Ooh! I love finding out things like this. Did you know that Matt Damon was originally approached to take on the role of Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek remake?
Me neither.
J.J. Abrams told Life Magazine:
"I actually approached Matt and we had some discussions, but everything happens for a reason. On the one hand, it would have been great to work with Matt – but at the end of the day, it was such a better move to cast the movie with unknowns."
No regrets here. In fact, a movie filled with unknowns (well, almost unknowns – Heroes’ Zachary Quinto is Spock and Simon Pegg is Scotty) will help the characters be more believable to the viewers says Abrams.
"It is fun to discover the stars of tomorrow, but even more so, just like with the first Star Wars, you didn’t know who those people were when you saw the movie. You believed that guy was Luke Skywalker. You didn’t recognize him from six other movies. You bought into who this guy was. It is a slippery slope when you cast any actor that is somewhat known. We weren’t beholden to any fame meter.”
Star Trek is due for release next month and I can’t wait!
Photos by INF
I’m terribly excited about it.
I’m glad they didn’t cast Matt… I love his acting, and I’ll usually watch a movie he made just because he’s in it. But I don’t think he would have been a good fit here.
I agree about the casting of lesser knowns. It just gives a movie that certain “something”.
How is Eric Bana an unknown (in case you didn’t notice he was the one worth salivating over in Troy) or for that matter Karl Urban (LOTR, Pathfinder). Anyway Matt Damon is Jason Bourne and NOT James Kirk.
Oh well. We’ll see how it goes when the movie comes out.
According to data from my work, WiseWindow, volume and feelings about the emotions of Star Trek are increasing. Looks like people are getting excited.