Everybody loves ZQ
As often happens when I'm confronted with the sheer awesomeness that is Zachary Quinto (he's smart! he's eloquent! he's crazy talented! he's funny! he's meltingly charming! he's gorgeous and intense!), I start wondering, how is it even possible that everyone around this man isn't in love with him?
Ohhh, right. THEY ARE.
Exhibit A:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: J.J., what were you looking for when you were casting Spock?
J.J. ABRAMS: The same thing you’re looking for when you want to get married. You just have to know. You can’t intellectualize this. It just has to feel right on every level. And I have to tell you, I want to marry Zachary Quinto.
EW: Wow. How does your wife feel about this?
ABRAMS: Katie’s not going to be happy. Or very happy. I don’t know.
source
Exhibit B:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was attractive about being on Heroes?
KRISTEN BELL: Um... Zachary Quinto is attractive...
source (unembeddable video; at 3:22)
Exhibit C: Greg Beeman, the producer/director of Heroes, kept an awesome blog with lots of behind the scenes commentary and pictures. He left the show at the end of season 3, and his last blog post was a bunch of individual farewells to the cast and crew. His first farewell was noticeably longer and more effusive than the rest...
I’d like to start with Zachary Quinto. Because I didn’t do the pilot I didn’t have influence over hiring the rest of the series regulars. But I was there, directing Zach at his first audition. It was an incredible, showstopping, performance. It was immediately evident that his range was phenomenal and I knew then and there we had something special. Zach is a true artist and I feel a deep affection for him. He is also a great person and a very giving actor to his fellow actors, to the crew and to the show. What’s especially amazing is that, as great as he is, I know how much he can still develop into the power of his craft. Beyond a doubt, I know that he will go on to greatness - because not only does he have the talent to achieve this he has the will, and I have immense respect for this quality within him.
source
Photo and caption from Beeman's blog:
ZACH QUINTO SAYS "DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I'M BEAUTIFUL"
Exhibit D: Heroes executive producer Allan Arkush and writer Christopher Zatta watch Zach as closely and appreciatively as we do. From the Season 1 Episode 18 DVD commentary.
You know what I really like here, I love the way Sylar sips the tea.
Yeah.
Watch here, just the way he sips it. He's terrific. Watch.
Sylar: This is good, what is it?
See, I believed him, I absolutely believe that's good!
Exhibit E: InStyle magazine got Kristen, Hayden and Zoe to talk about Zach.
KRISTEN BELL: Zach has the charm and confidence of an old-time movie star. There's mystery in his eyes.
HAYDEN PANETTIERE: He's very hip and versatile. Plus, he has perfect muscle tone and can wear anything.
ZOE SALDANA: He has a certain poise that makes you notice him the moment he walks into a room. He's also funny as hell.
source, scan from zach-quinto.net
Exhibit F: More from Greg Beeman, on Episode 13 of Season 3:
In general, as we all know, Zach Quinto rules. But I think he just killed it in this episode and I gratefully told him so once I saw how the whole piece was coming together in the cutting room. His performance, to me, is the unifying element of this story. It’s the glue that holds the episode together. I love getting into scenes with him. For instance, we shot all of his scenes in the surveillance room relatively quickly. As I always do with him, I encouraged him to be playful and unexpected. This is not a direction you can give all actors, trust me, but Zach can find a way to play a line in a completely unexpected way, that doesn’t lose the thought behind the original intention.
source
(I know. It's not from that episode. You like it anyway.)
Exhibit G: J.J. again.
Zachary brought a gravity and an incredible sense of humor, which is a wonderful combination because Spock's character is deceivingly complicated. The revelation for me watching the movie, when I finally got to watch the whole thing after working on sequences, was that he is extraordinary. He was doing things I didn't even realize while we were shooting, these amazing things to track his story.
source
Exhibit H: From an extended interview with Leonard Nimoy. Long but lovely.
DM: Describe what it was like for you to see Zachary Quinto playing Spock for the first time?
LN: I loved it! I think he is terrific. I admire the way he approaches his work. He is a very well trained, very serious actor in the best way. He is intelligent. They sent me some footage of him when he was being considered for the role and they asked me to take a look at it. I called them immediately and said, “Not only does he look enough like me to make it work, he also has an inner life. There is a mind at work - you can see it working. I think that is vital to the character and I think he will be wonderful.” I think he has done some terrific things with the Spock character.
DM: Wasn’t the first scene you shot for the film the moment where Spock Prime and young Spock meet face-to-face?
LN: That is correct.
DM: Was it at all odd to see another actor in front of you playing Spock?
LN: We had met a number of times before so it wasn’t the first time we had been in each other’s company. It was the first time for the characters but not for the actors. We had spent hours together at various times over meals and at my home and looking at Star Trek footage together and discussing the philosophy and the make-up of the Spock character. When it came time to do the job I felt quite comfortable working with him. I just think he is a terrific actor. He makes me proud and I have told him so.
DM: What was the most important piece of advice you passed on to Zachary Quinto?
LN: I can’t honestly say that I advised him in any way. It wasn’t really the process of an advisor. I didn’t say, “Think about this” or “do that” or “don’t do this.” It wasn’t that kind of conversation. It was about the philosophy of the character, the origins of the character and how he evolved, what the make-up problems were and how that evolved. I was just giving him a little history so he had some roots from my experience to draw from. There was no guidance or advice. He is a very well trained and intelligent guy. He knew what to do.
source
Exhibit I: Photo and caption from Beeman's blog:
ZACH USUALLY LOOKS PRETTY COOL ANYWAY, BUT THEN PUT HIM BEHIND SOME FIRE AND WHOO-WEE!
source
Exhibit J: Help! Somewhere there's a video where the interviewer asks Zach and Chris if they're dating, and Chris is all, yes. Zach's like, yeeah... no. And it goes on for a while. I've seen it but now I can't find it anywhere. SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIND THIS.
UPDATE: I knew you wouldn't fail me. It's the first part of this extended stretch of awesome:
I REST MY CASE. But you know, add more in the comments.
Ohhh, right. THEY ARE.
Exhibit A:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: J.J., what were you looking for when you were casting Spock?
J.J. ABRAMS: The same thing you’re looking for when you want to get married. You just have to know. You can’t intellectualize this. It just has to feel right on every level. And I have to tell you, I want to marry Zachary Quinto.
EW: Wow. How does your wife feel about this?
ABRAMS: Katie’s not going to be happy. Or very happy. I don’t know.
source
Exhibit B:
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was attractive about being on Heroes?
KRISTEN BELL: Um... Zachary Quinto is attractive...
source (unembeddable video; at 3:22)
Exhibit C: Greg Beeman, the producer/director of Heroes, kept an awesome blog with lots of behind the scenes commentary and pictures. He left the show at the end of season 3, and his last blog post was a bunch of individual farewells to the cast and crew. His first farewell was noticeably longer and more effusive than the rest...
I’d like to start with Zachary Quinto. Because I didn’t do the pilot I didn’t have influence over hiring the rest of the series regulars. But I was there, directing Zach at his first audition. It was an incredible, showstopping, performance. It was immediately evident that his range was phenomenal and I knew then and there we had something special. Zach is a true artist and I feel a deep affection for him. He is also a great person and a very giving actor to his fellow actors, to the crew and to the show. What’s especially amazing is that, as great as he is, I know how much he can still develop into the power of his craft. Beyond a doubt, I know that he will go on to greatness - because not only does he have the talent to achieve this he has the will, and I have immense respect for this quality within him.
source
Photo and caption from Beeman's blog:
ZACH QUINTO SAYS "DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I'M BEAUTIFUL"
Exhibit D: Heroes executive producer Allan Arkush and writer Christopher Zatta watch Zach as closely and appreciatively as we do. From the Season 1 Episode 18 DVD commentary.
You know what I really like here, I love the way Sylar sips the tea.
Yeah.
Watch here, just the way he sips it. He's terrific. Watch.
Sylar: This is good, what is it?
See, I believed him, I absolutely believe that's good!
Exhibit E: InStyle magazine got Kristen, Hayden and Zoe to talk about Zach.
KRISTEN BELL: Zach has the charm and confidence of an old-time movie star. There's mystery in his eyes.
HAYDEN PANETTIERE: He's very hip and versatile. Plus, he has perfect muscle tone and can wear anything.
ZOE SALDANA: He has a certain poise that makes you notice him the moment he walks into a room. He's also funny as hell.
source, scan from zach-quinto.net
Exhibit F: More from Greg Beeman, on Episode 13 of Season 3:
In general, as we all know, Zach Quinto rules. But I think he just killed it in this episode and I gratefully told him so once I saw how the whole piece was coming together in the cutting room. His performance, to me, is the unifying element of this story. It’s the glue that holds the episode together. I love getting into scenes with him. For instance, we shot all of his scenes in the surveillance room relatively quickly. As I always do with him, I encouraged him to be playful and unexpected. This is not a direction you can give all actors, trust me, but Zach can find a way to play a line in a completely unexpected way, that doesn’t lose the thought behind the original intention.
source
(I know. It's not from that episode. You like it anyway.)
Exhibit G: J.J. again.
Zachary brought a gravity and an incredible sense of humor, which is a wonderful combination because Spock's character is deceivingly complicated. The revelation for me watching the movie, when I finally got to watch the whole thing after working on sequences, was that he is extraordinary. He was doing things I didn't even realize while we were shooting, these amazing things to track his story.
source
Exhibit H: From an extended interview with Leonard Nimoy. Long but lovely.
DM: Describe what it was like for you to see Zachary Quinto playing Spock for the first time?
LN: I loved it! I think he is terrific. I admire the way he approaches his work. He is a very well trained, very serious actor in the best way. He is intelligent. They sent me some footage of him when he was being considered for the role and they asked me to take a look at it. I called them immediately and said, “Not only does he look enough like me to make it work, he also has an inner life. There is a mind at work - you can see it working. I think that is vital to the character and I think he will be wonderful.” I think he has done some terrific things with the Spock character.
DM: Wasn’t the first scene you shot for the film the moment where Spock Prime and young Spock meet face-to-face?
LN: That is correct.
DM: Was it at all odd to see another actor in front of you playing Spock?
LN: We had met a number of times before so it wasn’t the first time we had been in each other’s company. It was the first time for the characters but not for the actors. We had spent hours together at various times over meals and at my home and looking at Star Trek footage together and discussing the philosophy and the make-up of the Spock character. When it came time to do the job I felt quite comfortable working with him. I just think he is a terrific actor. He makes me proud and I have told him so.
DM: What was the most important piece of advice you passed on to Zachary Quinto?
LN: I can’t honestly say that I advised him in any way. It wasn’t really the process of an advisor. I didn’t say, “Think about this” or “do that” or “don’t do this.” It wasn’t that kind of conversation. It was about the philosophy of the character, the origins of the character and how he evolved, what the make-up problems were and how that evolved. I was just giving him a little history so he had some roots from my experience to draw from. There was no guidance or advice. He is a very well trained and intelligent guy. He knew what to do.
source
Exhibit I: Photo and caption from Beeman's blog:
ZACH USUALLY LOOKS PRETTY COOL ANYWAY, BUT THEN PUT HIM BEHIND SOME FIRE AND WHOO-WEE!
source
Exhibit J: Help! Somewhere there's a video where the interviewer asks Zach and Chris if they're dating, and Chris is all, yes. Zach's like, yeeah... no. And it goes on for a while. I've seen it but now I can't find it anywhere. SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIND THIS.
UPDATE: I knew you wouldn't fail me. It's the first part of this extended stretch of awesome:
Click to view I REST MY CASE. But you know, add more in the comments.