Casting Call: Star Trek XI
I always thought the Star Trek franchise had out grown the original cast. Like Superman, James Bond and Dr. Who; it’s time some other dude plays Captain James T. Kirk.
None of my Trek friends would agree. Hollywood did however, and so an eleventh Star Trek movie is coming out.
To answer your first question; Yes. I feel vindicated.
As for your second; no. I wasn’t very pleased with the casting.
And whether you were wondering or not; here’s how I would’ve done it.
Captain Kirk - Peter Sarsgaard: Kirk is the youngest Captain in the fleet and they just handed him the keys to the flag ship. Kirk has a lot of unlikeable qualities; he’s a cheater, liar and he has commitment issues. With the right personality those idiosyncrasies translate to “driven” and “insanely ambitious.” Sarsgaard can pull that off without appearing like some whiny, baby faced smart-ass. He looks like a bit of a swashbuckler too.
Mr. Spock - Adrian Brody: Spock is still relatively young at this point, raw and full of human emotion despite his half-Vulcan physiology. At one time he may have been trying to embrace it, based on his behavior in the flash backs of The Menagerie, but he’s learning to be more logical every day now. I think that’d be a very interesting transition to watch and I’m confident Brody could bring the proper gravity towards it. His gangly features make him perfect to deliver the dreaded Double-Axe Handle during the inevitable Sick Bay fight scene.
Dr. McCoy - Hugh Laurie - Bones hates space. He hates aliens and technology, too. He has relatively little business traveling around the galaxy exploring strange new worlds and civilizations. I’d like to know why he signed on and why he stayed for that matter. Hugh Laurie is practically type-cast to reveal the heart of gold behind McCoy’s terrible bed side manner
Scotty - Simon Pegg - I’d like to think I’d pick Simon Pegg even if he wasn’t already cast. Scotty is a slick guy, always fudging repair estimates and playing dumb to make himself look good. There isn’t much internal conflict to him and that’s OK. He’s here for a few good bits of exasperation from the engine room and updates on the warp core.
Sulu - Daniel Dae Kim - Sulu is the cocky pilot whose own daring compliments Kirk’s. Plus he’s a master of hand to hand combat. Kim’s managed to make a non-English speaking character consistently bad ass over three seasons on Lost. I’m sure he can handle some “Aye, Sir” and flying kicks.
Uhura - Nicole Ari Parker - Little bit of mystery to Uhura. She’s a master linguist and a smooth talker. I imagine she has a few years of experience on her and she’s very career oriented. That reminds me of every role I’ve ever seen Parker in.
Chekov - Anton Yelchin - The studio choice wins by default. I’m pretty sure that if this is supposed to be a prequel he shouldn’t be in it. After all Chekov didn’t even appear on the series until the second season. Absent the Cold War; shock value of Russian/American cooperation wears off quickly as well. I imagine he’s being included for fear of fan back lash.
-Johnny Zito
