- Notes provided by Paramount Pictures. -

The Future Begins

The greatest adventure of all time begins with "Star Trek," the incredible story of a young crew's maiden voyage onboard the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. In the midst of an incredible journey full of optimism, intrigue, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals born worlds apart. One, James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine), a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy, a natural-born leader in search of a cause. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), grows up on the planet Vulcan, an outcast due to his half-human background, which makes him susceptible to the volatile emotions that Vulcans have long lived without, and yet an ingenious, determined student, who will become the first of his kind accepted into the Starfleet Academy.
Kirk and Spock could not be more different. Yet, in their quest to figure out who they really are and what they have to give to the world, they soon become competitive cadets-in-training. With their drastically opposite styles, one driven by fiery passion, the other by rigorous logic, they also become defiant, contentious adversaries, each equally unimpressed with the other, each going all out to be among the special few chosen to join the crew of the most advanced starship ever created, the U.S.S. Enterprise.
The crew is headed by Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). Joining him are the ship's Medical Officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban); the man who will become the ship's Chief Engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Simon Pegg); Communications Officer Uhura (Zoë Saldana); experienced Helmsman Sulu (John Cho); and the 17-year-old whiz kid Chekov (Anton Yelchin). All will face a harrowing first test that will set in motion the loyalty, camaraderie, daring and good humor that will bind them forever.
In the midst of it all, Kirk and Spock will come face-to-face with an undeniable destiny: a need to forge an unlikely but powerful partnership, enabling them to lead their crew to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Present a Bad Robot Production "Star Trek" starring John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy. The film is directed by J.J. Abrams ("Mission: Impossible III," "Lost," "Alias") and written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman ("MI: III," "Transformers"). Based upon "Star Trek" Created by Gene Roddenberry. The film is produced by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. The executive producers are Bryan Burk, Jeffrey Chernov, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The director of photography is Dan Mindel, ASC. The production designer is Scott Chambliss. The film is edited by Maryann Brandon, A.C.E. and Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E. The costume designer is Michael Kaplan. The visual effects & animation are by Industrial Light & Magic. The music is by Michael Giacchino. This film has been rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content.

Back to the Final Frontier

In its more than 40-year history, one that has impacted multiple generations, "Star Trek" has carved out an iconic place in modern pop culture as the only ongoing story that encapsulates the awe, wonder and bold audacity of the human desire to reach for the stars. With the indelible opening words of the original 1960s television series, "Space, the Final Frontier," a succession of journeys were launched across the cosmos that did and, to this day, still celebrate the thrill of adventure, the pioneering spirit of exploration and the drive to create an ever-more amazing future full of possibilities. The daring and provocative voyages of the Starship Enterprise, and the many ships that would soon follow in her flight path, have appealed to the stargazer in all of us, and our hopes and dreams that technological and cultural advances will bring out the best of our humanity.
The original TV series was not a hit when it first aired, but later caught on like wildfire among the ever-growing legion of fans who responded to its compellingly funny, contentious, charismatic personalities and its five-year mission to peacefully engage new worlds and cultures. But how did that mission begin? What brought together this disparate group of brash, brilliant, ambitious young men and women and drove them to explore new frontiers? And how did they forge that special chemistry and sense of purpose that would inspire so many discoveries and fantastic adventures for years and even centuries to come?
For director/producer J.J. Abrams, going back to the beginning after more than six television series and ten feature films was the only way to forge into the future. His vision was to literally start fresh, beginning with James T. Kirk and his one-day First Officer, the Vulcan Spock's advancement in the Starfleet Academy and their extraordinary first journey together.
Abrams came to the project with great respect for series creator Gene Roddenberry and all that "Star Trek" had achieved as the creator of an archetypal modern myth and cult phenomenon. However, he also wanted to take the story where it had never been before: making a state-of-the-art action epic about two heroic leaders as brash young men in the making.
"I was a fan of the original series, although I was never a Trekker," says Abrams. "Yet I always felt there was something that had not been done with 'Star Trek.' There have been ten movies, but this is the first time that a movie has dealt with the fundamental, primary story Gene Roddenberry originally created in 1966." Abrams continues: "What I hope with this movie is that you never have to have seen anything about 'Star Trek' before to really enjoy a comical, romantic, suspenseful adventure, but that it also does proud the lasting, brilliant world that Gene Roddenberry created. The brilliant thing 'Star Trek' brought to the world was a dose of optimism and I hope this movie continues in that tradition."
While many anticipated a total re-boot from Abrams, he was excited to go in an unexpected direction, heading way back, as it were, into the never-seen 23rd century launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise. When he brought the idea of a "'Star Trek' origin story" to producer Damon Lindelof, with whom Abrams (along with Jeffrey Lieber) created the contemporary television phenomenon "Lost," the producer was instantly taken by the idea. Explains Lindelof, "For me, the idea that no one has ever told an origin story for Kirk and Spock and all these characters was very cool. We had a great conversation about how this crew of people might have come together and learned to sacrifice certain parts of their personalities to get along. It was really fun and, next thing I knew, Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman were writing a script."
A fan of "Star Trek" since childhood, Lindelof believes the story's premise and characters have continued to be so relevant for so long because they capture something essential about the space travel mythos: the sheer hopefulness of it. "Most stories we see now about the distant future are bleak, dismal and dystopian. The incredible thing about the initial 'Star Trek' television series is that it was so energetic, optimistic and cool. It presented the future the way we'd like to believe it will unfold. It's a future to aim for."
That view, he felt, was a great match for Abrams' exuberant style of character-and-action-driven storytelling. "J.J. brings innovation to everything he does, but also brings an ability to boil a story down to its most human elements and translate hugely complicated production challenges into something with mass appeal, and that was all necessary to go back to the beginning of 'Star Trek' with today's cinematic technology," says Lindelof.
Adds executive producer Bryan Burk, who has also collaborated with Abrams on "Lost," "Alias" and "Cloverfield": "We envisioned this 'Star Trek' as a truly grand adventure about two very different men whose destiny is not only to become true friends, but iconic partners, guardians and explorers."
Executive producer Jeffrey Chernov, who oversaw the line production, concludes: "The film for me became not only a new look at the 'Star Trek' universe, but a kind of cross between 'The Right Stuff' and the original 'Star Wars.' It has that fresh, imaginative, intergalactic storytelling, but is also very grounded in the idea of young men and women with a lot of heart and camaraderie. When you add J.J.'s mastery of action and love of scope, you have something very fun and entertaining."

Inside Trek: The Screenplay

The characters of "Star Trek," especially Captain James T. Kirk and his loyal but contentious First Officer Spock, are among the most instantly recognizable fictional characters created in the 20th century. But J.J. Abrams needed writers who could take these well-established personalities and reverse engineer them to get back what forged their hopes, dreams and motivations in the first place.
To do so, Abrams went straight to a team he knew could attack the story with a high-intensity, suspenseful action style and an authentic allegiance to its legacy, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, whose partnership has produced memorable screenplays for such films as "Transformers," "Mission: Impossible III" and the current FOX show "Fringe." Orci, in particular, has had a lifelong passion for all things Trek. "When I met Bob in high school, one of the first things I remember about him is that he had an Enterprise phone and the Bridge would actually ring!" laughs Kurtzman.
And yet, when they were approached about "Star Trek," the duo admits they did not instantly jump at it. "We paused because we knew it would be such a huge responsibility," explains Kurtzman. "The whole Trek universe has kind of hit a crossroads at this point and we knew that it would take a lot of thought to really engage the next generation. The challenges were a bit terrifying. But when you're scared to do something, I think you also get the feeling that there's a personal challenge there you need to meet. After our initial trepidation, we began talking to J.J. about it and then decided to just sit down and dive in."
They did so with a die-hard commitment to following in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry's vision of an enlightened future. The pair began with a list of what they believed to be the "Star Trek" universe's greatest and most universally relatable attributes. Orci explains: "That list included the idea of a family of friends coming together; the way each character seems warm and human and real; the use of genuine humor, not parody or irony, that comes out of real situations; and then a thought-provoking story that is true science fiction, not impossible fantasy, but a vision of a future we hope humans can achieve."
Continues Kurtzman: "There was also something we wanted to capture that's always been very specific to 'Star Trek': men and women rising to the challenge of who they are as people by confronting what appear to be insoluble problems. Part of the irresistible fun of the original series was watching these incredibly intelligent and intriguing personalities work together and become the best of who they are. We felt that if we could take that spirit and put a fresh spin on it, you could advance the legacy of 'Star Trek' in this movie."
Starting from that base, Orci and Kurtzman were exhilarated by the chance to do two new things: imagine the never-before-seen youth of Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) and their development into friends and leaders; and devise the Enterprise's very first mission.
Exploring who Kirk and Spock were as adolescents helped the writers to get to the root of what has made them so consistently compelling: the idea of two wholly opposite men coming together like two lost halves and embarking on a perilous mission in a way neither one could have alone. Says Kurtzman: "It was really fascinating to think about young Spock, who is literally torn between the Vulcan and human world and, like any child, is trying to figure out where he fits in. That makes him extremely relatable. It was equally fascinating to think about young Kirk, who grows up a rebel, a kind of James Dean, while searching for his identity. When they meet at Starfleet Academy, they couldn't be more different in how they approach life, but they also each react to the similarities they see in one another. A big part of this journey is how they learn to use the best in each other to make command decisions that will help the Enterprise and the universe itself survive."
When the Enterprise comes under attack, the leadership styles of Kirk and Spock gradually emerge. Orci explains: "The rules of duty on a Starship come from a rich history of the actual rules of naval engagement; it's all about code, honor and the chain of command. Yet, within that atmosphere, Kirk is always looking for opportunities to break the rules in order to win, while Spock believes in the logic of adhering strictly to order. That is their major argument with each other and we felt very strongly that they both had to have a point. We didn't want either one to be right at the expense of the other. Kirk and Spock are truly facing a moral dilemma but come to realize that only by finding a way to work together can they actually move forward."
For J.J. Abrams, this was one of the most vital elements to get right. "In a larger sense, I wanted the movie to be a journey of the heart and the mind coming together. The beauty of Kirk and Spock has always been their relationship, but here we had a chance to explore not just the humor and fun of that tension, but also how they first became brothers in arms. It was to see how they were thrust into an adventure that not only tested them, but bonded them for life."
The stakes for Kirk and Spock become unimaginably high as they begin to understand the agenda of Nero (Eric Bana), the fuming, merciless Romulan. As a newly introduced character, the writers spent an equal amount of time developing Nero into a worthy adversary for the Enterprise crew, one who is full of tricks, savvy and unpredictability. "In the best tradition of complex villains, Nero is someone who legitimately feels he has been wronged and believes he has a genuine bone to pick with Starfleet," says Orci. "His drive to destroy goes beyond intergalactic politics to something deeply personal. He's frightening, yet there's something in him to which you can relate."
In rounding out the cast, the filmmakers sought out one of the original Enterprise crew members, the legendary Leonard Nimoy. "We felt so strongly that he had to be in the movie. We wrote him in as a key part even though we knew he might very well say no and we'd be back at square one," says Orci. "And then when we sat down with him, we hit a hard eight. We couldn't believe our luck. Just to get his input was an incredible boost."
"We wanted Leonard because we wanted that link to the 'Star Trek' canon," explains producer Lindelof. "But it was a real risk to go to Leonard Nimoy, because he had said he would never do another 'Star Trek' again."
As they got deeper into the meat of the story, Orci's depth of familiarity with the volumes and volumes of Trek lore was a huge advantage. "Instead of having to look up things in a book, we had the freedom to come up with cool storylines and play with them without worrying if we were getting the details right," says Orci. "But, while we were always very clear about writing a movie that would appeal to everyone, we also wanted to satisfy longtime fans and reward their knowledge of the franchise. It was important to us that the story include in its very fiber and fabric all that had come before. We made lists of certain things we knew people would want to see: a red-shirt crew member, a green Orion girl, Spock playing his harp, the kinds of things that would excite the fans and be fun for people new to the adventure as well."
Whenever there was the slightest doubt about Starfleet rules or the history of an alien race, the writers didn't hesitate to consult with the legions of Trekkers who have a passion for finding those kinds of answers. "The fans have been the stewards of this franchise for the last four decades, and they are also some of the smartest fans in the world," Orci says. "So if there was a question, we knew that any fan worth his salt would invariably know the answer. And they did."
The writers further relied on the skills of researcher Sean Gerace, who assured that, nothing in "Star Trek" would be in conflict with the long future of Starfleet already depicted in the movies and shows like "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine." Gerace was faced with such unusual, though fun, tasks as writing a detailed report on Romulan mythology. He also watched each of the original series' 79 episodes and all the motion pictures, taking detailed notes on personal histories and personality nuances. The filmmakers were especially interested in "The Wrath of Khan," widely considered the most emotionally exhilarating of the earlier motion picture series.
As Orci and Kurtzman neared a finished draft of "Star Trek," they also got a lot of support from Abrams and the producers, who were ready and willing to debate the finer points of character and plot development at every turn. "Working with Bob and Alex and the producing team on the screenplay was an effortless exchange of ideas," says Abrams. "What was great is that we all had different gradients of experience and knowledge. Bob Orci was a complete Trekker, who knew every detail and also knew whether fans would be angry if you did X, while Bryan Burk had never even seen the original series and came to the story from that perspective. That allowed each of us to have a unique voice in what would work for different audiences. It was a kind of checks and balances system, so we had the excitement of total newcomers yet were true to all that came before."

The Maiden Crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise

Chris Pine is James Tiberius Kirk
Although James T. Kirk is destined to become the kind of starship captain that legends are made of, as "Star Trek" begins, he is a brooding Iowa teenager full of smarts, charm and a mile-wide rebellious streak that can lead him astray. Kirk must first overcome what one character describes as "an instinct to leap before looking." Yet, when he spies the gleaming U.S.S. Enterprise under construction in a well-guarded hangar, something in his heart is stirred and Kirk is struck with the ambition to attend Starfleet and try to make it to the top entirely on his own terms.
This view of Kirk as a raw, unformed young man searching for his future before he is ready to take on the responsibility of becoming a great leader is one that has never been seen on screen before. "We had the idea that Kirk would be almost a rebel without a cause when we first meet him. He's a renegade, a nonconformist, a go-by-the-gut kind of guy, but he's basically lost. It's only when he sees the Enterprise that he's inspired by a sense of purpose that alters his path," says Abrams.
To find a young actor who could play the role that William Shatner made so unforgettable, yet establish his own take on the character, the filmmakers embarked on their own epic quest. It was only when they were nearing the end of their search that Chris Pine auditioned for them, and took them by surprise. Pine's roles in a number of romantic comedies and in the action film "Smokin' Aces" had established him as a young star to watch, but no one anticipated he would be such an intuitive match up for Kirk's intensity, humor and individualism. Recalls executive producer Bryan Burk: "Chris had this amazing confidence and swagger without being cocky or pretentious. He was spot-on and we knew immediately we had found our Kirk." Adds producer Damon Lindelof: "We were looking for someone who could organically channel Shatner without mimicking Shatner, someone who would be a lot of fun yet could walk onto the Bridge of the Enterprise and instantly command authority. Chris had all of those qualities."
Sums up J.J. Abrams: "Chris has the wit, sharpness and athleticism of Kirk, but, equally important, he can be a complete goof and very vulnerable. Most of all, he was game for anything, always engaged and present in the role. He made Kirk very real, which was everything we wanted."
Pine was, in turn, impressed by Abrams. "The energy surrounding him and this project was just palpable," he says. "I couldn't wait to be part of it."
From the beginning, Pine understood that he would have to forge his own individual path and take only a dash of inspiration from what Shatner had done to transform the character into a global icon. "Mr. Shatner created a character who was an action hero and a ladies' man and he did it with an incredible amount of humor. What I really love about this film is that you get the chance to see why and how he became the man he was," Pine says. "It was incredibly overwhelming to step into Mr. Shatner's shoes and the whole canon of 'Trek' film and television history. We all agreed it would be a mistake to try to recreate what he did. The challenge was to make it my own."
The script helped to fire his imagination in new directions, Pine says. "Because we get to see Kirk as a young man, we are able to establish where his energy and passion come from and why he has to struggle to live up to his potential."
Kirk's essential humanity, often as flawed and foolhardy as it is powerful and commanding, was what Pine most wanted to get across. "Kirk is not a superhero. He's just a man like any of us faced with these incredible problems that need to be solved. What sets him apart is that he always fights with all he's got and perseveres to the very end."
Pine undertook intensive physical training in boxing and martial arts to learn to fend off space creatures with Kirk's inimitable savvy and street toughness. "I trained with our incredible stunt team and what made it so much fun is that the action is so real. Kirk's not a guy who wins all the time. He takes plenty of blows, but he always gives you the fight of his life."
For Pine, perhaps the greatest challenge lay in getting Kirk's uncomfortable and sublimely comedic rapport with Spock just right. "Zach [Quinto] and I wanted the audience to see Kirk and Spock as these two very bright, very obstinate young men who are destined to butt heads throughout their lives, but will grow to love one another for that very reason," he explains.
In the end, Pine notes, the chemistry between the entire young cast began to reflect that of the Enterprise crew. "We had an incredible amount of fun together," he says. "Zach was wonderful to work with. John Cho, who plays Sulu, is so funny and talented, you see a whole new side of him in this role. Karl Urban (who plays Dr. McCoy) and I had a great dynamic together and he has got to have one of the best eyebrow raises in the business. Zoë Saldana brings a mix of beauty and intelligence that's hard to come by as Uhura. Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin were just hilarious as Scotty and Chekov. All together it was just a great group. We never took ourselves too seriously, but really came together as a team."
It all gelled for Pine, he says, the minute he walked onto the set of the Bridge, knowing that Kirk would one day soon be in command of the Enterprise. "Walking onto the set of the Enterprise for the first time was one of those moments when it suddenly hits you how special what you're doing is," he reflects. "Then came another big moment, which is the first time I sat in the Captain's chair. I got chills. It's a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life."

Zachary Quinto is Spock
When the U.S.S. Enterprise leaves the dock for the first time headed for the stars, one officer aboard stands worlds apart from the rest: the man known simply as Spock. Spock was born on the planet Vulcan, a world where emotions became so out-of-control that they were done away with forever in favor of pure logic. However, Spock's mother is human, leaving Spock to grow up fighting an internal battle between the rational and the instinctual. As Spock's father, Sarek, tells him: "You are fully capable of choosing your own destiny . . . this is something only you can decide."
"Star Trek" gives audiences a chance to experience Spock in his formative years facing the choice between his human side and his Vulcan side. "Spock has to decide if he should control his emotions or embrace his humanity and struggles with the duality of who he is throughout the story," says Abrams. "I loved the idea of this character trying to figure out his place in the world."
In the beginning, Abrams admits, "we were very uncertain we could ever find the right guy to play Spock, given how much Leonard Nimoy is associated with the role." When the filmmakers saw Zachary Quinto, who is perhaps best known for his role on television's hit series "Heroes," he was convinced he'd found him. "Zach had an intelligence and thoughtfulness that is rare in a young actor. He was able to honor what Leonard achieved without in any way becoming an imitation."
Quinto wanted the role badly. "I was very drawn to the character of Spock," he says, "and I loved the idea of revitalizing the entire crew of the Enterprise. Spock was always fascinating to me because of the conflict between his mind and his emotions and by his ability to maintain equanimity no matter what is going on around him. In this new version, you get to see him figuring out how to find the balance that will allow him to achieve greatness. The common ground he shares with Kirk and the rest of the crew is that he wants to make the universe a better place."
Working closely with Chris Pine helped Quinto to draw out the hidden emotions with which Spock is grappling. "Chris so perfectly embodies Kirk's qualities," Quinto remarks. "With all his swagger and confidence and spontaneity, you can really see why the very logical and ordered Spock would think he's a reckless danger. And I think you can also see why Kirk would at first think Spock is just an officious nuisance. But, as the story goes on, I hope you also see why they are able to bring out the best in each other."
Quinto also enjoyed working with two other classic characters who play a pivotal role in "Star Trek": Spock's bi-galactic parents, his earthling mother Amanda Grayson and his Vulcan ambassador father Sarek, played respectively by two-time Academy Award® nominee Winona Ryder ("The Age of Innocence," "Little Women") and the British actor Ben Cross, renowned for his role in the Oscar®-winning "Chariots of Fire." Together, the two created a starkly contrasting yet richly sophisticated couple. "Winona brought a real tenderness to the role and she really highlights the juxtaposition between her heartfelt way of being and Sarek's logic," Quinto says. "Ben was such a great energy to be around. He has such certitude and a groundedness as Sarek that I was able to connect with him right away."
Quinto also got the thrilling opportunity to work with the man who had originally created Spock, Nimoy. Abrams notes: "This was not an easy or capricious decision for Leonard. In a sense, it was motivated by wanting to give the character a sense of closure and to pass the baton to Zach. Taking the role really meant something to him but, at the same time, he had a lot of fun with it."
Nimoy says it was his initial conversation with Abrams and his first meeting with Orci and Kurtzman that spiked his interest. "I got the sense that they really understood what the very best things were about 'Star Trek,'" he says. "I felt they were going to do justice to the story and elevate the movie to a level we had not been able to reach previously. The writers had done a wonderful job of capturing the characteristics of the original characters and I was very encouraged by all of that."
He was also impressed by Abrams' directorial abilities. "There are directors who have a talent for working on a big canvas with lots of big action and there are directors who have a talent for intimate moments between people. J.J. is unique in that he is suited to both," observes Nimoy. Then there was the final screenplay. "I saw it in the vein of a great action/adventure film, a powerful story of conflict and vengeance with the future of whole galaxies at stake, and, at the same time, it was an intimate story of very special people meeting for the first time," he comments.
Nimoy acknowledges that neither he nor anyone involved in the original television series could have anticipated the longevity of these characters. "We knew we were doing interesting and timely work," he says. "We knew we were doing something entertaining and thoughtful, but no one could have predicted that 40 years later the characters and concept would still be so alive and continuously reinvented." He was excited that the casting process for "Star Trek" so meticulously tried to keep the perspective on the characters fresh. "I was really impressed with the casting," he comments. "It's a group of very talented, very appropriate people who reflect some of the characteristics of the original cast while being very contemporary."
Nimoy was especially intrigued to meet the young actor who would be following in his footsteps as Spock. "Leonard and I spent a fair amount of time together," says Quinto. "I asked him a lot of questions and he was very forthcoming with his perspective and advice. We talked about Spock's psychology and what happened to Spock in the time span between our two characters. He's had such a long relationship with this character, so he's already thought about everything. He was enormously helpful and I felt I had a real advantage in being able to work with him so closely."
Sums up Bryan Burk, "Leonard took on a mentoring role with Zach and it was an emotional experience for both. There was a palpable excitement whenever the two of them were on the set."

Karl Urban is Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Dr. McCoy is a self-professed "country doctor" who hates to fly yet, in the wake of personal problems on earth, has devoted himself to becoming a Starfleet medical officer. His methods of healing might take advantage of the latest medical technology, but his demeanor is as salty and earthy as they come, which will help him to play an essential, if often thankless, role in keeping both Kirk or Spock from taking themselves too seriously.
To take on the role of the man who will become known simply as "Bones," played in the original series to memorably comic effect by the late DeForest Kelley, the filmmakers turned to Karl Urban, the New Zealand-born actor who came to the fore in "The Lord the Rings" trilogy and played the Russian assassin in "The Bourne Supremacy." His audition left those who saw it with the impression that he was the perfect choice for the role of the cantankerous, curmudgeonly doctor who will boldly state "Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence," yet ironically takes a secret satisfaction in exploring it.
"Karl was so much like Bones it was uncanny, almost creepy. He literally embodied the original character without doing anything remotely like an impression," says Abrams. "He's this craggy, sardonic, pissed-off guy and yet you can't help but love him."
Urban wanted the role in part because he's been a lifelong Trek fan. "I have a lot of fond memories of watching the shows when I was a kid so I was really familiar with it and already knew the personality types and relationships. The audition for me was just sheer fun," he recalls.
Once he was signed, he began exploring who Dr. McCoy really is. "I think underneath he's a true humanist with great feelings of compassion, it's just that he delivers that in this cranky, cynical, irascible way," Urban muses. "He'll care for you night and day but, at the same time, his bedside manner is atrocious. What I like is that Bones and Kirk and Spock become this sort of triumvirate. Kirk is the man of action. Spock is all about logic and science. And Bones is kind of the humanistic conscience who debates their initial impulses and helps them choose the right paths."
As for how he approached such an iconic role, Urban says: "I definitely wanted to give a big nod to DeForest, because he did such an extraordinary job of making Bones this beloved character. I certainly didn't want to be a carbon copy. When we meet McCoy in the film, he's in a very different place from what we've seen before because he's really kind of running away from a shattered life. In a sense, the Enterprise is the last place he has left to go, and I wanted to show that side of the character."
Urban was already fired up, but when he first saw the set for the Bridge, it pushed his enthusiasm to a new high. "I was blown away by the set. It was so high-tech and fun and there was so much attention to detail. There was a compulsion to run around and press every knob, button and switch just to see if it might really work. The filmmakers went to such extraordinary lengths to ground this adventure in reality that you got the feeling you could really launch the ship."

Simon Pegg is Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
The Enterprise's exuberant, hard-living, can-do engineer, who will come to be nicknamed "Scotty" for his lilting accent, arrives on board in a surprising manner that sets the tone for how his spirit, humor and knack for finding his way out of any jam becomes a mainstay for the crew. Rife with comic verve, the role of Scotty, originated by James Doohan, went to British comedian, actor and filmmaker Simon Pegg. The "Star Trek" filmmakers had him in mind from the beginning thanks to his unforgettably funny roles in the British comedy hits "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."
"We'd been fans of Simon's since 'Shaun of the Dead,' and he is one of the funniest people we know, which made him perfect for Scotty," says Bryan Burk.
When Abrams asked Pegg if he wanted the role, the actor was at first too overwhelmed to accept. "Simon e-mailed me and said, 'I don't know if I can do it. It's too big,'" recalls Abrams. "Then he e-mailed me again and said 'Hang on, let me think about it.' And, luckily for us, he soon enough said yes."
For Pegg, the pressure came from childhood memories of watching the original television series in awe. "It's a peculiar thing to play a character that you've known since childhood," he notes, "especially because James Doohan gave Scotty such a great characterization. He was quite a complex character in a way. On the one hand, he had this lighter side and on the other he was a fighter and a drinker and he was also responsible for all the coolest parts of the Enterprise: the engine room and the transporter room. His domain is legendary, so it was something to take that on."
Pegg was pleased to see that the approach was going to be anything but ironic. "I loved that the script allows each of the characters to say lines that made them famous without any sort of a 'wink-wink, isn't this funny' kind of thing. Each character gets to have his or her kind of iconic moment, but never at the expense of the story," he notes.
When the audience first meets Scotty, he is living in a kind of exile on the ice planet Delta Vega. "It's a great opportunity to see Scotty in a situation you've never seen him in before, where he's kind of lost and drunk and has no idea he's destined to become a great inventor in the history of Starfleet," notes Pegg. "It was a lot of fun to explore that stage in his life."

Zoë Saldana is Uhura
The brilliant, beautiful, xenolinguist known as Uhura brings her exceptional skills for listening and interpreting to her vital job as the Enterprise's Communications Officer.
Uhura was a groundbreaking character on the original television series. Played by Nichelle Nichols, she became one of the first major African-American characters on TV and a participant in American television's first interracial kiss. To take up her mantle, the filmmakers' search led them to Zoë Saldana, the rising actress of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent who came to prominence as the tough pirate Anamaria in the modern adventure classic "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." It was the power of her presence that made her right for the role, says J.J. Abrams. He says: "Zoë is so beautiful, with these wide eyes that just kill you, but she's also tough. I love the dichotomy of her soft femininity and confident strength. It's so right for Uhura."
When she researched the shows, Saldana was especially moved by the role of Uhura on the original series. "Not only was she an African-American, but she was the only woman in a cabin full of men and she held a very high rank," she notes. "The character and Nichelle were true pioneers for all types of women in Hollywood, not just women of color, and I felt it was a beautiful honor to get to reprise this role."
Saldana continues: "I had the chance to go back to the beginning and to really think about where Uhura came from and who she was and how she was able to hold her own on the Enterprise. I saw her very much as a fighter, as someone who never let herself relax because she knew she was always going to have to be better than everyone else around her."

John Cho is Sulu
Serving as the U.S.S. Enterprise's helmsman on its maiden voyage is Sulu, one of the most experienced officers on board, a renaissance man whose abilities range from top-notch piloting skills to advanced physics and fencing, all of which come into play on his very first mission with the fresh-faced crew.
Sulu was originally played by George Takei, who became a hero among Asian-American actors for representing such a positive and compelling face for Asian-Americans on television. Abrams saw similar qualities in John Cho, the Korean-born actor best known for his roles in the hit "American Pie" and "Harold and Kumar" series. Says Abrams: "John reminds me a lot of George Takei in the way he brings so much strength and personality to the role. He cared so deeply about making Sulu real."
Cho was honored to follow in Takei's footsteps. "As an Asian-American, Sulu was a pioneering image for me," he says. "There were very few roles then for Asians that weren't martial arts or stunts, and he had this very exemplary role on an outstanding show as a really fascinating person who had so many interests and skills. For me, there was a real headiness in becoming part of this new adventure."
While preparing for the role, Cho had the chance to meet with Takei. "I said, 'George, I'm a little nervous about stepping into your shoes and being seen as the new George Takei' and he, in his characteristically gracious way, said 'don't worry about that, soon they'll be calling me the old John Cho.' He was very helpful to me."

Bruce Greenwood is Captain Pike
The legendary first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Pike appeared in only three of the original TV series episodes, played first by Jeffrey Hunter, then by Sean Kenney. Seen for the first time in depth, he is now played by Bruce Greenwood, the Canadian actor whose roles have ranged from President John F. Kennedy in "Thirteen Days" to a former surfing hero in the offbeat HBO series "John from Cincinnati." "Bruce was the perfect father figure to Kirk," says Abrams. "He has such a strong, confident, adult presence that it's suddenly very noticeable when Pike leaves the ship. It makes for a real shift in the energy."
It was the script that drew Greenwood. "I loved the way the writers had explored the characters," he says. "It's a journey into the motivations of Kirk and Spock and their inner conflicts and I thought it was filled with tremendous drama."
Once he was on set, he was transported by the exhilarating experience of sitting in the famed Captain's chair. "To sit in it was a pretty special feeling," Greenwood admits. "I was like, 'Wow, this is really the movies, man.' But it also made me think more about the nature of authority and what that means on the Bridge and whether the nature of leadership will be different 200 years from now."
Part of Greenwood's leadership turns out to be his profound effect on James Kirk, whom he inspires to become a cadet at Starfleet Academy by challenging him to fulfill on his father's thwarted potential. "I've always liked father-son stories and there's something of that in Pike and Kirk," says the actor. "Every son wants to avoid his father's mistakes and when Pike comes to Kirk and says 'I dare you to do better,' that is the one thing that gets to him. As for Pike, he sees something remarkable in Kirk and is willing to take a chance on him, even though Kirk gives him numerous opportunities to regret it!"

Anton Yelchin is Chekov
Pavel Andreievich Chekov is the U.S.S. Enterprise's youngest officer, a Russian child prodigy and chess master who is still in his teens when he embarks on an adventure beyond his wildest dreams.
Played originally by Walter Koenig in the midst of the Cold War, Chekov's very presence on the Enterprise suggested a time when all nations on earth might live in unity and cooperation. He also represented the brashness and naiveté of a very young man encountering incredible events and coming of age in space. To bring a modern realism to Chekov, the filmmakers searched for an actor who not only had the smarts and personality, but the authentic Russian background to match the character. They found that precise mix in Anton Yelchin, who was born in Leningrad but has become a leading young actor, with roles in "House of D," "Alpha Dog," "Charlie Bartlett" and the forthcoming "Terminator Salvation." "Anton has the quality of a true Russian chess master, but he is also so lovable. You just can't help but be charmed by him," observes Abrams.
Yelchin came to the role fresh, having never seen the television series. Only afterwards did he sit down and watch every single episode. "I had a wonderful, wonderful time watching it," he recalls. "What I loved about Chekov in the original series is that he's the oddest member of the crew, a Cold War stereotype meets Davey Jones. He's got a youthful vigor and he's often the comic relief, but in our film he's also nuanced; he's the youngest and kind of shy sometimes and yet, a genius. I had fun finding the special touches I wanted to bring to him."
To get deeper into the role, Yelchin met with Walter Koenig, who had forged the character four decades earlier. "Walter said that in order to make a character great, you have to make him your own. That's the whole approach that J.J. took as well and influenced everything on this movie, from the wardrobe to our performances. J.J. took all the strongest elements from the past and mixed them up with his own epic vision."

First Nemesis: Eric Bana is the Romulan Nero
Captain Nero is played by Eric Bana, the Australian actor recently lauded for his role as an Israeli assassin in Steven Spielberg's "Munich." From the outset, Abrams felt that Bana would bring nuances to Nero that would transcend the usual vengeful villain. "Eric gave us such incredible range that it made his character much more interesting and truly dangerous," says Abrams.
Bana was actually in the middle of a sabbatical from acting when Abrams first contacted him, but the irresistible role drew him back to the screen. "I said to J.J. that the script was such a thrill ride from start to finish and Nero was such a wonderfully mad and entertaining villain that I just had to get involved."
Unlike most other members of the cast, Bana's particular character wasn't tied to a legacy, though he enjoyed exploring Romulan culture, which is known for its emphasis on cunning, passion, honor, technology and aggression, to gain a deeper insight into Nero's psychology. "He can be very patient and Zen-like. He's mastered the idea that revenge is a dish that is best eaten cold."
Nero's newness was also part of the draw. "It was exciting to be a character that no one has seen before and have the chance to bring something fresh and different to a story with so much history," he says.
As for Nero's distinctive look, which involved some four hours a day in makeup, prosthetics and costume, Bana says: "I loved it right away. It was bizarre, but I also found it quite beautiful. After less than a week of playing Nero, he began to look completely normal to me and regular humans started to look weird!" He also was seduced by Nero's ship, the sleek, dark, almost skeletal warbird, the Narada. "It's a badass ship," Bana muses. "When I walked on the set, I couldn't believe it. I love mechanical things, and with all its exposed wiring and exposed everything you can see how the whole structure is put together. I thought it was just an amazing design."
Yet, it was his fellow cast members who most impressed Bana. He was especially thrilled to go into battle against Chris Pine as the determined Kirk. "I've done fight scenes with a number of actors, but Chris is so tough and fast and hard; he's one tough customer and it made for an epic encounter," he notes. "Our battles were really, really exciting and I hope audiences feel that."
An undeniable chemistry developed between the cast members, notes Abrams. "I could not have gotten any luckier with this cast. They took roles that were defined by the actors who created them and made them their own, made them funny, emotional and real, while also being wonderfully familiar."

Starfleet Academy For Actors

Once the cast was set, much like their characters at Starfleet Academy, they were plunged into rigorous training for the action ahead, which would range from a bar brawl to such wholly 23rd century pursuits as galactic parachuting from space pods. This was a central part of J.J. Abrams' vision for a film that he hopes will transport audiences to a new frontier of rollicking, epic adventure. Abrams explains: "I wanted there to be an exuberant energy to this 'Star Trek' that hasn't been there before, with more emphasis on action, adventure and spectacle."
To prepare the crew for the film's many thrilling sequences on alien planets and enemy ships, stunt coordinator Joey Box worked on their physical training. "It was a pleasure for me because this cast is full of young, athletic people and they learned everything so fast," Box says. "The choreography just came naturally to them and what they didn't have in action experience, they made up for in enthusiasm and love for their characters."
Box's primary challenges were to take the original television series' campy, '60s-style action and bring it into a more reality-based view of the 23rd century and to merge action with character. "J.J. wanted this to be a huge action movie, but he also wanted everything these characters did, including the action, to really define them and their relationships with each other," he explains. "So, for example, Spock has his own Vulcan-influenced fighting style, which is very fluid and straightforward. He never uses fists or emotion, while Kirk is a real street fighter, a clever sort of brawler who will persevere in any situation by whatever means necessary."
"No detail was overlooked for the fans, either," Box continues. "We went to great lengths to make sure that the Romulans fight like Romulans and the Klingons fight like Klingons and all those little nuances stayed true to the canon."
The never-before-seen Nero developed his own distinctive Romulan-esque battle style befitting of his character's rage-filled persona. "Eric Bana was amazing physically, which let us really have fun with Nero," says Box. "Eric's a complete athlete and his fights are some of the most exciting I've ever seen. Nero fights in an almost Greco-Roman wrestling style with lots of throws and holds and tumbling around."
Box's team also poured their efforts into rigging pneumatic catapults and high-speed wenches that could safely yet viscerally speed actors through the air. "There were a lot of propelling bodies and a lot of huge explosions on this movie," he explains. "It was all part of J.J.'s vision for finding realistic ways to really get across the feeling of what this crew is going through with a lot of action and adventure."

Lights, Camera, Cosmos

One of the eternally compelling themes of "Star Trek" is how human beings put ingenuity, passion and optimism to work in tackling seemingly impossible problems. The production took those precepts very much to heart. Astonishingly, the epic shoot that recreated a cosmos light years away from earth was shot almost entirely in Southern California and not primarily on stages, but at practical locations, which meant that the crew initiated such total metamorphoses as turning a beer factory into an Engine Room and a baseball stadium parking lot into a desolate ice planet.
This was the way J.J. Abrams, always spurred by imagination, wanted it. "So much incredible stuff that is almost unimaginable to us happens in 'Star Trek,' so I wanted to always keep it feeling as real as possible, emotionally and physically," he says. "I didn't want to have it all be green screens and CG. I wanted to build as much as possible, which meant a really intricate process that involved a lot of discussion about every detail, from what the interface on the dash of a 23rd century car looks like to how a ship fires on another ship."
Like the captain of a ship, Abrams surrounded himself with people who had already earned his trust: cinematographer Dan Mindel (from "MI:3"); editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey (from "MI:3" and "Alias"), production designer Scott Chambliss ("MI:3," "Alias"), and a newcomer to the team, costume designer Michael Kaplan ("I Am Legend," "Miami Vice," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"). Also re-teaming with Abrams from "MI:3" was Industrial Light & Magic's Roger Guyett, who has also served as visual effects supervisor on some of the biggest adventure films of recent years, including the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, "Star Wars: Episode III" and several "Harry Potter" films. Guyett also took on the role of second unit director.
Chernov continues: "J.J.'s philosophy was very important and it's one I share, that you put together a crew made up of the most creative people you can find and let them do their job, always encouraging them to go farther and come up with more ideas. That spirit was contagious on this set."
Director of photography Dan Mindel says: "What was great about the way we shot 'Star Trek' is that we were continually learning from what we did the week before and upping the production level."
After much debate, the decision was made to shoot "Star Trek" in anamorphic widescreen. "We all wanted this movie to feel as huge as space itself, and widescreen gave us the expansive, cinematic feel 'Trek' has never had before. I've always believed that movies should be about creating a complete illusion. There's something magical about what we've done: keeping the effects very organic and using analog photography to make a high-tech space movie," Mindel says.
Fans of past "Star Trek" movies will definitely be in for a fresh experience. "This 'Star Trek' has J.J.'s touch," says Mindel. "The way we approached it is that the viewer is the camera and the camera is never standing still, which makes for a feeling of constant adventure, exactly what you would feel if you were on the Enterprise light years from home."

Take It To The Bridge

How do you update and refresh one of the most iconic motion picture sets of all time? This was what the production crew of "Star Trek" was up against as they began tackling how to design the U.S.S. Enterprise and, most especially, the Bridge, the nerve center of the ship, where the commanding officers steer her through the stars. Accessible only by turbolift, the Bridge contains a communication station, a science station, a helmsman station and a navigation station, all encircling one of the most recognizable pieces of furniture in modern storytelling: the Captain's chair.
When it came to doing a renovation on the Enterprise, Abrams and his design team knew they would have to walk a very fine line - one that would utilize free imagination, yet, at the same time, respond to and reflect the legacy and logic of a Starfleet future that has already been seen by many on the television series and movies. "We had to walk the line of being consistent with the timeline of the series while at the same time finding our own look that would be futuristic and cool for today's audiences," Abrams explains. "For example, 40 years ago the communicator seemed truly futuristic but now we all have tiny phones in our back pockets that look a lot like that. So the approach was to take what was familiar about 'Star Trek,' especially on the Enterprise's Bridge, and expand outward from there, making the design more beautiful and incredible, what we now might envision of the 23rd century's design from our present."
Much of this task fell to production designer Scott Chambliss, who started by laying out a framework of ground rules that would affect every knob, button and gadget. "The first rule was that we wanted to pay tribute to the great optimism of the original television series and the hopeful idea that technology was going to be a real boon for humankind. We wanted to avoid the sorts of dark, morbid visions of the future that have lately become popular in sci-fi because Gene Roddenberry was coming from a very different place," he begins.
"We also wanted to balance that optimism with a real functionality to everything on the set, where everything looks like it really works, which was so important to J.J.," he continues. "There was a strong, sleek, modernist vision at play in the 1960s when the television series began and that was something we wanted to infuse into our look. The Enterprise has a sleek sexiness to it, whereas the older Kelvin has a more typical militaristic style to it. Our Enterprise draws from work of great designers of the period like Pierre Cardin and also from Kubrick's '2001' by honoring, though not mimicking, those sensibilities."
After compiling an initial set of images for Abrams, Chambliss worked with a whole phalanx of illustrators, model builders and designers. "Each person brought their own incredible gifts and insight to this gigantic, aesthetic adventure," he says. Chambliss had the joy of being able to tackle familiar elements on the Bridge with far more advanced technology at his disposal. "Technology has allowed us to add layers and depth to the overall magic of the Bridge," says Chambliss. "We were able to do things on this Bridge that no one else ever has. It's not just a literal recreation of the old Bridge. It's fresh and new, yet you instantly have that feeling of 'I'm on the Enterprise's Bridge.'"
Along the way, Chambliss worked closely in concert with visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett. "Scott and I had long conversations about what the most efficient approach was for what he needed to physically build and what we would add synthetically later," notes Guyett. "So he could, for example, build the Bridge of the Enterprise knowing what the view out the main window was really going to look like. Scott is a great collaborator and it was a rewarding process."
Guyett's main focus on the Bridge was the panoramic window so central to the concept since its inception. "In the original, the window was almost like a TV screen that switched on and off. So one of the things we wanted to do differently was to use that as a real window, like a car or airplane window, so you had a constant connection to the environment these guys were in - a link to that very specific universe."
The Bridge set was built on gimbals so that it could twist, shudder and tilt in viscerally realistic ways when coming under attack or accelerating into warp speed. Explosions on the ship were shot live-action to up the ante for the cast and photographic team. "You want to see the imminent danger in the faces of the characters and feel that the Enterprise is in peril," says Guyett. "We shot the live-action sequences knowing that we would be adding a lot of CG later and allowing J.J. to shoot as he wanted without restrictions."
For Abrams, that feeling was palpable. "Scott and his team designed a Bridge completely in the spirit of the original show and movies, but one that raises the bar and makes it all that much better and more interesting. When I first walked on the set of the Bridge, I had the feeling not of being on another set, but of being somewhere really special. It was like crossing a threshold. There was this moment of 'oh, wow, we are really going to make this world real.'"

Mining the Darkness: The Narada

There could be no starker contrast with the Enterprise's forward-looking beauty and stylishness as that of the gargantuan, dark, threatening Romulan mining vessel, the Narada. The crew of "Star Trek" was thrilled to have a never-before-seen ship they could design completely from scratch, especially one as mind-bogglingly huge (several miles long by several miles high) and unusual as the Narada.
"We were able to start fresh on the Narada," comments Chambliss, "and it was a chance to really emphasize the culture of the Romulans, who are related to the Vulcans way back, but have let their emotions hold sway, making for a very different society. Romulans are volatile and violent, so I always felt that their ship would be more like a living, breathing organism."
In creating the Narada's skeleton-like, exposed interior, Chambliss was influenced by the Spanish architect Gaudi, who liked to reveal the inner structure of buildings, turning architecture inside out. "We started with the idea of having all these cables and pipes that were like the ligaments, tendons and nerves of the ship," he comments. "It draws you into this dark, mysterious world."
Once he had a vision of the ship's sprawling architecture, Chambliss also had to come up with a way to create a ship of nearly inconceivable proportions on one of Paramount's largest soundstages. He explains the team's creative solution: "What we did was to create modular anchor pieces of the Narada that we could reconfigure at will to form new spaces. J.J. embraced that notion right away and we were able to give him five or six different looks at the Narada from a single stage."
Shooting the Narada was one of the most exciting tasks facing Dan Mindel's camera team. "Scott had come up with this ingenious idea of a totally modular set with all these moveable elements that was very creative," says Mindel. "We had no idea how it was really going to work until we got there, but it turned out to be amazing. It has a completely different feel from the Enterprise, scary, foreboding and ethereal and, in its own way, quite groovy."
While the design team's largest ship-forging tasks were the Narada, the Enterprise and the Kelvin, there were also smaller vessels to be designed, most notably a re-think of the famed Starfleet shuttle and Spock's so-called "Jellyfish" ship, which was modeled in part after the design of a particle collider, and has a shape and movement unlike any other starship. "Different art directors were responsible for each ship," explains Chambliss. "Dennis Bradford was responsible for the Enterprise and the Kelvin; Gary Kosko oversaw everything that was Vulcan-related and Curt Beech was responsible for all the shuttles. They were all overseen by supervising art director Keith P. Cunningham, who kept everything organized and running. Along with our incredibly gifted set decorator Karen Manthey, this team contributed so much to the look of the movie."

Icebound on Delta Vega

One of the eternal joys of "Star Trek" is the fun of the crew (and by extension, the audience) getting the chance to discover brand new planets and living beings unlike anything an earthling has ever seen before. To keep the thrill of exploring the stars front and center throughout the film, Abrams made creating realistic planet environments a priority, from the dry, rocky planet Vulcan, to the far, frigid reaches of remote Delta Vega.
From the beginning, a big question for the production was how to create Delta Vega, the bone-chilling ice planet. Initially, Chambliss and Abrams made plans to shoot in Iceland but Chambliss decided to challenge himself by coming up with a way to forge a desolated, glaciated world outdoors in sunny Southern California.
He did so in the most unlikely of places, the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, which afforded the team enough space to create an entire planet, yet was high enough above the city to allow a constant view of the horizon. The parking lot, an area of about 50 x 125 feet, was filled with "snow" (made out of biodegradable paper products) and the sculpted tops of jagged cliffs. "We sculpted huge glacial chunks that we could move around like chess pieces to create any configuration or angle," Chambliss says. Then, eight huge wind machines were employed to create the havoc of blizzard conditions. Says special effects supervisor Burt Dalton: "With smart photography, visual effects and great design from the art department, J.J. was able to make these scenes look like they were happening in a wide variety of areas across the planet."
Adds Mindel: "J.J. is incredibly brave and once he made the decision to shoot outside in the elements and create those sets, he fully committed. It gives the ice planet a very true look and feel."
It is on Delta Vega that Kirk encounters two otherworldly creatures, one that is terrifying and another that is far worse. Muses Roger Guyett, "Here we were at Dodger Stadium, and we had this ice planet and imaginary beasts with wind blowing snow everywhere - it seemed like total chaos, yet it proved to be a very efficient way of shooting both scenes."

The Drill Platform

Also built at Dodger Stadium was a very different, and equally alien, environment: the suspended-in-air drill platform, which serves as Enterprise's first big mission as the crew makes a daring "space jump" into a fiercely hostile situation.
To recreate this deep space mining platform and one of the story's central set pieces, Chambliss built his set literally up in the air, towering 16 feet above the ground, and covered it with a rubberized surface that would allow the actors and stunt men to fall and tumble without harm. Here too, huge wind machines were employed to simulate the platform's volatile atmosphere, and the cast was swathed in harnesses and wires that allowed them to safely parachute onto and fight on the platform without tumbling into the abyss.
"The difficult thing was making it look like the people are actually parachuting down, rocketing head-first and then snapping into position as if a parachute had pulled you up," says Burt Dalton.
Later, Roger Guyett's visual effects team would expand the scenes with CG. "It all came together in a very exciting way," he says.
Adds Jeffrey Chernov: "The space jump was one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle we had to solve: How do you do it realistically and safely? We had to baby-step our way through it because it was completely new territory. Shooting both Delta Vega and the drill platform at Dodger Stadium was a bit insane. If we'd put it in the hands of someone who wasn't a master multi-tasker, it would have been a disaster. But it was right up J.J.'s alley. He loved it and thrived on it."
Meanwhile, to stand in for the planet Vulcan itself, which is part of another major set piece, the production headed to nearby Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in Agua Dulce, where unique geological formations have already become part of Trek legend, having been used in the 1960s to shoot such episodes as "Shore Leave," "Arena," "The Alternative Factor" and "Friday's Child."
"Vasquez Rocks is such a cool place with this whole television history, so it felt right to shoot there," says Chambliss. "It has this big, jutting rock formation that provided the opening for the interior tunnel that leads to the Vulcan Shelter, which we then built on a stage at Paramount. We adhered to the lore by keeping Vulcan devoid of water."

Riding the Pipeline: Beer Factory Becomes Engine Room

One of the most beloved, but rarely seen, locales within the U.S.S. Enterprise is the Engine Room, where the chief engineer works his magic to keep the ship aloft, no matter what kind of attack the ship comes under. In "Star Trek," a young Scotty finds his first introduction to the Enterprise is an adventure in itself, as he is accidentally beamed into the very innards of a cooling pipe.
To shoot Scotty's wild ride through the inner Enterprise, the production team made a new home in another highly unexpected place: a Budweiser beer plant in Van Nuys, California. Within the plant, the giant tanks and stainless steel tubing made for the perfect simulation of the pristine guts of a working starship. "We were searching for a place with tremendous scale and a place that would contrast with the Kelvin's engine room, which was shot in a grungy Long Beach power plant built in the '30s," says Chambliss. "When our brilliant supervising location manager Becky Brake came back with photographs of the Budweiser plant with these huge, sparkling, stainless steel tank rooms, we knew it would be perfect. The scale of the place was simply phenomenal."
Adds Mindel: "With its huge spaces, the plant was able to give us the dimension and depth J.J. had envisioned for the interior spaces of the Enterprise. The patina of the walls and the tanks was just perfect. You could never replicate that on a sound stage."
Inside the plant, the weather was a chilly 41 degrees, so everyone had to wear parkas, but the sudsy atmosphere only added to the fun, says Simon Pegg. "We've never really seen the full inner workings of the starship before this and the Budweiser plant was huge and impressive, just as J.J. wanted it to be," he says.

Red Shirts to Space-Diving Suits: The Costumes

Few costumes in film and TV history are as instantly recognizable as the Starship Enterprise uniforms, with their slim-fitting black pants, color-coded tops and Starfleet boomerang logos. So the mission facing "Star Trek's" costume designer, Michael Kaplan, was at once huge and subtle, as he battled against time to create thousands of costumes that would update the familiar and reflect J.J. Abrams' vision of a bright, brilliant future full of style and functionality.
Kaplan previously won the British Academy of Film and Television Award for his costume design work on another futuristic classic, Ridley Scott's dystopian fantasy "Blade Runner," and more recently designed Francis Lawrence's hit last-man-on-earth fantasy "I Am Legend," as well as many other style-forward films such as "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Fight Club" and "Miami Vice." But when he was approached by Abrams, Kaplan had never seen any of the Trek movies and only a handful of the original television episodes. Nevertheless, he decided to take the meeting.
Since both men were vacationing on the East Coast, Kaplan met with Abrams in a Maine coffee shop, where they engaged in a lengthy two-hour conversation about galactic worlds and space uniforms. "It was really J.J.'s enthusiasm, energy and charm that sold me on doing the project, more than the notion of 'Star Trek' itself," he says. "He saw my lack of Trek knowledge as a plus because he wanted the film's entire design team to come at the designs freshly. I liked that point of view - it took away any intimidation."
Once he took on the job, Kaplan had not a moment to spare because the production date was fast approaching. He dove into basic research, utilizing the famous Star Trek Encyclopedia to get a sense of the evolution of Starfleet uniforms and the motifs that have been repeated in every iteration of the Trek universe. Then, he unleashed his imagination as he began sketching. "It was an intuitive process," he explains, "of deciding on a case-by-case basis what we would hold onto from the past and where we could expand into new ideas. I was motivated by J.J.'s excitement for what we were doing."
Kaplan split the film into different eras. For example, for an earlier era of Starfleet with Kirk's father, he went back to a '50s-tinged view of the future. "I looked at '40s and '50s sci-fi movies for inspiration in creating a look, with items like stretch pants and other retro-futuristic designs, that would naturally predate the 'Star Trek Enterprise' look that was born in the 1960s," he says. Other distinct eras include that of civilian earth during Kirk's adolescence and, a few years later, the Starfleet Academy full of young cadets.
Then came the Enterprise uniforms themselves. "With the Enterprise uniforms, there was a certain wholesomeness that we wanted to hold onto. We didn't want to throw away that indelible 'Star Trek' look. We updated the uniforms by simplifying them and using some manufacturing technologies that didn't even exist when the original television series came out," he notes. "For example, each of the uniforms is very subtly printed with tiny Starfleet logos that you can't really see from a distance, but add a cool texture to the look. It was a painstaking process, printing on red, trying to get just the right chemistry with the ink colors."
For the Romulans on the Narada, Kaplan matched his costumes to the grit and grime of the environment around them. "The Narada is actually a mining ship, so I wanted the ship's crew's clothing to have a kind of rugged work wear look to them," he explains. "I found some fabrics at a flea market that had just the right feeling, top-stitched and aged, looking like grease had been rubbed onto them. I approached the makers, who happened to be based in Bali, and they manufactured my costume designs in their fabrics."
For the Vulcans, he concentrated on their most prevalent qualities. "They are all about elegance and austerity because they're such a cerebral society," he comments. "I also developed a whole new silhouette for the Vulcan women, with a corseted shape that hasn't been seen before."
Kaplan's team had some of the most fun with the skydiving, or rather space-diving, outfits the Enterprise crew wears as they leap for the drill platform above the planet Vulcan. "They were quite complicated because we needed the suits to look as though they could endure such a long jump. The helmet ventilation system needed to work, otherwise the visors would fog up. We also had to produce them in different colors so that you could differentiate between each actor when they were in the air. The suits were a challenge, but I think what we came up with was very successful."

At Warp Speed: Pushing the Visual Scope of Star Trek

Few long-lived stories demonstrate the lightning-speed evolution of visual effects in the last few decades as well as "Star Trek." The original television series was created using cardboard sets, blinking lights and a shoestring budget. Later, in the wake of "2001," "Star Wars," "Alien" and other groundbreaking effects movies set in outer space, the first series of Trek movies pushed a rapidly progressing technological envelope, using futuristic technology that the television audience could never even have imagined.
In a sense, that evolution has come to its logical conclusion with this "Star Trek," as Industrial Light & Magic joined with J.J. Abrams to create the most visually spectacular Trek adventure yet seen, upping the bar in its depiction of spacecrafts, planets, explosions and the very geography of the galaxies. That team was led by Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett, who had honed his collaborative relationship with Abrams on "MI:3," although that film's earthly setting was downright conventional in comparison to the cosmological array of effects Guyett faced on "Star Trek."
When it came to generating visuals for the film's non-stop space battles, creature chases and planetary catastrophes, Abrams gave to Guyett one prime directive: realism. "I wanted to bring a physical reality to traveling on the Enterprise, and I wanted to create a spectacle, but I also didn't want the effects to ever seem more important than the characters on the ship. Roger was the one person I knew who could brilliantly use effects to connect the aesthetic and the storytelling of the movie," says the director.
To keep a sense of history, Abrams asked ILM to compile a "greatest ever" reel of all the best effects shots ever seen in every iteration of the previous Trek movies. "Great as they are, we quickly realized that what we can do now technologically is superior to anything that was done before," he says. "It was an honor to be able to bring the high level of visual excitement 'Star Trek' deserves. ILM took this array of alien planets, otherworldly creatures and cosmic images and elevated them beyond my wildest dreams."
Guyett's team was inspired by their mission, but they faced a daunting challenge. "We knew that J.J. definitely didn't want to shoot most of this movie against a blue-screen," he explains, "so the visual effects became a very collaborative process woven in with the design of each environment and used to extend the sets and locations in exciting ways - giving the movie some real scope and scale. We had a lot of production meetings, breaking each scene down to its component parts, trying to figure out what we could create later and what we had to shoot for real. It was a huge puzzle."
Guyett used every tool available in the effects arsenal, exploring both the latest cutting-edge technology, including simulation techniques he developed on "Transformers," and old school optical effects using miniatures and perspective. When it came to the Enterprise, Guyett's overriding concept was to present the ship in a more emotional way. "I was thinking of how Kubrick created emotion through lighting in '2001,' - there is a lot of darkness, the unknown," he says. "He'd used a pretty naturalistic lighting approach in '2001,' something we used as a template under the guidance of our director of photography, Dan Mindel. A lot of Trek movies have a stylized approach to lighting, but early on we decided we wanted to capture a more realistic quality - more reminiscent of photographs taken from the Apollo missions, for example. J.J. really wanted to take it in this direction. The whole idea is that when you see the Enterprise flying through space, you believe that it is something like that will really exist in the near future."
Earth itself is seen in new ways, a familiar world just a few giant leaps of next-generation technology away from our own. For Guyett, one of the earthly challenges came in the crucial scene in which the teenaged James T. Kirk is stopped for speeding in his retro Corvette by a cop flying after him on an airborne "hovercruiser." "With the 'hovercruiser,' there was a lot of talk about how we could achieve something with an incredible degree of realism with today's technology," says Guyett. "Hover vehicles might be on the horizon, but we're not quite there yet! The special effects team built the hover bike on the end of a crane arm, which was attached to a very low riding car chassis so it could be safely driven around."
Guyett had a lot of fun bringing a fresh perspective to high-tech gadgetry new and old - from the 'hovercruisers' to the Enterprise's famed Transporter. But it was the effects Abrams needed on a vast, cosmological scale that really got his creative juices flowing.
While J.J. Abrams' trusted crew threw themselves into carving out a majestically designed universe for the Enterprise to explore, Abrams says that all of it only exists to make the characters more real and intriguing.
Abrams concludes: "Cool as they are, the ships aren't what really matters, but who's on board the ships. The action and adventure of this movie is pulse-pounding because you love the people aboard the Enterprise. You want to be on that team, you want to be on the ship with them, you want to be cruising through galaxies with them on an amazing and fun adventure. And that was our mission in every aspect of the production."

ABOUT THE CAST

JOHN CHO (Sulu) continues to prove himself as one of today's most gifted actors, delivering compelling performances in both comedy and drama. Cho first caught the public's attention in the 1999 breakthrough hit comedy "American Pie," in which he popularized the slang term "MILF." In 2004, Cho starred as Harold Lee opposite Kal Penn in the cult comedy "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" for New Line Cinema. In April 2008, Cho reprised his role for the highly anticipated follow-up "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," a film hailed by Daily Variety as "'Animal House' meets 'Dr. Strangelove' ... one of the ballsiest comedies to come out of Hollywood in a long time."
Cho has appeared in numerous films, including the Weitz brothers' "American Dreamz" starring alongside Willem Dafoe and Hugh Grant, Margaret Cho's feature comedy "Bam Bam and Celeste," "Better Luck Tomorrow," the "American Pie" series, "Pavilion of Women," Steven Soderbergh's "Solaris" and 2000's Best Picture Oscar® winner "American Beauty." In addition to numerous guest roles on television, he was a series regular on the Weitz brothers' "Off Centre" for the WB and had a recurring role on last season's "Kitchen Confidential" for FOX.
Born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in Los Angeles, California, Cho began acting while studying English literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He toured across the country with his first show, an adaptation of the renowned memoir by Maxine Hong Kingston, "The Woman Warrior." Other stage roles include Laertes in Singapore Repertory Theater's production of "Hamlet" and a variety of shows for East West Players. Cho is also the lead singer for the band Left of Zed.

BEN CROSS (Sarek), a graduate of RADA and the Royal Shakespeare Company, made an impressive film debut as Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in "Chariots of Fire" (1981). Cross' participation in the Oscar®-winning film immediately opened up new professional doors, beginning with the BBC adaptation of A.J. Cronin's "The Citadel" and the critically acclaimed "Far Pavilions" for HBO.
Over his career, Cross has starred in many prestigious film and television productions, including "Paper House," "Live Wire," "First Knight," "Dark Shadows," "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Exorcist: The Beginning" and, recently, "Wicked Little Things," in which he plays a rural pig farmer who becomes a reluctant hero. He can also claim originating the role of Billy Flynn in the West End production of "Chicago." Recently, he returned to the boards in the West End production of "Coyote on a Fence," for which he received critical and audience acclaim. Cross, who now makes his home in Sofia, Bulgaria, is quite proud of two recent productions: the BBC's "Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial," in which he plays Rudolph Hess, and "When Nietzsche Wept," as Joseph Breuer opposite Armand Assante's Frederick Nietzsche.
Never a stranger to taking risks, he recently took a starring turn opposite John Cusack in the film "War, Inc." as the oddly engaging Medusa Hair. He followed that with "Hero Wanted" starring opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ray Liotta. Other recent films include "Finding Rin Tin Tin," "Species Quatro," the continuation of the successful "Species" film franchise for MGM, "Icon," "Grendel" and "Undisputed 2."

BRUCE GREENWOOD (Pike) last appeared in the Disney action thriller "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" playing the president of the United States opposite Nicholas Cage. His dual roles in the unconventional biopic of legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan "I'm Not There," opposite Cate Blanchette and Richard Gere for writer/director Todd Haynes, earned the Independent Spirit Award's inaugural Robert Altman Award, awarded to the director, casting director and ensemble cast. Greenwood just completed filming the drama "Mao's Last Dancer" for director Bruce Beresford, based on the best selling memoir of dancer Li Cunxin.
Greenwood is well known for his outstanding portrayal of President John F. Kennedy negotiating the Cuban missile crisis and its fallout in the riveting drama "Thirteen Days" opposite Kevin Costner and Steven Culp. The film earned Greenwood a Golden Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2006, he appeared in the thriller "Déjà Vu" for director Tony Scott alongside Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer, as well as the Disney adventure "Eight Below" opposite Paul Walker.
In 2005, he starred as Truman Capote's partner, writer Jack Dunphy, in "Capote" opposite Philip Seymour Hoffman, which earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. That same year he played Kentucky horse trainer Nolan Walsh in the live-action/animated family film "Racing Stripes." In 2004, Greenwood appeared opposite Will Smith as the ruthless CEO of U.S. Robotics who is suspected of murder in the sci-fi box office hit "I, Robot." That same year he played a dashing paramour of an aging actress (Annette Bening) in the critically praised "Being Julia," earning a Genie Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1999, he starred opposite Ashley Judd as a murderous plotting spouse in the suspense thriller "Double Jeopardy," receiving a Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination for Favorite Supporting Actor.
He has worked three times with acclaimed Canadian director Atom Egoyan. He had a lead role in the award-winning "Exotica" as a tax inspector obsessed with a stripper. He also starred in the drama "The Sweet Hereafter" playing a father of two children killed in a tragic bus accident. The film earned the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes and swept the Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture, and also earned him a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor. Additionally, he starred in the drama "Ararat."
Greenwood's other film credits include "Firehouse Dog," "Hollywood Homicide," "The World's Fastest Indian," "Below," "Rules of Engagement," "Here on Earth," "The Lost Son," "Thick as Thieves," "Disturbing Behavior," "Passenger 57" and "Wild Orchid."
Additionally, Greenwood has had a diverse and successful career in television. In 2007, he was the lead in the HBO series "John from Cincinnati" opposite Rebecca De Mornay, playing Mitch Yost, the patriarch of a dysfunctional California surfing family. Earlier in his career, he was a series regular on the award-winning series "St. Elsewhere" as Dr. Seth Griffin, and appeared on the critically acclaimed "Larry Sanders Show," the nighttime drama "Knots Landing," and the cult series "Nowhere Man," in which he portrayed a documentary photographer who has his whole existence erased.
He also starred in the remake of "The Magnificent Ambersons," as well as several movies-of-the-week, including "The Riverman" for A&E and "Saving Millie" for CBS.

SIMON PEGG (Scotty), winner of the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy (presented by the London Evening Standard), has successfully built a body of outstanding television and film credits, not the least of which is the creation of the breakthrough Channel 4 sitcom "Spaced," which was nominated for the British Comedy Award and both the UK and International BAFTAs and received a nomination for an International Emmy Award.
Pegg went on to gain massive critical and commercial success with "Shaun of the Dead," his debut feature film co-written with Edgar Wright, in which he also starred in the title role. Produced by Working Title, the film rose to number one at the UK box office and the top five in the U.S. The film garnered numerous awards, including nominations for Best Film at the 2005 BAFTAs, London Critics Circle Awards (also nominated for Best Screenplay), South Bank Show Awards, the NME Awards and the British Comedy Awards. Pegg reprised his success with Edgar Wright in the 2007 feature film "Hot Fuzz," which was released to much acclaim, again opening at number one in the UK box office and reaching number five in the U.S. Later that same year, Pegg continued his run of box office successes, starring as the lead in the feature film "Run, Fatboy, Run," which, yet again, opened in the top spot in the UK box office.
Most recently, Pegg starred in "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" with Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, Gillian Anderson, Danny Huston and Jeff Bridges.
Pegg's previous television credits include the BBC1 drama "Final Demand," "Doctor Who," the BBC2 sitcom "Hippies" and the cult BBC sketch series "Big Train," for which he received an RTS nomination for Best Entertainment Performance. He also co-starred in the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks television series "Band of Brothers." Other feature film credits include "Mission: Impossible III," "The Big Nothing" and "The Good Night."

CHRIS PINE (Kirk) has emerged as one of Hollywood's hottest young actors. He will next be seen in the viral pandemic film "Carriers" for director Alex Pastor. Most recently, Pine co-starred in "Bottle Shock" for writer/director Randall Miller and co-starring Alan Rickman, Danny DeVito and Emmy Rossum. Pine recently completed production on "Small Town Saturday Night" from writer/director Ryan Craig.
Pine co-starred in Joe Carnahan's gritty ensemble drama "Smokin' Aces" for Working Title Films and Universal Pictures. In the film, Pine played the role of Darwin Tremor, the leader of a band of three brothers who are killers for hire. He also starred as the title role in "Blind Guy Driving" with Eddie Kaye Thomas and Jane Seymour and in the Fox/New Regency romantic comedy "Just My Luck" opposite Lindsay Lohan for director Donald Petrie.
On the stage, Pine recently received rave reviews for his performance in the Neil LaBute play "Fat Pig" at the Geffen Playhouse.
Pine graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English and he has studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater and University of Leeds in the UK. His extensive theater work includes performances in productions of "Our Town," "American Buffalo," "No Exit," "Waiting for Godot" and "Orestes."
Pine's parents are actors Gwynne Gilford and Robert Pine. His late grandmother, Anne Gwynne, was a film actress in the '30s and '40s.

ZACHARY QUINTO (Spock) is currently starring on the third season of the NBC Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated ensemble drama series "Heroes." He stars as Sylar, a mysterious serial killer who stalks people with superpowers in an effort to collect their special talents for himself.
This Pittsburgh native has been acting since age 11, and jumped right into theater, launching his acting career. He starred in such shows as "Side Man," "Gross Indecency" and "Oliver!" (City Theatre Company), as well as "The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow" (Old Globe), "Endgame" (Odyssey), "Much Ado About Nothing" (L.A. Shakespeare Festival & Vineyard Playhouse), "The Bear" (Tintreach Company, Galway Ireland), "Map of Doubt and Rescue," "Laying On of Hands," "Pro Bono Publico," "Lonesome Hollow" (Ojai Playwrights Conference), "Stone" (Taper New Works Festival) and "Lonely Impulse of Delight" (Vineyard Playhouse).
During high school, Quinto realized that acting was more than a hobby. He decided to further pursue his dream and attended Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. Quinto was honored with the University's prestigious Gene Kelly Award for his role as the Major General in "The Pirates of Penzance."
Acting in television since 2000, his first job was "The Others" and he quickly gained guest starring roles on "CSI," "Touched by an Angel," "Charmed," "Six Feet Under," "Crossing Jordan" and "Dragnet," among others. Most recently, Quinto had a recurring role on "24" and co-starred in Tori Spelling's sitcom, "So NoTORIous." In addition, his film credits include "Down with Love" and "Psychic Murders."

WINONA RYDER (Amanda Grayson), with two Oscar® nominations and a Golden Globe Award to her credit, is hailed as one of Hollywood's most sought after talents and classic beauties. Ryder will next be seen in Rebecca Miller's "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee" opposite Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves and Julianne Moore; Geoffrey Haley's "The Last Word" starring opposite Wes Bentley and Ray Romano; and "The Informers," Gregor Jordan's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel.
As Jo in "Little Women," Gillian Armstrong's highly acclaimed version of the Louisa May Alcott classic, Ryder received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress. The previous year she was Oscar®-nominated and won the Golden Globe and National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence." Ryder also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Richard Benjamin's "Mermaids."
In 1999, Ryder starred in and served as executive producer on the critically acclaimed "Girl, Interrupted," based on the best-selling memoir and directed by James Mangold. While the film marked Ryder's first feature as executive producer, she previously produced the documentary "The Day My God Died," which depicted the human story behind the modern tragedy of child sex trafficking in India.
Noted for constantly challenging herself with each project, Ryder has worked with some of the most acclaimed directors in film today, including Jean- Pierre Jeunet's "Alien: Resurrection," Woody Allen's "Celebrity," Nicholas Hytner's "The Crucible," Bille August's "The House of the Spirits," Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth," Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" and "Beetlejuice," Michael Lehman's "Heathers," Ben Stiller's "Reality Bites," Al Pacino's "Looking for Richard," Joan Chen's "Autumn in New York," Janusz Kaminski's "Lost Souls," Jocelyn Moorehouse's "How to Make an American Quilt," David Wain's "The Ten" and Richard Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly."
On television, Ryder lent her voice to both "The Simpsons" and "Dr. Katz." She also narrated a Grammy-nominated album, "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl." Additionally, Ryder appeared in the season finale episode of "Strangers with Candy" and on an episode of "Friends."
In 1997, Ryder was honored as ShoWest's Female Star of the Year and the Motion Picture Club's Female Star of the Year, and received an honorary degree from San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater. She served as a juror for the 51st Annual Cannes International Film Festival under Martin Scorsese and received the Peter J. Owens Award for "brilliance, independence and integrity" at the 2000 San Francisco Film Festival. Ryder was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She served on the Board of Trustees to the American Indian College Fund, which helps Native Americans preserve and protect their culture through education. She has been very involved with the Klaas Kids Foundation since the organization's inception in 1994.

ZOË SALDANA (Uhura) is a rising star in Hollywood. She has built her reputation as a versatile and respected actress by choosing roles that she feels passionately about. Saldana will soon be seen in James Cameron's sci-fi thriller "Avatar" opposite Sigourney Weaver. "Avatar" is about a group of humans who are brought to a different planet, where they are at odds with a humanoid race. The film is slated for release in December 2009.
Saldana is most recognized for her role in the Columbia/Tri-Star film "Center Stage," in a memorable performance as Eva. Other film credits include "Vantage Point," "Haven," "Guess Who," "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "The Terminal," "Dirty Deeds," "Temptation," "Constellation," "Get Over It," "Crossroads," "Snipes" and "Drumline." Her television credits include appearances on the WB's "Keeping It Real" and NBC's "Law & Order."
In 2004, Saldana accepted the Young Hollywood "One to Watch" Award presented by Movieline magazine for her performance in "The Terminal."

KARL URBAN (Bones) is perhaps best known for his dynamic turn as Rohan warrior Eomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and for his chilling performance of Kirill in Paul Greengrass' "The Bourne Supremacy."
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Urban first appeared on television as a child. Throughout his school years he wrote, directed and starred in many film and stage productions. As a young adult, he continued to pursue his acting career, training and working throughout Australia and Asia in theater, film and television.
Urban landed his feature film debut in Miramax's "Heaven" and garnered two Best Actor nominations at the New Zealand Film Awards for his work in "Via Satellite" and the critically acclaimed indie film "The Price of Milk." Recently, Urban won Best Actor at the Quantas Film Awards for his portrayal of Nick in "Out of the Blue."
Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson cast Urban in "The Lord of The Rings" after viewing a rough cut of "The Price of Milk." Says Jackson, "Karl is ruggedly heroic yet imbues his roles with sensitivity, he has one of the best screen personas of any New Zealand actor."
Urban resides in New Zealand and is an avid supporter of KIDS CAN, an organization that feeds and clothes over 30,000 New Zealand children who live in poverty.

ANTON YELCHIN (Chekov) began acting at the age of nine. He made his film debut in the independent film "A Man Is Mostly Water" and has worked continuously in films such as "Hearts in Atlantis" with Anthony Hopkins (which earned him a 2001 Young Artists Award for Best Performer), "Delivering Milo" opposite Albert Finny and Bridget Fonda, "15 Minutes" with Robert De Niro and Ed Burns, "A Time for Dancing" with Peter Coyote and "Along Came a Spider" with Morgan Freeman. He also starred in David Duchovny's feature directorial debut "House of D" with Robin Williams, for which he earned a Breakthrough Award from Hollywood Life for his performance.
Yelchin also stars in "Terminator Salvation" opposite Christian Bale and was previously seen starring in "Charlie Bartlett" opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Hope Davis. He was also seen in the independent films "Middle of Nowhere" opposite Susan Sarandon for director John Stockwell, "New York, I Love You" for director Brett Ratner, and "This is Not Miami," which was shot on location in Moscow.
Other credits include Universal Pictures' "Alpha Dog" directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the life of drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood, in which he appeared alongside Justin Timberlake and Sharon Stone, and "Fierce People," opposite Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland.
On television, Yelchin starred in Showtime's original drama "Huff" as Byrd, Hank Azaria's teenage son. Yelchin has had a number of prominent guest-starring roles on TV shows such as "ER," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Without a Trace," "The Practice," "Judging Amy" and "NYPD Blue."
His other television credits include the Showtime original film "Jack," alongside Ron Silver and Stockard Channing; the Disney musical telefilm "Geppetto," with Drew Carey; and the USA Network mini-series "Taken," executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

ERIC BANA (Nero) was first introduced to American audiences in the title role of Mark "Chopper" Read in the feature film "Chopper," which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was then released in the U.S. to good critical notice after its Australian success. Bana earned awards from the Australian Film Critics Circle and the Australian Film Institute for his portrayal.
In 2001, Bana was seen co-starring in Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" as Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, one of a group of elite U.S. soldiers, opposite Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore. The war epic, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Sony, is based on journalist Mark Bowden's best-selling account of the 1993 U.S. mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. He was also featured in the Australian film "The Nugget" released in 2002.
Bana also starred in the title role of Bruce Banner in "Hulk" for director Ang Lee and Universal Pictures, based on the Marvel Comics character; and as Hector the prince of Troy in Warner Bros' "Troy" for director Wolfgang Petersen. The film was based on Homer's The Iliad and also co-starred Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom. He also starred in Steven Spielberg's "Munich," about the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
He was most recently seen in "The Other Boleyn Girl" with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson; "Romulus, My Father," based on Raimond Gaita's best-selling memoir, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival; and Curtis Hanson's "Lucky You," co-starring Drew Barrymore.
Bana will next be seen in Judd Apatow's "Funny People" opposite Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, and "The Time Traveler's Wife" opposite Rachel McAdams, based on the best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
His first film as a director, the drama documentary "Love the Beast," had its U.S. premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival in April. Starring Bana, Jay Leno, "Top Gear's" Jeremy Clarkson and Dr. Phil, the film explores the meaning of his 25-year-long relationship with his first car and the importance of the bonds that form through a common passion.

LEONARD NIMOY (Spock Prime) was born on March 26, 1931. He spent his early years in a tenement neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, where he performed on stage from the age of eight through his teens, in various amateur productions. In 1949, he set out for Hollywood, where he took acting classes, lived in a rooming house, and worked odd jobs to support himself.
Beginning in 1951, small roles in obscure films and serials were a valuable training ground. In 1952, he had his first film lead in "Kid Monk Baroni." A two-year stint in the Army followed. While serving in Atlanta, Nimoy starred in and directed a highly acclaimed production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." After his army service, Nimoy went back to work in feature films, television and theater. During the late '50s and early '60s, Nimoy appeared in all the well-known TV shows of the period including "Wagon Train," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Rawhide," "Perry Mason" and "Combat," to name a few.
It was Nimoy's success in the original television science-fiction series "Star Trek" that gained him worldwide recognition. First appearing in 1966, Nimoy's character, Mr. Spock, would become an icon over the years as the popular television show branched off into syndication and later onto the big screen in six feature films. Nimoy's portrayal of the Vulcan earned him three Emmy nominations.
Nimoy became a successful movie director, responsible for "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." He earned story writing credits on "Star Trek IV" and "Star Trek VI," which he also executive-produced. His "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," which focused on the rescue of humpback whales, was the most successful of the "Star Trek" films to date. Gene Roddenberry, "Star Trek's" creator, referred to Nimoy as "the conscience of Star Trek." Additional directorial credits include "The Good Mother" starring Diane Keaton and Liam Neeson; the blockbuster hit "Three Men and a Baby" starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg; "Funny About Love" with Gene Wilder, Christine Lahti and Mary Stuart Masterson; and "Holy Matrimony" starring Patricia Arquette and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
On stage, Nimoy has starred in "Camelot," "The Man in the Glass Booth," "Twelfth Night," "Oliver!" and a record-setting tour of "Fiddler on the Roof." With "Vincent," a one-man play about Van Gogh, which he also produced and directed, Nimoy toured 35 cities in the United States and eventually videotaped the play at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for broadcast on the A&E Network and installment at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Another hit was in the title role of "Sherlock Holmes" in the Royal Shakespeare Company's National Tour. On Broadway, Nimoy has starred in "Equus" and "Full Circle."
On television, he spent two years on the "Mission: Impossible" series and appeared in a number of television movies, including "A Woman Called Golda," garnering an Emmy nomination opposite Judy Davis and Ingrid Bergman. In 1991, he was seen on TNT in "Never Forget," in which he portrayed a Holocaust survivor. The show, which he also co-produced with partner Robert Radnitz, was nominated for a Cable ACE Award. He was recently seen starring in the "I, Robot" episode of "The Outer Limits," in which he was directed by his son Adam Nimoy. In addition to hosting the highly successful "In Search of . . ." series, he has served as host/narrator of "Ancient Mysteries" on the A&E Network.
Nimoy has also written three volumes of poetry and recorded ten narrative albums. In 1975, he published an autobiography entitled I Am Not Spock. The sequel, I Am Spock, was published by Hyperion. Nimoy's performance of the audio version was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Nimoy's black and white art photography is represented in several galleries nationwide and in numerous museums and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. His photographic essay on the subject of the feminine presence of God is in publication under the title SHEKHINA. His second photography publication, The Full Body Project, is a commentary on the female body image in American culture.
Nimoy, together with fellow actor John de Lancie, partnered in a production company called Alien Voices. They have produced audio dramatizations of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The First Men in the Moon for distribution by Simon and Schuster Audio. Their television production of "The First Men in the Moon" was a history-making event, an old-style radio production broadcast live on the Sci-Fi Channel and simultaneously transmitted on the Internet. This was followed by "The Lost World" and "A Halloween Trilogy," consisting of three short stories, Rudyard Kipling's "The Mark of the Beast," Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost" and "The Casque of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Nimoy is the holder of a Masters Degree in Education and four Honorary Doctorates.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

J.J. ABRAMS (Director/Producer) was born in New York and raised in Los Angeles. Abrams attended Sarah Lawrence College where, during his senior year, he co-wrote a film treatment. Purchased by Touchstone Pictures, the treatment was the basis for "Taking Care of Business," Abrams' first produced film, which starred Charles Grodin and Jim Belushi. He followed that up with "Regarding Henry" starring Harrison Ford, and "Forever Young" starring Mel Gibson. Abrams then collaborated with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay on the summer 1998 blockbuster "Armageddon." In 2001, he co-wrote and produced the film "Joy Ride." In 2006, Abrams made his feature directorial debut with "Mission: Impossible III," starring Tom Cruise. In 2008, he executive produced the film "Cloverfield."
In 1998, Abrams made his first foray into television with "Felicity," which ran for four seasons on the WB. He served as the show's co-creator (with Matt Reeves) and Executive Producer. Under his production company Bad Robot, Abrams created and executive-produced "Alias" and is co-creator (with Damon Lindelof) and executive producer of "Lost." In 2005, he received Emmys for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for the "Lost" pilot, as well as Outstanding Drama Series for "Lost." He is also an Emmy nominee for his "Alias" pilot script as well as his "Lost" pilot script (co-written with Lindelof). Abrams won a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Drama Series for "Lost." In addition to writing and directing, he composed the theme music for "Alias" and "Fringe," and co-wrote the theme song for "Felicity."
He is currently working on "Fringe" as co-creator (with Roberto Orci and
Alex Kurtzman) and executive producer. It premiered on FOX in the fall of 2008.
Abrams and his wife have three young children.

ROBERTO ORCI & ALEX KURTZMAN (Written by/Executive Producers) are longtime collaborators and creative visionaries who began their work together as innovative storytellers in a Los Angeles-area high school. Separately penning original adventure tales and making ambitious home movies, they soon joined forces and dreamed of one day bringing their movies to a mass audience. Last summer saw the realization of that dream with "Transformers," a live-action adaptation of the popular animated series that went on to gross over $700 million worldwide. The pair recently wrote the sequel "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," along with scribe Ehren Kruger, which will be released at the end of June, 2009.
Inspired by Spielbergian action-adventure films that emphasize story, Kurtzman and Orci reunited after college to write for the popular television series "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," where they quickly became head writers at the age of 23.
In 2003, Kurtzman and Orci were approached to write for J.J. Abrams' wildly popular television spy thriller "Alias," and eventually ascended to be executive producers of the show. In 2006, the duo re-teamed with Abrams to write the third installment of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise starring Tom Cruise as super-agent Ethan Hunt, which was embraced by critics for adding depth and humanity to the series and grossed over $397 million worldwide. Prior to "Mission: Impossible III," Kurtzman and Orci made a splash with the sci-fi thriller "The Island," their feature film debut helmed by Michael Bay. Late 2005 saw the release of "The Legend of Zorro" starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas.
Kurtzman and Orci also created the new FOX drama "Fringe" with Abrams. The show stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble, and is a breakout hit.
In addition to their writing projects, Kurtzman and Orci are producing a continually growing slate of movies through their K/O shingle at DreamWorks. They recently produced their first picture, D.J. Caruso's "Eagle Eye," starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The film has grossed almost $150 million worldwide. Additionally, they are producing "The Proposal" (starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds), "Cowboys and Aliens," "Nightlife," "Deep Sea Cowboys" and "Atlantis Rising." They are also producing "28th Amendment" for Warner Bros.
Following the success of "Transformers" and their other endeavors, Kurtzman and Orci are using their position in the entertainment industry to nurture other young writers and help them find their individual voices through a unique deal with DreamWorks and Paramount in which the team is producing their own material, as well as developing the projects of other writers.

DAMON LINDELOF (Producer), despite being advised that his brain would rot, spent the majority of his childhood watching television. After a brief flirtation with movies by way of a film degree from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Lindelof hopped in his car and traveled west. Treating Los Angeles as a de facto grad school, Lindelof worked for a literary agency, Paramount Studios, and finally as a creative executive for producer Alan Ladd Jr. before reminding himself that his true passion was TV. Shedding his suit and tie for a tee shirt and Birkenstocks, he took a job as a writer's assistant on Kevin Williamson's ABC Drama "Wasteland." Shortly thereafter, fortune smiled upon him and he was made a staff writer.
Shortly thereafter, misfortune smiled upon him and the show was cancelled. Lindelof went on to write for the CBS staple "Nash Bridges" during its final season (coincidence?) and then moved on to NBC's new drama "Crossing Jordan," where he wrote and produced for three seasons. Then he got "Lost." In twelve weeks of complete insanity, he and co-creator J.J. Abrams managed to produce a completely weird, ridiculously untenable and vastly expensive pilot for ABC that centered on the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Despite this, "Lost" won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for Best Television Series and Best Drama in its freshman season. He continues to write and produce "Lost," which is currently in its fifth season. In his spare time, Lindelof also wrote this bio.

BRYAN BURK (Executive Producer) is a graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television who began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at Fox. In 1995, Burk joined Gerber Pictures, where he helped develop TNT's Emmy-nominated "James Dean."
In 2001, Burk joined J.J. Abrams on ABC's Emmy-winning "Alias," where he served as a co-producer for its entire five-season run. In 2004, Burk and Abrams brought Bad Robot Productions to Touchstone Television, where he executive-produced ABC's "Six Degrees," "What About Brian" and the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning Best Drama "Lost." Burk is also Executive Producer for the Warner Bros. Television series "Fringe," currently airing on FOX.
He most recently produced "Cloverfield." Burk will next produce "Morning Glory" for Paramount Pictures.

JEFFREY CHERNOV (Executive Producer) has enjoyed a distinguished film career, from his start as a production assistant on Dino De Laurentiis' 1976 hit "King Kong," through several arduous years as an assistant director on such classics as "Body Heat," "Cutter's Way," "The Thing," "Escape from New York" and "Starman," among others. Working his way up the ladder, Chernov subsequently became a production manager, learning an entirely new set of skills on "Ruthless People," "Halloween II" and "Halloween III." Next up came "Clue," "The Dead Zone" and "Richard Pryor: Live in Concert," on which he earned the title of associate producer. From there, he acted as co-producer on "Eddie Murphy Raw" and executive producer of "10 Things I Hate About You," "Sleeping with the Enemy" and "The Replacements." He also produced "A Line in the Sand," "Place of Darkness," "Bad Company" and "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey."
Chernov spent two years as a senior vice president of production at Disney/Touchstone, overseeing such hit films as "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Pretty Woman" and "Dead Poets Society," to name a few. In 2001, he moved to Spyglass Entertainment, where he was intimately involved in the making of "Shanghai Knights," "The Recruit," "The Lookout," "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "The Pacifier," and many other successful films.

DAN MINDEL, ASC (Director of Photography) previously worked with J.J. Abrams as director of photography for "Mission: Impossible III." He was born in South Africa and educated in Australia and Britain. He began his career as a cinematographer shooting commercials, working with some of the most successful directors, including Ridley Scott, Barry Kinsman, Hugh Johnson and Mike Seresin. His ads for Tony Scott include memorable commercials for such clients as Coke, Pepsi, Miller Brewing and Marlboro.
He served as director of photography on "Domino" for Tony Scott, "The Skeleton Key" for Iain Softley, "Tooth Fairy," "Stuck on You" and "Shanghai Noon," among many others. Mindel was responsible for the photography on the West Coast unit of "G.I. Jane," as well as for additional photography on "The Bourne Identity" and Tony Scott's "The Fan." "Enemy of the State" marked his debut as the sole director of cinematography on a major motion picture. Mindel most recently served as director of photography on Kate Hudson's "Cutlass."

SCOTT CHAMBLISS (Production Designer) has worked with director J.J. Abrams a number of times, including "Mission: Impossible III" and the hit television series "Felicity" and "Alias."
Chambliss has designed for motion pictures, television and theater productions in both New York and Los Angeles. His feature credits include "Krippendorf's Tribe," "13 Bourbon Street," "I Like It Like That," "The Celluloid Closet," "Bank Robber" and "Chain of Desire." He also provided art direction for "Malcolm X," "Leap of Faith," "Billy Bathgate" and "The Mambo Kings." Chambliss started his career as an associate designer with Tony Walton on a number of Broadway productions, including "Anything Goes," "Macbeth" and "Grand Hotel."

MARYANN BRANDON, A.C.E. (Editor) previously collaborated with director J.J. Abrams on "Alias," for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, and on "Mission: Impossible III." Brandon then went on to direct "Alias" for Abrams in seasons three and four, and produced the show in season four. She most recently edited "The Jane Austen Book Club," and her previous feature credits include "Grumpier Old Men," "Born to be Wild," "Race for Glory" and "A Thousand Acres." As an assistant editor she worked on "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Black Widow."
Her other television credits include "Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story," "The Miracle Worker," "Grapevine" and TNT's "The Hunley."

MARY JO MARKEY, A.C.E. (Editor) previously collaborated with director J.J. Abrams on "Felicity"; "Lost," the pilot of which earned both her and Abrams Emmy Awards; "Alias," for which she also received an Emmy nomination; the feature "Mission: Impossible III"; and the television drama "Anatomy of Hope."
Her other feature credits include "Rhapsody in Bloom," "Dawg" and "Medicine Man." In 2007, Markey received her third Emmy nomination and an A.C.E. Eddie nomination for her work on the HBO movie "Life Support."

MICHAEL KAPLAN (Costume Designer) designed the costumes for the recent apocalyptic sci-fi blockbuster "I Am Legend." He previously won a BAFTA Award for his work on Ridley Scott's groundbreaking futuristic drama "Blade Runner." He also set off a fashion trend for an entire generation with his costume designs for Adrian Lyne's "Flashdance." Kaplan also designed the costumes for Doug Liman's action comedy hit "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Michael Mann's "Miami Vice" starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.
Kaplan reunited with Ridley Scott to design the costumes for "Matchstick Men." In addition, he has collaborated multiple times with director David Fincher, on the films "Panic Room," "Fight Club," "The Game" and Se7en"; with Michael Bay, on "Pearl Harbor" and "Armageddon"; and with Jeremiah Chechik on "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." Kaplan also designed the costumes for such films as Edward Norton's directorial debut "Keeping the Faith," Harold Becker's "Malice" and Taylor Hackford's "Against All Odds."

MICHAEL GIACCHINO (Composer) was nominated for an Academy Award® for his score to the animated blockbuster "Ratatouille," which went on to win the Oscar® for Best Animated Film. He made his feature film composing breakthrough with the acclaimed score for "The Incredibles" and went on to compose music for the live-action superhero film "Sky High," the comedy-drama "The Family Stone," Albert Brooks' "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" and the thriller "Mission: Impossible III." He most recently composed the score for "Speed Racer" and served as music director for the 81st Academy Awards®.
Giacchino has composed for many genres in other media, including television shows, animated shorts, video games and stand-alone symphonies, with themes running the gamut from driving to melancholic, suspenseful to serene. Fans of the hit ABC shows "Lost" and "Alias" have been enjoying his compositions for several seasons.
Previously, Giacchino scored the PlayStation video game based on Steven Spielberg's summer box office hit "The Lost World," featuring the first original live orchestral score written for a PlayStation console game, recorded with the Seattle Symphony. He went on to compose many orchestral scores for interactive media, including the highly successful "Medal of Honor" series, a World War II simulation game created by Spielberg.
On May 13, 2000, the Haddonfield Symphony premiered Giacchino's first Symphony, "Camden 2000." The concert took place at the Sony E-Center in Camden, New Jersey, with proceeds benefiting the Heart of Camden, an organization dedicated to rebuilding inner-city housing.
Giacchino studied film production at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and subsequently pursued composition and music studies at both the Juilliard School and UCLA.

ROGER GUYETT (Visual Effects Supervisor/Second Unit Director) has been with Industrial Light & Magic since 1994, when he joined the team that created the groundbreaking title character for "Casper." Guyett was a principal member of the crew that produced over 40 minutes of 3D character animation, marking the first time in cinematic history that a leading role was played by an entirely synthetic actor.
Guyett is now one of ILM's leading visual effects supervisors. Most recently, he was the visual effects supervisor on "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." His credits include "Saving Private Ryan," for which he was honored with a BAFTA Award for best special visual effects; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"; and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," for which Guyett earned both Academy Award® and BAFTA nominations, and won the award from the Visual Effects Society.
Guyett was born and raised in Great Britain.