'Star Trek' Villain Forces Kirk To Grow, Chris Pine Says

Benedict Cumberbatch's character 'not just a blood-dripping-from-the-fangs bad guy,' Pine explains to MTV News.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Chris Pine
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When J.J. Abrams got the opportunity to helm one of the most beloved franchises of all time, he took "Star Trek" literally where no man has gone before. The alternate timeline of his reboot laid down the law that this "Star Trek" can and will go anywhere its creators want.

When MTV News spoke to the captain of the Starship Enterprise, Chris Pine, his carefully measured words praised the work from Abrams and his screenwriters — Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof — on the upcoming sequel.

"There is so much happening in their script. I can't say much of anything," Pine told MTV News while promoting his next film, Friday's "People Like Us." "They come from TV land, all of them: J.J., Bob, Alex and Damon. They've worked together in the highest-pressure situation in television for years. That machine is well-oiled."

The creative team's background in television is what Pine said allows them to change things on the fly and continually improve the film. "What you also get in that circumstance is it's a constantly evolving beast — the script, the material, how it's going to look, how J.J.'s going to shoot it," he said. "There is nothing set in stone, which is tremendously frightening, but also extremely exhilarating, especially when it's like a finely tuned racecar. They just know how to do it. In this constantly evolution, the script that they had written kept getting better and better."

For anyone familiar with the crew's previous work, which includes "Lost" and most recently "Prometheus," it shouldn't come as a surprise that Pine complimented the mythical qualities of the screenplay.

"What they're so good at is this kind of mythic reinvention. They're really good at writing myth, and these characters — I think what people will find with everybody — is that these characters go on mythic arcs," Pine said. "It's all about growing up. These are young men and young women, and they are not the crew that we know from the series. They're developing into that. It's a long way to go there."

Even with mystery surrounding the entire production, fans are most desperate for answers when it comes to just one aspect of the sequel: Benedict Cumberbatch joined the film as a villain, whose identity has yet to be revealed. Pine complimented the actor, but couldn't say much more than that the villain will bring out new qualities in Kirk.

"It is structured so that the antagonist brings out all of the qualities in Kirk that need to happen in order for Kirk to grow," Pine said. "As you know from Benedict, just watching him, vocally, he's fascinating. He's got this deep resonate voice. He's a fascinating face. He's a lovely guy and just super smart. You want to see something firing in his brain, so he's not just a blood-dripping-from-the-fangs bad guy. Benedict brings those kinds of smarts."

Check out everything we've got on "Star Trek 2."

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