a scene he knows how to milk the drama out of it and that is one of his great talents.

 

TrekMovie.com: So you see similarities with this new movie

 

Leonard Nimoy: Yah…I am not worried about technobabble with this movie I will tell you that. When I see technobabble my blood runs cold.

 

TrekMovie.com: Well obviously Abrams and his team have a modern sensibility and tend to tell non-linear stories. But in this case we are going back to a 1960s TV show…

 

Leonard Nimoy: My primary concern is with the characters and the development of them. Abrams is going to tell a story and he is going to tell as story with characters that I am very familiar with. My sense when I read the script is that the understanding and the nurturing and development of these characters is excellent. That is the only word I can think of…Excellent! With that in hand I called him and said exactly that. I said “You have captured these people. I am interested being with them as the audience. I want to see these relationships develop as you have done this. I want to see it acted out. I am looking forward to it and I want to be in this movie.” As far as the adventure itself, there are lots of ways to do a Star Trek adventure. I am sure they are going to do a very meaningful Star Trek adventure.

 

http://trekmovie.com/2007/08/02/interview-...d-nimoy-part-2/

[Kor37 9]

It really makes me feel good about the upcoming movie to know that Nimoy is so enthusiastic about it. Since he directed some of the best Trek movies, I trust his opinion.

[jadziaezri 0]

good point kor

[Gummy 0]

I've always wanted to hear his explanation for why he wasn't in Generations.

Now, I see and understand why.

And look very much forward to the next film!!! :) :)