In our exclusive 30-minute interview with the cast of “Star Trek Into Darkness” and director J.J. Abrams, the conversation touched on just about everything under the stars. From Spock’s eyebrows to laughing on set, the topics were as vast as the travels of the USS Enterprise.
While it’s hard to cover all of the topics touched on during “MTV First: Star Trek Into Darkness” without giving a blow-by-blow, these five takeaways should give you a feel for what went on when MTV News’ Josh Horowitz sat down with Abrams and the cast.
A laughing J.J. is a good thing. Even on big adventure movies like “Star Trek Into Darkness,” things can get a little silly from time to time on the set, and usually that’s okay. Abrams said that he’s usually chief among the slap-happy when things break down during filming, but one take on the 2009 “Star Trek” was too much for him. “It was the one time that we had literally been working forever, and it was the last night on the bridge,” Abrams said. “Everyone started cracking up, and it was unacceptable.”
Benedict Cumberbatch had the best food on set. It’s hard joining any group of people who have previously established relationships with each other, and the same went for Benedict Cumberbatch when he was added to the cast. But as the film’s villain, Cumberbatch needed to keep some distance. “With me, I guess it played into my hands, being an outsider to the actual team who made the first film,” he said. Of course, he was still the new guy, but Cumberbatch quickly learned a way into the hearts of the original cast. “He bought us though,” Zoe Saldana said. “He used to share his food with us.”
Being a Vulcan can seriously hurt. The clip you enjoyed featuring Spock’s daring descent into the heart of a volcano certainly looked impressive in its finished form, but you should know that a lot of work went in it for your enjoyment. While filming the scene, Quinto managed to get some of his neck skin caught between the helmet and his shoulder pad. With the microphone inside his helmet broken and his only line of communication to the crew cut off, the actor suffered in silence as they watched on. “I didn’t know what was happening,” Quinto said. “All I knew was that it was the most painful.”
Zachary Quinto can Spock-ify just about anything. Over the course of two films, Quinto has spoken in a very particular, very Spockian way. In that time, you might expect that he had become well verse in that manner of speaking, to the point where he could take any phrase and turn it into something Spock might say. And you’d be right. Put to the challenge, Quinto took some seriously un-Spock phrases and Spock-ified them. Would you have guessed that Spock is the world’s biggest belieber?
J.J. doesn’t want to talk about “Star Wars”… yet. Whereas Quinto can turn any phrase into Spock talk, Abrams can dodge any “Star Wars” questions with equal aplomb. When asked about how he was approaching the new film, Abrams was quick to avoid a direct answer. “It really is way early days. I feel like it would be wrong to talk about something, the process of which is only beginning,” he said. “I do look forward, when the time is right, answering all of your questions.”
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