Leonard Nimoy on Alternate Timeline, Canon, Future of Spock and Star Trek XI

Star Trek Communicator and Official Fan Club founder Dan Madsen interviewed Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy for the Starland.com website and here are few excerpts of the article.

DM: Did you initially have any reservations about this alternate timeline idea and the destruction of the planet Vulcan?


No, I thought it was a very exciting and a very inventive way of dealing with some very serious problems that had to do with protecting the canon. It was a way of saying, "Look, we must free ourselves of those shackles, otherwise we are stymied at every turn of events with every character element, etc." Everything we do or say, people will say, "Well, that doesn't fit with the canon!" So they had to find a way to give themselves a fresh start and I think they did it brilliantly!

DM: I absolutely loved this film, but I have to admit that there was something bittersweet about it for me, as a fan of the original series, in that I realized my cast (the cast I grew up with and loved) was truly going away now and this new, younger cast was having the torch passed onto them. Do you have any sense of that?


LN: Yes, of course I do. But if we cannot accept the future we are in trouble. Ben Cross is playing Spock's father. Mark Lenard has passed away. Winona Ryder is playing Spock's mother and Jane Wyatt has passed away. Simon Pegg is playing Scotty and James Doohan is gone. DeForest Kelley is gone. Majel Barrett is gone. We have to be real about this. I am a nostalgic guy - I love thinking about the past. I think about it often. I think about the great times I have had and the difficulties and the exciting moments. But I think it is healthy to live in the "here-and-now" and deal with the reality of the present. I see it, not as a negative thing but as a positive thing. These beloved characters are being given a whole new life. I am very proud of the fact that these characters are worth dealing with again. We have established such wonderful characters that it is worth making a new investment in them and to go and watch them now and see them in a new light. I think that is very exciting!


DM: Don't you feel that this movie was almost a necessity to keep the Star Trek franchise flame burning bright as it seemed Star Trek had lost some of its luster over the last several years?


LN: I think it was absolutely necessary to keep Star Trek vibrant and moving forward. It was the same way as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan put Star Trek back on the map in 1982, this movie is doing the same thing many years later.


DM: Was the last line you said in the film, "Thrusters on full," a symbolic passing of the torch?


L: Dan, I am so delighted you are asking me this question. No one has asked me it before. That line was not in the script. We had shot the scene and were done with it and I said to JJ, "If you give me one more take, I have a thought I would like to inject here and see if you like it." We shot it again and I said, "Thrusters on full." It was kind of a blessing and a passing of the torch. It was an absolutely on-the-spot idea I came up with and it was not in the script. Then JJ called me sometime later and said that he was amazed at how it fit into the next scene on the bridge because then they start talking about the thrusters! So there was a connection almost as if it had been designed that way. I wasn't thinking about the bridge scene, I was simply thinking about saying to these young guys, "go ahead. Take the torch and go!"

DM: What do you believe is Spock Prime's future after this film?


LN: My sense is that he has some work to do. He talked about establishing a new Vulcan colony and I think he will be very involved in that. If we never see him again that is what I would imagine he is doing. He is busy rebuilding the Vulcan story.

DM: As it stands right now, what do you foresee for the future of Star Trek?


LN: It is very clear that Paramount is interested in making another Star Trek movie. I think, at least a month ago, they had already authorized a script to be written and that means a financial investment and an expectation that there will be at least a script to look at. My understanding is that it will be written by the same guys, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman. They are probably at work on developing a story right now. I think that there is very strong interest in the next Star Trek movie coming from audience and studio alike. Beyond another movie, who knows? The future is wide open.


DM: I assume as well that you are very open minded to appearing as Spock again should they ask you?

LN: I have no illusions on whether or not they need me. They decided that they wanted to make this film using Spock as kind of an anchor for the story, which I think worked very, very well. They don't have to do that again. If they decide they have a role for me to play I would be very interested in talking to them about it. But I have every reason to believe that they have established a whole new set of characters and they can sail very well without me and that's fine. Either way is good with me. I am very gratified that this has happened.


http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/07/09/Leonard-Nimoy-on-Alternate-Timeline-Canon-Future-of-Spock-and-Star-Trek-XII.shtml