Leonard Nimoy on Returning to Star Trek, William Shatner and J.J. Abrams

ClickonDetroit posted an interview with Star Trek star Leonard Nimoy and here are excerpts of the article.

He said that the only thing that would have made his return to the "Star Trek" universe complete would have been the inclusion of the original Kirk, William Shatner, in the film.

"Bill Shatner and I are very close friends and we see each other quite regularly, and we get together with our wives have dinner quite frequently," said Nimoy, 78. "I'm sorry he's not in this film. I hope that it's pretty clear that it would have been difficult to include him because of the backstory on Kirk. They did offer him a role in this movie, but I guess he didn't believe it was appropriate for him to be doing what they offered ... I had no idea what the role was. Bill and I have not talked about it. It's just understood that this is a movie that he's not in."

"When they eliminated Spock and killed Kirk, it was really a loss for both of us," Nimoy said. "I felt that we both had a lot that we could still contribute to 'Star Trek,' but the people who were making those films went their own way and they had a right to, I guess. I don't hold them responsible in any way. It was just a fact that they decided that they were going to go ahead without Spock and Kirk."


Nimoy likens his return to the new "Star Trek" as a homecoming, and a sweet one at that. For the lack of better words, he's thrilled to see that Spock has been given the chance to live long and prosper again.


"I have not been included in 'Star Trek' for a very long time so coming back with this wonderful movie, in a strong, solid contributing role, I feel like I've come home," Nimoy said. "I feel like I've slipped into a warm, comfortable bathrobe with a bunch of friends sitting around."

J.J. Abrams is admittedly more of a fan of "Star Wars" than "Star Trek"; but Nimoy feels the unfamiliarity with the latter actually worked toward the director's advantage for this new "Trek" voyage.


"He wasn't bound by the sensibility of what had come before -- but on the other hand, Orci and Kurtzman were very much involved with 'Star Trek' and really understood and appreciated the whole history of it," Nimoy said. "So between the group, they were able to find a real good sense of what had gone before and a real good sense of taking it forward."
http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/07/23/Leonard-Nimoy-on-Returning-to-Star-Trek-William-Shatner-and-JJ-Abrams.shtml