Karl Urban talks ‘Star Trek Beyond’ script, Kirk, Spock and Bones in new film
From a set visit by Collider, Karl Urban speaks out about the new Star Trek Beyond film, due next month. Urban returns as Bones and begins by enthusiastically praising the script and work by co-star Simon Pegg.
“I loved it. As someone who had a longstanding appreciation ofStar Trek, I think what Simon and Doug have done has really managed to capture the essence of the original series. And it’s much more of an ensemble piece. I think there’s great character development for everybody, and fantastic action. Then the heart of the picture is quite resonant… Which is just a way of saying f***ing nothing. [Laughs.]”
Urban’s McCoy is a bit different and grows into that iconic character Trekkies know and love.
“We get to push Bones into a territory that we haven’t seen him in before. There’s a lot more action for Bones. I think he’s forced to cross certain lines that he never thought he would. To me that’s particularly fertile and interesting territory. As a doctor, it’s his job to save life. He’s so compassionate about life. And in this film that core foundation of his belief is tested. It’s really, really interesting.”
Rumors abound about the dynamics between characters as the team gets split up and McCoy spends a lot of time with Zachary Quinto’s Spock.
“Yeah, well, that’s one of the things that I really responded to in the script. As you know, the crew gets fractured, and I end up spending quite a bit of time with Spock. We really developed that relationship; and experience things and events together that bring us close together, and allow for a deeper understanding. To me, that’s what makes this so interesting.”
There’s some talk of Anton Yelchin, scenes with Idris Elba, what he misses about J.J. Abrams and the physical action on the new sets.
“Yeah. It’s interesting. We’re still using those old in-camera techniques. But they’re just augmented by the fact that we have these sets that move and shake and rotate. It certainly makes our job a lot easier. I think it’s one of the great things about Justin — he’s got his eye keenly on the macro. It’s all about enhancing the performance and enhancing the visuals and actually bringing space into the bridge. Whereas, perhaps in J.J.’s version, the bridge was really brightly lit and stuff but space is out there. Justin really wants to bring space to us. I think that’s a really interesting concept.”
Get more over at Collider
Urban, Pegg, Quinto and Yelchin are all back with Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and John Cho as the Enterprise crew with newcomers Idris Elba and Sofia Boutella,
Star Trek Beyond opens July 22.
