Though journalists at an advance screening of Mission: Impossible 3 were warned not to ask producer and likely director J.J. Abrams about Star Trek XI, speculation by associates and friends about the upcoming film continues unabated.

Abrams' old friend Greg Grunberg, who has appeared in many Abrams productions including Alias and M:I-3, told one venue that he desperately wants to play a Klingon and told another that he believes the upcoming film will focus on "the beginnings" of Star Trek.

The IESB, which said reporters were asked not to question Abrams about his Star Trek plans, spoke to Grunberg at the 2006 Saturn Awards. "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?! I'd love to be in that movie," Grunberg said when asked about Star Trek XI, though he denied being a "fanatic" about the franchise.

Grunberg added that the had heard "they have to" recast Kirk and Spock. "We're going back in time," he explained. "It's when they were young so they have to...it's going to be incredible." Though he expected that Star Trek fans would flock to the movie, "Half of them are going to hate the fact of bringing it back and half are going to love it but J.J. is just going to bring in a whole new audience to it."

As for Grunberg himself, he told Sci Fi Wire, that he wanted to play a Klingon. "I told J.J., 'Look, if you're going to put me in five hours of makeup, I did that in Hollow Man, and it's going to be even worse with Star Trek.'" Even so, he added, "A Klingon would actually be very cool."

The IESB has streaming video footage of Grunberg as well as a brief transcript.

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