“I can hardly wait,” said Greenwood, talking about the sequel to J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek reboot. Greenwood has spoken to Abrams about Star Trek XII, and Greenwood’s participation in the film. “…there are no guarantees,” said Greenwood. “J.J., one of the nicest guys on the planet, has indicated there will be a place in the project for me.”

Star Trek XII is expected to begin shooting next summer.

Greenwood’s latest project, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called A Dog Named Christmas, will air on November 29. A Dog Named Christmas is the story of a developmentally-challenged young man who convinces his family to participate in an “adopt a dog for Christmas” program. Greenwood plays the father of the young man.

As reported by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in the original series, Christopher Pike, as played by Jeffrey Hunter, had to find a reason to go on with his career. “Hunter’s Pike had this internal dilemma,” explained Bruce Greenwood.The problem that Greenwood’s Pike faced was related to another person, and not his own personal issues. “My Pike’s dilemma is whether or not to take a chance on a young man named James T. Kirk,” said Greenwood.

Greenwood himself is also taking a chance when it comes to Star Trek fandom, but he doesn’t seem fazed by the possibility of

As reported by Examiner.com, Greenwood is optimistic about Trek’s future. “I think these guys are clever enough to do at least two more and have the final one do a really hard dovetail into the beginning of [the storylines] for the original series,” he said. “My expectations are very high for them.”
And what about Christopher Pike in the next Star Trek movie? “The only thing I’d like to see, from a personal standpoint, is the mentor relationship between Kirk and Pine to continue,” said Greenwood.

Although he played Pike, if he had had his druthers and been younger, Greenwood would have been interested in playing one of the other characters. “If circumstances would’ve been different,” he said, “Pike would’ve remained the captain of the Enterprise and there wouldn’t have been a Kirk. The whole thing would’ve been about Pike. To be really honest, I would be Kirk. But I’m a generation too late, that’s all.”

To read more, including Greenwood’s thoughts on the popularity of Star Trek XI, as well as observations about Star Trek fandom, head to the article located here.

As reported by UInterview, According to Greenwood, the most exciting scene in which he took part was in the Iowa bar. “The scene in the bar was a great deal of fun.” he explained. “There was a lot going on emotionally.” But the best part of Star Trek XI for Greenwood was “walking on the set of the Enterprise for the first time and seeing it teeming with people and its perfectly ergonomic design that evokes the old bridge. It affected me tremendously,” he said.

As reported by Firstshowing.net, Bruce Greenwood was attracted to taking on the role of Pike because of the problem his character faced. “Well he’s got this tremendous dilemma of having to…having an instinct about somebody who to all appearances is going to let him down but his gut is to follow his instinct in spite of the way the kid’s behaving,” said Greenwood. “So there’s a tremendous father-son dynamic to that dilemma. That’s what appealed to me.”Fun is what attracted Eric Bana (Nero.) “[Star Trek XI] had this kind of sense of fun, this element that it wasn’t taking itself too seriously which was really intriguing,” said Bana.

Once they signed on, it was a matter of learning about their characters. “This guy [Anton Yelchin] became a walking Star Trek encyclopedia,” said John Cho (Sulu.)

Yelchin actually obtained a Star Trek encyclopedia which he consulted frequently. “So I had that,” he explained.” I’d read that a lot and then I watched a lot of the original series.”

“It was like every day on set – he was like ‘Remember that one episode? Do you know that one episode with the’ … he was unbelievable,” said Cho.

As reported by Eyeweekly.com, having reverence for Star Trek doesn’t mean one can’t put forth something new, but there was tension between that reverence and the need to add fresh material. “[Star Trek XI] is a bridge between the old and the new, but…there is a lot of tension there,” said Greenwood.
Getting it right was important, because “What’s at stake is the destiny of these characters,” said Greenwood. “You see the relationship [between Kirk and Spock] develop, and there’s a very, very distinct arc.”

When reviewing old episodes of Star Trek, Greenwood found that Star Trek had depths to it that he hasn’t realized before. “On a writing level, they were interested in carrying forward these classical themes, which pervade the entire series,” he said. “And I didn’t realize that until I went back and looked at the episodes for homework. I thought it was just about pretty girls.”

“The scripts were about contemporary issues that weren’t being addressed anywhere else at the time,” said Greenwood. “Talking to Leonard Nimoy, he says that was the thing that drove him to want to do the series. They were kind of creating characters on the fly, but their serious intentions were clear. So I feel a lot of responsibility [with Captain Pike], to give him more depth.”

To read more, head to the article located here.

MovieMaker

As reported by IESB.net, while Nimoy and Quinto had discussions about the character of Spock, Quinto made his own choices in playing the Vulcan. “Zach made some choices that I thought were wonderful surprises to me, in playing the Spock that he played in this film,” said Nimoy. “We did not talk about specifics, like ‘Do this. Don’t do that.’” We had very general conversations about the philosophy and psychology of the character, the philosophy of Star Trek and the fans’ reactions to various aspects of Star Trek, but there was no specific instruction. It didn’t need that, and it didn’t call for that.”Quinto’s choices, while surprising, were the right ones. “I often thought, ‘I would never have thought to do that, and I think that’s a wonderful idea,” said Nimoy. “Watching him in the film, I’m very proud of what he did. I loved the idea that he is doing the character, and that he did it so well. And, I think we have book-ended the character. He has created a Spock that comes before the Spock that I portrayed in the series, and I’m playing a Spock that comes much, much later and us much more resolved, and is much closer to who I actually am today. So, I think it works extremely well, and I admire his talent.”

Zoe Saldana also met her counterpart, Nichelle Nichols. “I did speak with Nichelle, a couple of times, and the response was completely overwhelming,” said Saldana. “We felt completely supported, and the pressure was just removed, the moment Mr. Nimoy stepped on set. I was able to meet Nichelle, and there was this overall happiness and excitement that Star Trek was coming back and that we were stepping into the family. It made it much easier for us to approach these characters, not only remembering the fundamental essences of all of them, but also not being afraid to add any innovation.”

A romance for Uhura was a surprise for Saldana, since there had been no hint of it prior to Star Trek XI, but she could see the logic in it. “They locked us in the office at Bad Robot, so that we could read the script,” explained Saldana. “I dropped it and grabbed my Blackberry and kept saying, ‘This man’s crazy! J.J.’s out of his mind. I’m not that aware about Star Trek, but I do know that they never mingled. It’s crazy!’ And then, once I finished the script, it just made so much sense. They have the most similar characteristics. I almost feel like she had this admiration for Spock because he was older and sort of like a teacher, and there was this crush or platonic infatuation with someone that’s wiser, wittier, handsome and had pointy ears. Why not?”

As reported by Collider.com, fans now have more bits of the movie as well as some behind-the-scenes footage to enjoy.

The first clip features the bar scene between James T. Kirk and Uhura, and it offers some new material at the beginning of the clip.

Clip two, “Enlist in Starfleet,” is where Kirk is urged by Pike to join Starfleet. It too has new material.

The third clip offered is the one in which Kirk and McCoy meet, and has been seen in its entirety before.

The other three clips are: one featuring Nero, one where preparations for a space jump are taking place (both of these are new,) and the clip previously released where Spock demands that Kirk “answer the question.”

The behind-the-scenes clip, approximately a minute and a half long, shows:

As reported by iFMAGAZINE.com, Star Trek XI will make fans think about potential, fate and destiny. “[Star Trek XI] addresses issues like ‘Where you come from?’ and asks ‘how much of where you come from affects who you are and what your potential is?,” explained Greenwood. “Are you the master of your own change, are you programmed to some degree?” For sure, no matter what, this is one of these movies that invites you to have a conversation with yourself.”Greenwood hasn’t seen Star Trek XI in its entirety yet, but feels that the movie was done very well. “Based on the script and having filmed it, I’ll say the emotional arc of the characters is very well crafted,” he said. “Even so it has amazing effects and technology I think it’s the story that makes this film so good. It’s so story and emotion driven.”

What was Greenwood’s most moving moment working on the film? “For sure walking on the bridge of the Enterprise, seeing the actual deck of the bridge,” he said. “It was like walking into a kind of a time warp, walking into the future and into the past at the same time.”

To read more, head to the article located here.