Chris Pine was never a Trekkie

OHMYGOSSIP — Chris Pine “wasn’t a fan” of ‘Star Trek’ until he landed the lead role of Captain Kirk in the sci-fi franchise reboot.

Chris Pine “wasn’t a fan” of ‘Star Trek’ until he landed the role of Captain Kirk. The actor plays the fearless star ship commander in the sci-fi franchise reboot, but had no long-standing love for the series – which has been made into films and TV shows since the 1966 – before he was involved.

He told Esquire magazine: “I wasn’t a fan of ‘Star Trek’. It didn’t excite me.

“All I wanted at that time was a part that I really connected to and when my agent said, ‘Star Trek?’ I said, ‘No! Have you not been hearing anything I’ve said? Star Trek is the furthest thing from what I want to do.’ “

Once Pine, 32, was offered the lead role in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot – which he has reprised for this year’s ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ – he couldn’t resist the opportunity to take on such a well-loved character.

He added: ” ‘Star Trek’ scared me a lot. It terrified me, really. Because of the scale, the responsibility, the fact that it was this iconic character. It was the bigger challenge. So I had to take it.”

Although he is now a household name, Pine admits he still misses the time before he made it big, and how “focused” trying to make it as an actor made him.

He said: “Before, it was so much easier. You had this Zen-like tunnel vision of, ‘Must work at all costs.’ It’s so wonderfully focusing.

“The excitement doesn’t compare to when I got my first movie ten years ago. That was a pretty amazing day.”

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ is in cinemas from May 17.