web view10/11/2015 · months figuring out how everything works and what it’s going...
TRANSCRIPT
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
Question: Can you talk about how it’s been getting back
together with everyone from the last movie?
Chris (11:24:05:03): Yeah, I mean that’s the best way to
describe it. You know, we’ve been doing this now for
nearly ten years, and I think from the beginning we’ve,
all of us, said that the best thing that JJ ever did was
cast it so well, cause we all do get along beautifully
and we enjoy each other’s company immensely, and
especially when you’re away from home, as we have been in
Vancouver and now Dubai, to have friends that are more
like family just makes it all that easier, and we laugh a
lot and that I think is my greatest joy in this, and I
would come back again and again just to have that
experience.
Question: Can you talk about Justin as a director?
Chris (11:25:30:13): This has been a really hard project
for all of us and for Justin especially. It all happened
so late, so if you can imagine putting together a $175
million corporation and then in a matter of two or three
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
months figuring out how everything works and what it’s
going to look like and the aesthetic and the story,
that’s not our job, that’s Justin’s job, so he is a real
soldier of - a general in the creation of this film. And
he’s done an incredible job just from again commanding
such a big enterprise, to having such a clear idea of how
it should work. When everything gets together at that
last moment and a lot of us are trying to figure things
out, it’s nice to be able to go to your director and take
serious direction about what the story’s about, what the
themes are, tonally what he wants it to feel like, you
need to have someone who’s adept at describing what these
huge action sequences are going to look like that you
can’t really see, even when they give you a pre-vis,
which is the kind of animated version of the action
sequences before they come together in the final cut. And
Justin does all of those and he comes from the Fast and
Furious world where the movies are even bigger and louder
and crazier. In 2015, when you make these big tent pole
films, they have to be action-heavy and you want someone
who’s adept at that. But also just like JJ, he comes from
a much smaller filmmaking world, and he started in the
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
independents and got kind of birthed through Sundance.
Again, the kind of wonderful combination that JJ brought
to it of someone who is very character and story-oriented
but someone who could also handle the big stuff.
Question: Simon is playing Montgomery Scott, but also
he’s now writing with Doug. He knows you guys and is a
great writer so he knows how to speak in your voice - has
that been your experience?
Chris (11:25:30:13): Yeah for me the biggest thing always
is the comedy. If this were just a comedy film, I think
I’d have more fun. I have more fun doing the comedy than
the action, and Simon is a comedian and so we have a ball
trying to come up with as funny stuff as we can. This
experience has been ironically almost like dad left the
building and all the kids are running the asylum, and the
collaboration has been on a whole different level on this
film, which has been a true blessing and something I
think we’ve all really enjoyed. And we all know each
other so well and there’s such a lack of ego and
pretention within this group that, in a given scene, if a
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
line doesn’t work, I’ll cut my line or give someone else
my line. We just try to figure out what works best and
it’s very expedient and very much without drama and that
has a lot to do a) with Justin, and also with the writing
team between Doug and Simon.
Question: The film opens with comedy and your narration
of the five-year mission. What’s your take on the opening
of the film?
Chris (11:29:14:18): I think it’s great. There’s this
joke in the Trek world about the night crew – it’s like,
what happens when our team leaves and then the other team
comes in to shepherd the Enterprise through the galaxies,
and we have that scene where I come in and take over for
the night captain, and it’s kind of distilling down -
really logically following the pattern of what it would
be like to be on a ship for five years that has to
operate 24 hours a day, so even little things like
bringing coffee onto the deck of the ship as one would do
to wake up after, you know - or what would it be like to
see these people over and over and over again - you know
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
they’re great people and we’re all friends, but clearly
that’s a long time. It’s like being on a submarine, I
guess. So I liked following the logic of that. There’s a
lot of comedy in that and it’s not over the top - which I
think the beginning is definitely over the top, but I
love doing that kind of stuff because it reminds me of
Indiana Jones. I think it’s a great melding of - I think
our niche. Marvel goes real self-aware, winky, and then
there’s the Batmans that are super dark and depressing,
and we are in this I think really neat -- Guardians is
really big, and ours is like a nice 80’s pop sensibility
of like tonally, comedically a little broad and then
serious but not too serious. And I think we’ve now come
back. We’re out of Into Darkness and back to what we do
really well. That opening sequence shows it. There’s big
comedy and then there’s also the kind of existential
reality of loneliness, and figuring things out, and why
are we here in this world, and I think Doug and Simon did
a great job with it.
Question: Kirk is immediately suspicious of Kalara, but
also willing to do the mission. Can you talk about the
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
duality of his character, the fact that he knew they were
going into trouble but his duty was to go?
Chris (11:31:44:02): I don’t really know… if I’m being
totally honest, and you may cut this out, everything
happens so fast and so late, to track all of the
developments of character is impossible. I kind of gave
it to Justin, I said “I can give you all colors in terms
of suspicion of Kalara or not suspicion,” and the answer
I always got back was that what was important for Justin
was this idea between ideology and actuality, I guess.
This idea that you’re working within a system but yet you
have your own internal moral compass, and that was the
thing, it’s that I work within a system, a bureaucracy
and I am a captain of a ship and I’ve been ordered to do
something, and no matter where I’m leaning in terms of
thought and process, there’s a whole bigger thing working
-- which, you know, is an allegory for living within any
system, political system, so it’s a very difficult,
dramatic beat, and I hope it works out. She’s a
suspicious character, but also she plays on people’s
human biological empathy. She’s clearly hurt when we
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
first see her, and she’s been through something
traumatic, or so it seems or so she says, so do you take
people at face value? And this is something that Kirk
then faces throughout the thing, even with Jaylah whom he
meets. Is he willing to trust anyone outside his circle?
He is willing to let his empathy lead he and his crew
into mortal danger?
Question: Speaking of danger, one of the first big action
scenes is the destruction of the Enterprise. What was
your take when you saw that in the script?
Chris (11:33:55:14): I think if it’s a submarine film or
if it’s on an aircraft carrier or if you’re on a plane,
you have to have a story and it seems very obvious that
you would put the one craft that’s keeping you alive
maybe in danger so that people can have their hearts skip
a beat. I thought it was a great idea. Obviously clearly
amongst the Trekkies there will be, I’m sure, very long
conversations about whether or not it was a good idea,
but it gave us a great avenue to explore emotions,
especially for Kirk. Being the captain of the Enterprise
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
is probably the most defining feature of his life. That
is what defines who he is, and it’s a big part of his
journey in this film too. Being a captain is associated
with the Enterprise is associated with his father who was
the captain of a ship that was also destroyed, so when he
sees the ship destroyed it brings up a real complex set
of emotions that are tied to really how he was born and
who he is.
Question: It’s been the entire crew in the other films,
but in this one they’re all separated. How did that work
as a dramatic device for the characters?
Chris (11:35:28:06): Yeah I think it’s great. You know,
the first two films were very Spock and Kirk-centric, and
I think there’s a reason for that because I think by
definition these characters are kind of two polarities on
a spectrum, and it works great to investigate that
dichotomy. But there are also some fantastic other
characters in this series, and Simon and Doug were very
smart to break everybody up so we could see how they work
together and who they are, and to see what their
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
personalities are like and how they play off each other
and how well or not they work together. It’s called Star
Trek, it’s not called Captain Kirk or Spock. It’s Star
Trek, it’s about a family. This is the family. So I as a
viewer would want to see everything about this family
that I could, and hopefully now in our third film and
hopefully we’ve been creating a new audience and bringing
an audience from old, we’re further deepening those
ligamental ties between the characters and between the
fans, to hopefully make more stories in the future.
Question: Did you feel some new discoveries were made
between you and Anton?
Chris (11:36:48:05): Oh I love - you know, for me, always
what is most resonant is fun. This movie is fun more than
anything. That’s why I hate talking about it this much
because ultimately we make fun films. It’s not The Dark
Knight. Fundamentally, me and Anton laughed a lot. We
just had a great, great time. One of my favorite beats
was right before we ignite the thrusters to send, in this
dramatic beat in the vestiges of the broken down
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
Enterprise, we’re snapping at each other and it’s high
intensity and we’re being shot at and we have to blow
this thing up and I’m harping on him and he’s harping on
me, and it’s again I think what we do best. It’s fun,
it’s anxious and tense, but there’s great heart in it and
Anton’s character. And Anton in real life is this giant
heart. He’s a lovely, lovely, just loving guy, who I mean
my god, I mean we’ve basically seen - he was 17 when he
started the first one. Anyway, I mean as you can see, we
all really love each other, so it was fun to see Anton
have his moments and to be there for it.
Question: The Kirk motorcycle scene was very audacious
and could’ve been either really cool or a big risk to
bring such an analog element back into the film.
Chris (11:38:43:20): Well, I mean, I think that
motorcycles are cool. We’re not reinventing the wheel. We
chose a motorcycle because motorcycles elicit feelings of
the maverick and McQueen, you know, it’s like Tron – a
kid without a father on a motorcycle, it’s just these
symbols that we, as men especially, glom onto. It’s like
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
men on horses. So that’s what I think was very cool. I
called it my McQueen moment just cause I always thought
about The Great Escape. I mean, I was not nearly - thank
god we had three incredible stunt drivers for that - one
of whom was this Canadian motor cross champion who was
great. But essentially it’s just cool. And again, the
things we were struggling with this was calling back to
the other films and nods to the other films, which I
think we all appreciate but I think there was a feeling
from other people involved in the process that it was
maybe alienating because some people may have not seen
the other films. But I especially like that in the third
film and the trilogy and the triad, in the last act for
my character, I’m first seen coming up on a bike to the
Enterprise and then finally in this film, use that bike
or a similar bike to save the crew, and I like that
bookend balance.
Question: Why are Kirk and Krall nice antagonists?
Chris (11:40:36:21): Because in these films, in big
temple films, they’re hero journeys. We could probably
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
have a huge long three-hour discussion about all of these
films and the reason why we tell these films to each
other and they’re presented to the public is because it
reminds people what it means to live in a community. And
what it means to live in a community is that you can’t be
selfish, so the hero then is by definition selfless, he
gives of himself completely. Krall’s definition of living
is he defines his existence by this need for - he’s the
nihilist, he is the soloist, he is not needing of anyone
else. He is revengeful, and vengeful, and selfish. The
beautiful thing that Doug and Simon did, and especially
with the symbolism of being “alien”, and of his humanity
and seeing his reflection in the mirror, his growing
humanity throughout the film up until the last beat, is
that as he’s becoming more human, he’s feeling more
vulnerable. By feeling more vulnerable, he’s feeling
feeling and empathy and sympathy and the need to connect
with other human beings. I think that last beat is my
appealing to his humanity and his own internal struggle
battling this kind of sense of alien otherness, which I
think Simon and Doug have defined as being selfish
ultimately, and seeing a man who’s tipped over the edge
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
and can’t figure out another way to be. The line that I
have at the end of the film is “Better to die saving
others than to live with taking them. That’s what I was
born into”, and I think that that ultimately is the
lesson that more often than not this film and other films
of its ilk give the world community.
Question: Can you talk about your relationship with Idris
and working together?
Chris (11:42:57:21): Yeah we ultimately didn’t work all
that much together, but when we did it was pretty
pivotal, like the end of the film moments where the bad
guy has to die. I love Idris, he’s a sweet - for such a
strong masculine looking guy, a very sweet gentle heart.
He’s got a very soft quality to him that I love. He’s
very gentle. So it was great to be able to talk to him
about his thoughts about the character, and why these two
characters found each other and what they were battling
and what they were exposing in one another. The most
gratifying was these last couple of weeks in Dubai when
it’s the end of the film and we have these three mini-
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
scenes within this third act, which I think basically
references what I just talked about, which is who these
guys are. It could’ve been, I think, very black and
white, but Idris is obviously a capable enough actor to
bring an incredible amount of nuance to someone who is
seemingly so evil.
Question: One of things stood out on the film is the
acknowledgement of Spock. Can you talk a little as an
observer about Leonard?
Chris (11:44:57:22): Far be it for me to describe someone
who’s had such an incredible cultural impact for over 50
years. I mean that is just a credit to Leonard, to the
world that Gene Roddenberry created, to the context of
the time in the 60’s in which it emerged. For me, I take
everybody at face value and Leonard was a quiet, patient,
careful listener. He was highly artistic, highly
sensitive. And I love Zach, and Zach had an incredible
relationship with Leonard, and for that I love Leonard
even more because I saw the impact he had on my friend’s
life, which was very, very deep and really incalculable.
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
So, I didn’t know Leonard all that well, but I know
Leonard through Zach and how he speaks about him. And
look, we are the, kind of the blessed inheritors of the
legacy that they created. We wouldn’t be here without
them, and I’m experiencing a success that I wouldn’t have
if it weren’t for Leonard. I am grateful for the
opportunities that he, in a way, gave me. And I remember
on the first film, he - to your point that you don’t have
to know who Spock is to know who Leonard is - is that he
walked on set and people were crying. I mean like grown
men and women were openly crying cause it’s a major
cultural figure of people’s lives, kind of walking on the
set as Spock. It was pretty moving and that was really
before I knew anything much of the world and the series.
It was a great loss when he passed, but I know that he
went gently surrounded by his family and… had the
blessing of having the time to say goodbye. And all of us
were there for his memorial and got a chance to say
goodbye in our own way.
Question: A lot of people talk about Trek as a utopian
vision of our society. What are some other elements of
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
the Trek universe that allow it to persist and make
people come back to it again and again?
Chris (11:48:03:05): I think you’re absolutely right. For
me I would think, speaking in context of the 60’s, it
probably had much to do with at the height of the Cold
War and Civil Rights crisis of the late 60’s, that you
had an African American woman, you had a white man, you
had a Russian, etc etc. But I think ultimately too it’s
our fascination with things unknown. I just saw The
Martian last night and The Martian captures, as did
Gravity, as did any outer space film, the mystery of what
is out there. And that is something that persists, that
desire to find out.
Question: Can you talk about the sets that Tom has built,
interacting with them? Does the set matter and how?
Chris (11:49:09:01): It’s huge. I think I often take it
for granted now, having worked on these big films, but I
try to remind myself how much detail work and how much
craftsmanship goes into it. I was even remarking the
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
other day about the on set painters. I mean every nook
and cranny of, for instance the destroyed section of the
Franklin that Uhura and I find ourselves in at one point,
the detail work is extraordinary from the painting to the
electronics, it’s mind boggling. So it obviously plays a
huge part. Filmmaking is a collaborative art form and you
are really nowhere without your fellow actors or the
craft of your director, your director of cinematography,
your production designer, in our films the special
effects team. I mean Joel (Harlow – makeup designer)
works with Johnny Depp and I know was going to work with
him but asked specifically to get off to work on our film
because the opportunities are so exciting. And they’ve
done extraordinary things, extraordinary things. I mean
it’s a joy to see what they come up with, the costume
department… it’s really fun.
Question: What’s your take on the scale of it?
Chris (11:50:57:10): It’s a big scale. I mean there’s a
lot of fucking aliens. I have no concept of how to even
begin doing that, so I’m like a kid in awe, “Oh look, how
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
cool”. But it’s stuff that you’ll never see in the film.
I was up on the last part of the film, it’s like a sphere
and there are little, little barcodes on the bottom of
pieces of wood that someone came up with somewhere in
some department somewhere. And it’s a little tiny thing
that maybe no one will see, but in the moment of acting
in that space, it’s incalculable the effect that it has
on me. It just adds to this fake world that we’re
creating and it’s super fun. It’s just like playing in
the backyard when you were a kid, but you have all the
money in the world to make it as real as possible.
Question: How has it been working in Dubai and how it was
different than you might have imagined?
Chris (11:52:10:05): We flew from Vancouver and then
essentially went straight to studio, so Dubai is really
like nothing I’ve ever seen. What you sense here is an
incredible will to create. They’ve created this city.
They are creating this city fast and furiously. There’s
construction everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like
it. They’ve been extremely gracious and they are curious
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
about film and want to learn about film. And I love
seeing new parts of the world so this has been a great
adventure so far. Unfortunately we don’t have that much
time here to explore but the time that we do, we’ve gone
out and gotten at it.
Question: What memory will stay with you?
Chris (11:53:30:00): I don’t really have any anecdote for
you except that you’re exactly right – what always
strikes me, especially when you read a review or
something, people comment about a film as if we’ve gone
out for sometimes a year and a half of our lives to make
a bad film. I don’t think anyone ever goes out to make a
shitty film. People put their hearts, their lives - they
put their lives on hold; they go away from their
families, so unfortunately we have no control over how
it’s perceived, but the lasting things are precisely that
- the moments that you have with the people that you’re
spending sixteen hours a day with. And if it weren’t for
this crew and if it weren’t for my friends, my family
now, I don’t know if I’d want to be here. But they’re
EPK Interview with Chris PineRecorded on October 11, 2015
that special to me and sharing those moments with them,
and being able to laugh with them, and see new parts of
the world, and collaborate and be creative with my
friends is the best. So it’s really a cumulative
experience of moments, and no one is blessed to have
sixteen hours a day of absolute euphoria and it would be
stupid of me to complain at all because I am so much more
blessed than I ever thought I would ever be and I get to
do something that very few people get to do. But it is
very hard. But you really have to find those kernels,
those diamonds, and they can be anything from sharing a
laugh with Simon to talking with Anton about Godard
films, which he is wont to do, on the side of a ship
somewhere in Vancouver, so I’m the luckiest man alive.