Honoring Leonard Nimoy’s Spock
T he strongest connection between classic ‘Star Trek’ and the current rebooted set of movies was Spock Prime, Leonard Nimoy’s beloved Vulcan character who was the only member of The Original Series to appear in 2009’s “Star Trek” and its 2013 sequel, “Into Darkness.” Although Nimoy died at age 83 last year before “Beyond” went into production, the franchise’s most indelible character and the man who embodied him receive heartfelt tributes in the new film.
“We wanted to make it part of that Spock’s arc as well, not just a reference to Spock Prime, or what we did eventually, of course, which was dedicate the film to him,” explains co-screenwriter Simon Pegg. “We wanted to have his passing be something that inspired our Spock to move on as well, so it became an integral part of the story.”
Zachary Quinto was approved by Nimoy himself to play the younger version of his iconic character in the reboots. That’s hardly where their story ended, however.
“It’s this role that brought us together and the world of ‘Star Trek’ that we shared in common from the beginning, but our friendship evolved very quickly past all that,” Quinto reveals. “I would say, by the end of his life, it was only one of many facets of how we connected and how we came to respect and love each other. He was just an incredible guy; I miss him a lot. But I feel like my approach to this film, which was the first one we’ve made without Leonard, was to really just honor him and carry on his legacy as best I can.
“I thought that Simon and Doug did a wonderful job of involving Leonard in this film and honoring him and making it a part of Spock’s journey,” Quinto adds. “That was important to me and really satisfying. I think that it turned out quite beautifully.”
Contact Bob Strauss at bob.strauss@ langnews.com or @bscritic on Twitter.