Zachary Quinto Talks Spock

07 May 2009

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Zachary Quinto shot to fame as the villain Sylar in hit television Heroes, which is currently on it's third series. This week sees his big screen breakthrough as he takes on the role of Mr Spock in J.J Abrams' Star Trek.

If someone has never seen the show before, how would you describe your character of Mr. Spock?

Spock is half human and half Vulcan, which is the most important distinction about him because those two cultures are in certain ways totally opposed in how they deal with the world. The Vulcan culture at a certain point in its history chose to abandon their connection to deeply felt emotion to employing a system of logic that allowed them to interrelate in a less volatile way.

Humans as we know are generally ruled by our emotions. The mixture of the two things is what really defines this character. In this story, he is not as in control of that duality and he is struggling to define who he really is. I am sure many people can relate to that struggle.

That was a great explanation but one must presume knowledge you haven’t always had. How much research did you have to do to really get to know the back-story of this character?

A lot of that was in the script. My big resource was Leonard Nimoy, who made himself available to me. As an actor, I am serving the script and there was a lot of information there. One of the great things about ‘Star Trek’ is that there is no shortage of material on the mythology of the story.

In all of your research, did you come to any understanding why this character has lasted so long in folklore? We have met many characters in film and TV, yet this one has left such an iconic impression.

He strives to be genuine and magnanimous. He has a deep abiding faith in humanity. He believes that good will prevail and he tries to bring that to bear.  Also he is constantly internally dealing with things, which is one of the great joys of playing this character.

As an actor, I get to have tons of secrets and private opinions. That internal mystery is very magnetizing and I think has a lot to do with what makes him so beloved.

It is amazing that these characters have lasted for over forty years and audiences still hunger for more.

I think what Gene Roddenberry set out to create when he made the original series was almost subversive. He dealt with themes that people had trepidation about openly discussing in the late sixties - like racial, social and political issues.

It was ahead of its time in many ways and it sparked an intellectual interest that cultivated the fan base. It is also at its core an optimistic piece. It offers hope and brings people together and encourages them to celebrate a unified spirit.

How aggressive were you in seeking out this part or did they come to you?

To a degree I proactively sought it out. Right at the time I found out that they were making this movie my character was debuting on ‘Heroes’ and so I was doing a lot of interviews. In the very first interview I did for my hometown paper, the journalist asked if there were any other roles in which I was interested.  I said, ‘I did hear they are making a new ‘Star Trek’ movie. I would love to play Spock.’ 

Then that interview got syndicated, and so subsequent  interviews started to include journalists inquiring about my interest in the project and eventually saying things like, ‘So we hear your dream role is Spock in the new ‘Star Trek’ movie.’ To which I just started replying, ‘Indeed it is.’ So it really was a surprisingly organic evolution.

When casting got up and running, they had read some of those interviews and when they called for material we were able to send them my reel and we were also able to send the press packet where I talked about it.

At what point once you did get cast and they started going through the test, I mean and there were different variations did you look in the mirror and go oh my God?

The tests happened in stages. I mean it was certainly a momentous occasion when I put the ears on for the first time and then when I shaved my eyebrows that sort of added to the situation, and then when I got my hair cut, you know, it all sort of slowly came into place. And there was one day when we did full wardrobe and makeup, hair test that it became clear that this was actually happening.

Did you watch a lot of the episodes from the old series?

No, I did not watch any of the episodes before we started shooting well, that’s not true actually. I watched two episodes with Leonard early on - but other than that I really focused on my relationship with him in preparation and my own research and reading.

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