Chris Pine Talks Captain Kirk, Benedict Cumberbatch, And Star Trek Into Darkness
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J.J. Abrams is notorious for secrecy on set, and no doubt the cast and crew of the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness have been pinkie-sworn to secrecy. Perhaps there’s a blood oath involved. With the news that the trailer will premiere with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (as well as the nine-minute sneak peak with the IMAX version), the sequel to the 2009 reboot of the legendary sci-fi franchise has been a hot topic of conversation this week.
For what it’s worth, the new-jack Captain Kirk himself, Chris Pine, has been doing his part, teasing his role, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch’s mystery villain.
While promoting Rise of the Guardians, Pine called Kirk a “brash, cocky, bull-headed kind of guy.” He continues on to say, “I think the journey he goes on in this new film is a lot about—the first one was about getting the chair and the second one is about earning it. And I think that is a big part of his journey.” That makes sense. Sequels are less about origins, and more about a character coming into his own, becoming the person he ultimately becomes.
In a separate interview, he touched on the topic of Cumberbatch. We still don’t know who the Sherlock star plays, though Khan is a predominant rumor. Whoever Cumberbatch is, he apparently has at least one tough scene.
Pine said:
There’s one scene in [Star Trek Into Darkness] that’s like, you know … in all kinds of heavy science fiction there’s got to be the exposition scene where it’s like, what the hell’s going on? It’s a really, really, really hard scene. Not for me, for Benedict—and watching him handle that and to make something that I think, on paper, could have been a death trap for an actor and to see how he [deals with it]…
That’s about as vague a description as you can get, but you can read between the lines. You can’t help but think that Pine is referring to a major emotional scene, probably one that serves as a bit of an origin story for Cumberbatch’s character. Seemingly every villain is sent down his dark path due to some tragedy or trauma. It would make sense if the scene in question portrays Cumberbatch witnessing some horror befall his family or loved ones. This is all speculation, but that’s one interpretation of Pine’s comments.
