How Star Trek's Zachary Quinto Accidentally Started A Campaign For The Role Of Spock
When J.J. Abrams' 2009 film "Star Trek" was first announced, it caused something of a fanboy firestorm online. "Star Trek" was largely moribund in the 2000s, presenting the franchise's least popular film, "Star Trek: Nemesis" in 2002, and its least popular series (to date) in "Star Trek: Enterprise." The former only made $67.3 million, and the latter was canceled after four seasons. The world had shifted from gentle stories of futuristic diplomacy to colorful, fantastical post-9/11 revenge fantasies.
Then along came Abrams with his declaration that he'd reboot "Star Trek" with a new cast playing younger, hotter versions of characters Trekkies have loved since the 1960s. His new "Star Trek" was to be supra-high-octane, tripling down on action and drama, and actively eschewing the morality, optimism, and cerebral elements the franchise had previously been known for. Questions immediately began to arise as to whether or not that counted as "proper Star Trek," as well as what young actors could effectively embody characters typically associated with actors like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
The role of Spock would ultimately go to Zachary Quinto, best known at the time for regular roles on "24" and "Heroes." Quinto was glad to have the role, of course, but it wasn't until a 2009 interview with TrekMovie that he realized he had been unintentionally campaigning for the gig for years. When talking to a local newspaper about playing the villainous Sylar on "Heroes," Quinto dropped in — completely idly — that he'd love to play Spock in a new "Star Trek" movie. It seems that the right people read that interview.
Clearing the matter
Quinto wanted it known that he did not petition Paramount for the role of Spock, nor was he actively trumpeting in multiple interviews that he definitely wanted the part. It was just one interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in December of 2006. The actor said:
"To be clear and honest, it was really an unintentional campaign. I was giving an interview for publicity for 'Heroes,' and the first interview was for my hometown newspaper ... and the journalist asked if there was any project I would be interested in beyond 'Heroes' and I said 'I just found out they were making "Star Trek" and I would love to play Spock,' never in a million years thinking it would add to anything."
The problem with little interviews in a modern media cycle is that they tend to be quoted multiple times by other outlets. Pretty soon, reporters were asking Quinto repeatedly about his Spock comment, forcing the actor to reiterate that, yes, sure, he'd love to play the part. Pretty soon, the rumors expanded in such a way that Spock started to actually become an unfettered dream role. He continued:
"[T]hat interview got syndicated and journalists subsequently brought it up and it escalated and evolved and eventually journalists were saying 'I understand that Spock is your dream role' and I sort of went with it 'it is my dream role now.' It was certainly always my dream to have this kind of experience. There is no mistake that it happened with 'Star Trek' and it happened with this character and it happened to be with J.J. Abrams, someone for whom I have profound respect and affinity, and yeah, it has been everything I can imagine and then some."
Many fans, it should be noted, loved Quinto in the role, and he's not given up hope yet that he'll get to play the character again.