‘Star Trek’ fever is starting to ramp up in 2016, with this year being the 50th anniversary of the franchise. There is a new TV series planned by CBS to debut early next year, and the third installment in the successful JJ Abrams alternate-reality Trek universe, ‘Star Trek Beyond,’ will be opening in theaters next month.
The unlikely romantic couple of the first two Abrams films has been the characters of Spock and Uhura, played on-screen by Zachary Qunito and Zoe Saldana, respectively. The unique combination of a half-human half-Vulcan character that is struggling with the emotions surrounding his home planet being destroyed being paired with one of the subtly strongest characters who has throughout ‘Star Trek’ history dealt with her own hurdles to overcome related to race and gender is an intriguing one, to say the least.
Quinto and Saldana recently recorded an episode of the TV show ‘Lip Sync Battle’ together, and Entertainment Weekly had the chance to chat with them about both their on-screen relationship and the bigger picture of what ‘Star Trek Beyond’ will hold for their characters and the entire cast. Quinto spoke about the latter point before waxing poetic about the former:
“We spend a lot of time with unusual compatriots, like Kirk [played by Chris Pine] and Chekov [played by Anton Yelchin], Sulu [played by John Cho] and Uhura, and Spock and Bones [played by Karl Urban]. All of us are working to find our way back to one another and to join forces in order to defeat our common adversary. Part of Spock’s existential crisis is, does he need to be with a Vulcan? Uhura recognizes this, so they’re not necessarily at the height of relationship bliss in this film, but they love each other deeply and they want each other to be happy, to be fulfilled, to serve their purpose, and to realize their potential. It’s an ongoing relationship; I don’t think that it’s resolved necessarily in ‘Star Trek Beyond.’ They’re learning about each other as well and figuring out the best way for each of them to move forward.”
Saldana also had some insight about both the relationship workings of the duo and the crew as a whole:
“We’re tired, we need time off, we’ve been working non-stop, and it’s become like a machine where you kind of forget about yourself, but you need to go back home and nurture yourself and rest. Life has a different journey for us, and instead of us having to go out and aid another population, another planet that has been the target of violence, we are the target, so this is very different. We are tested at the craziest level and not just our lives are tested, but our characters and our relationships are tested.”
As to Spock’s rather challenging personal journey over the course of the three Abrams films, Quinto minced no words:
“[He] is in this existential moment in his life and at a crossroads between his obligation to his Starfleet and his Vulcan roots. His planet was destroyed and they’re rebuilding, and he’s trying to figure out where his energy is best directed to help other people. He comes into a new awareness of his own mortality for a number of reasons, and there’s a lot of stuff that he’s trying to figure out in this film. By the end, I think he realizes the best path for himself moving forward.”
‘Star Trek Beyond’ will be released in US theaters on July 22, 2016.
Tony Schaab saw a sign for a ‘Game of Thornes’ event and got excited to go – until he arrived and discovered that it was just the local Dyslexia Society’s annual gardening event. A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.
