Scriptwriters talk Star Trek
Interview with Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci from Script magazine.
Some quotes~ from the article:
(About Leonard Nimoy being in the film)
Kurtzman: This story could not exist without Spock's involvement. One of the things we felt very strongly about was if we're going to put Nimoy in the movie, [the role] can't be a cameo. It would feel insulting.
Orci: And he wouldn't do it anyway!
Kurtzman: No. He wouldn't. He has to be the fulcrum of the story, becoming the bridge to this new group.
Orci: His blessing and that character's genuine involvement as an organic story point in a way generates our story. His being the cause (in a sense) of the prequel was the thing that we needed to realize: Aha, now we can both be free from the constrictions because he literally travels back in time and changes the history of the characters, but also be true to Star Trek because [Spock] is this original character. So, that freed us and made us respectful to the history.
(About the characters)
Kurtzman: Bones is a cantankerous doctor who doesn't like space, doesn't like to fly - you know that's something you have to find a way to integrate.
Orci: And he's a mix of Kirk and Spock. He's both a scientist, being a doctor, and he's also humanly irascible. So he could be their interpreter and mediator, in a way. The three of them were always an extremely important decision-making nucleus.
Kurtzman: You always knew that Uhura was a linguistic genius so that had to be part of how you met her.
Orci: In a way, they all have a super-power.
Kurtzman: Yeah, it's like: She has the best ears in the galaxy, so how do you have fun with that concept in her character introduction? We knew that Chekov was a kind of young whiz kid, but we never knew much more about that so there was a lot of room for invention there. Sulu, we knew was a great pilot. Scotty? The greatest engineer that ever lived; give him three seconds to solve a problem, he couldn't keep it together but he could find a way.
(About Star Trek)
Kurtzman: There's an optimism about Trek. Even as dark as it could get, there was always a vision of the future in which we are working together with alien cultures and getting along in the spirit of progress and unity. The other thing, tonally and emotionally, is that the bridge crew is a family and feels like a family. As much as it's about Kirk and Spock coming together, it's about the creation of a family.
Click to enlarge pics...
Source: my scans. :)
Some quotes~ from the article:
(About Leonard Nimoy being in the film)
Kurtzman: This story could not exist without Spock's involvement. One of the things we felt very strongly about was if we're going to put Nimoy in the movie, [the role] can't be a cameo. It would feel insulting.
Orci: And he wouldn't do it anyway!
Kurtzman: No. He wouldn't. He has to be the fulcrum of the story, becoming the bridge to this new group.
Orci: His blessing and that character's genuine involvement as an organic story point in a way generates our story. His being the cause (in a sense) of the prequel was the thing that we needed to realize: Aha, now we can both be free from the constrictions because he literally travels back in time and changes the history of the characters, but also be true to Star Trek because [Spock] is this original character. So, that freed us and made us respectful to the history.
(About the characters)
Kurtzman: Bones is a cantankerous doctor who doesn't like space, doesn't like to fly - you know that's something you have to find a way to integrate.
Orci: And he's a mix of Kirk and Spock. He's both a scientist, being a doctor, and he's also humanly irascible. So he could be their interpreter and mediator, in a way. The three of them were always an extremely important decision-making nucleus.
Kurtzman: You always knew that Uhura was a linguistic genius so that had to be part of how you met her.
Orci: In a way, they all have a super-power.
Kurtzman: Yeah, it's like: She has the best ears in the galaxy, so how do you have fun with that concept in her character introduction? We knew that Chekov was a kind of young whiz kid, but we never knew much more about that so there was a lot of room for invention there. Sulu, we knew was a great pilot. Scotty? The greatest engineer that ever lived; give him three seconds to solve a problem, he couldn't keep it together but he could find a way.
(About Star Trek)
Kurtzman: There's an optimism about Trek. Even as dark as it could get, there was always a vision of the future in which we are working together with alien cultures and getting along in the spirit of progress and unity. The other thing, tonally and emotionally, is that the bridge crew is a family and feels like a family. As much as it's about Kirk and Spock coming together, it's about the creation of a family.
Click to enlarge pics...
Source: my scans. :)