But Greenwood, who is credited as “Cooper,” won’t be easy to spot. This is because the visual appearance of his character, the unhappy alien of Super 8, was computer-generated.

Performance capture work was a new experience for Greenwood. “It’s not your typical acting exercise at all, because you’re really the only person in this room with all these cameras in it,” explained Greenwood. “It was a very weird thing to offer up all this big emotion while … the rest of the people in the room are picking away at the craft services table,” he says. “And you never really how it will turn out because it’s all left in the hands of the artists and animators who are putting your work together.

“The other part that was really memorable was that I saw a bunch of other (big name) actors who were doing the same thing in other studios … and there we were: In one-piece Danskins with our pot bellies and saggy asses hanging outs.

“All the parts that we try so hard to hide beneath our nice clothes were all of a sudden very visible.

“Being an actor, you have to be OK with shameless … and that was it. There was nothing left to hide. It was a big naked moment …”

Greenwood can also be seen in the horror chiller Cell 213, which opens this Friday.

Kenney appeared in two other Star Trek episodes, Arena and A Taste of Armageddon, but he is best-known to fans of the original series at the captain who was injured in an accident and who could only communicate through a flashing light on his special wheelchair controlled by brain waves.

The Menagerie was a story ahead of it’s time, according to Kenney. “I’m proud of it because the story said so much and it was taken so – how shall I say – emotionally by so many people,” he said. “Here was a guy, Captain Pike, who was almost the first physically challenged person anyone saw on TV, in a major part. He was in a wheelchair, couldn’t talk. I meet people now (in wheelchairs) who roll up to me and say, ‘When I saw that show I thought, ‘What if I lost my voice?’ I’ve only lost my legs.’ It was a really profound episode and touched on so many things.”

Kenney has seen the newest Star Trek movie and gave his opinion about Bruce Greenwood’s performance. “I liked it,” he said of the movie. “I thought Bruce Greenwood did a great job. Now, I think Bruce was inspired by Jeffrey Hunter’s work because, obviously, I played the crippled Pike. Bruce did a great job because he had (a similar) temperament to Hunter. I would’ve loved to have read for the part, but I don’t think they’d seen me on film in many years and probably didn’t know what I look like now. I was only twenty-five at the time I played Pike. I think that Bruce was a good choice. Now, if J.J. Abrams ever goes into looking for the crippled Pike, I’d love to do it again.”

These days, Kenney is a professional photographer. Trek fans can see him at various conventions; he attends several a year.

Greenwood would love to return to Trek, and he couldn’t resist giving his tongue-in-cheek opinion of Pike’s importance to the Star Trek franchise in a recent interview. “I think Captain Pike is an essential component to the whole franchise,” he said. “I think there should be a whole offshoot of Pike’s adventures.”

But what about Pike’s physical impairment? Would that make a difference? Not according to Greenwood. “There’s nothing that says Pike can’t get up and out of that wheelchair, get his own ship and go off on some adventures of his own. I’m now an admiral, but I want to get out of the wheelchair.”

It is not known if Pike will be back in Star Trek XII, but fans, as well as Greenwood, can only hope.

The comics for September are Star Trek: Captain’s Log: Pike #1 and Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge #4. The new Khan comic will be called Khan: Ruling in Hell.

Star Trek: Captain’s Log: Pike #1 is the story of what happens to Captain Christopher Pike and his crew after the events in The Menagerie. Pike and the crew have been “called back to Earth for a debriefing. Upon entering our solar system, they are attacked by a suspicious spacecraft, could this episode somehow be linked to Talos, and what eventually awaits Captain Pike?”

Written by Stuart Moore with art and cover by J.K. Woodward, the thirty-two page issue will cost $3.99 and will debut on September 22.

In Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge #4, “Captain Kirk and the Enterprise return to the site of a previous mission, where they make a shocking discovery, one that may force James T. Kirk to make a decision like no other! It all comes together here!”

Written by Scott & David Tipton, with art by Federica Manfredi and cover by Joe Corroney, the thirty-two page issue will cost $3.99 and will show up in stores on September 8.

TrekMovie.com is reporting a new Star Trek comic series from IDW to debut in October, which will explore Khan’s time on Ceti Alpha VI after Space Seed, but before Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. According to IDW, the new series will answer the question “What has happened between these two points in time to so radically alter what seemed to be an unbreakable will?”

The first of the four-issue series, written by Scott & David Tipton, will be released on October 13. Art will be by Fabio Mantovani and covers by Joe Corroney and Michael Stribling.

The call from Abrams came out of the blue to Greenwood, who nevertheless jumped at the opportunity to be involved in Star Trek XI. “I wasn’t aware that J.J. knew I was on the planet,” Greenwood said. “Why would he? But he called me out of the deep blue … and wow, OK, sure I’ll come in! I’d love to do it.”

There were differences between the Pike played by Greenwood and the Pike played by Hunter. “I think the fundamental difference between the two, the Hunter Pike and the Greenwood Pike … is the dilemma that Jeffrey Hunter’s Pike had is entirely different from my dilemma and Hunter’s thing that he was terribly ambivalent about is his place in the Federation, he was really torn about whether or not he wanted to go back and have an authentic smaller life or the large life of a commander. And that is not the dilemma of the Captain Pike in this Federation.”

Greenwood’s concern was with Starfleet’s training of officers. “He [Pike] does have second thoughts and misgivings about the way Starfleet is training his officers and the kind of officers they produce. In that they’re very ‘by the book.’ The very ‘by the book’ products that they turn out may not be, by the end of the day, be what’s required of a great leader. So he keeps his eye out for that kind of young man, and as it happens, Kirk seems to fill that bill.”

The rest of the audio interview can be heard by heading to the link located here.

A chance call to actors from the original series resulted in a surprise visit by Star Trek: The Menagerie guest star Sean Kenney, who gave a talk to a small group on Monday.

Kenney spoke about a variety of topics, ranging from his current projects to Star Trek and the film industry. Kenney and his wife Taki own a photography business and travel the country on business.

Best-known to Star Trek fans for his role of the disfigured Christopher Pike, Kenney spoke about the experience. His part required hours in the futuristic wheelchair in an eighty-degree room, wearing heavy makeup. His hair which bleached until it began falling out and Kenney had surgical tape on his eyes and his mouth. Meals were eaten through a straw for more than a week and Kenney lost almost thirteen pounds in the process.

“This is my first job and I can’t blow this,” he remembered thinking. His patience was rewarded with appearances in two more episodes, Arena and A Taste of Armageddon, as Lt. DePaul.

Since the debut of Star Trek XI with its version of Christopher Pike, attention has turned to Kenney again. He was invited to the London Film and Comic Con this past July.

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 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.

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.