Star Trek Challenged Jennifer Morrison With A Devastating Scene In Her Audition
At the beginning of J.J. Abrams' 2009 sci-fi/action flick "Star Trek," a reboot of the beloved 1966 TV series, a Federation vessel called the U.S.S. Kelvin is attacked by a mysterious Romulan ship that appeared through a portal in space. The Romulan ship, called the Narada, cripples the Kelvin and kills its captain. The Kelvin's first officer, Commander George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) takes command and, in a sacrificial defense measure, pilots the Kelvin on a collision course. In the violence, Commander Kirk's very pregnant wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison) is carried to an escape pod, having gone into labor. Over a communication channel, Jennifer and George bid each other farewell, and settle on a name for their son. She suggests Tiberius. He suggests Jim. The baby James T. Kirk is born as his father dies in a fiery conflagration.
This is, of course, quite different from James T. Kirk's origin as it was described in previous versions of "Star Trek" canon. The Kirk that Abrams' film follows will grow up to be quite a different person than the judicious captain we all know and love. He will also look a lot more like Chris Pine than William Shatner. Kirk's mother and father don't play a major role in the film from the prologue onward, so Morrison and Hemsworth had more or less exited the franchise.
Their short screen time, however, didn't mean an easy audition. Indeed, in a 2011 conversation with StarTrek.com, Morrison recalls the scene she was handed for her audition, and how it was very, very different from the one seen in the movie. Indeed, the imaginary scenario she was assigned was the stuff of generic, non-sci-fi thrillers.
The casting director for "Star Trek" was April Webster, and it was for her that Morrison had to audition.
Our air is running out!
Because of the secrecy surrounding the project, Morrison wasn't given a Trek scene wherein her character was on board a Starfleet vessel, nor were there any references to aliens or other "Star Trek" trappings. Instead, she was given a scene wherein she was invited to play notes of panic, fear, and sacrifice, emotions that were "translated" from Winona Kirk's scenes on the U.S.S. Kelvin. Morrison said:
"They gave me sides that had nothing to do with the movie, that just had a lot of emotions that, I guess, would be comparable to what the character was going to go through in the movie. [...] It was a crazy scene where I was supposed to be in some sort of water thing where the walls were closing in. It was me and my husband and we only had one air tank. I wanted him to take the air tank and he wanted me to take it. So I had to watch him drown while I took the air tank, and then I had to swim with him and get him to shore and then resuscitate him."
That sounds like a pretty exciting scene, and I would be curious to know who wrote it. Morrison revealed that such a scene is difficult when you're in an office room, likely located at the Paramount lot on Melrose in Hollywood, California. "This is a lot," she said, "when all you have is a room and a chair and a camera. It was one of those things where you just had to completely go for it or you're going to look like a crazy person." She went for it and she got the part.
Looking at her filmography, it seems Morrison has remained busy ever since. Well done.