How was it to face 6,000 fans at Comic-Con alongside Leonard Nimoy?

I don’t think I realized how big it would be until it happened. It was emblematic, something that we capture better when we’re looking back than when we’re experiencing it. Even so, I was very calm, in my mind it all made sense. I have to say that realizing that we can do what we set ourselves out to do and seeing the reaction it causes in other people is a lesson in humbleness.

Since you were cast to be Spock in Star Trek, it’s impossible not noticing the physical similarity between you and Nimoy. Did you think at any given moment that it was final for your choice?

I don’t think it was the reason, and I never thought I looked particularly like Leonard. But what’s scary is that, after taking the role, I noticed how some photos of mine as a child were simply identical to Leonard… (laughs) It’s the way the world tells us some important things, I guess…

Leonard was surprised too?

I’ll tell you something, I first met him in the elevators at Comic-Con, minutes before we went on stage and faced the crowd you mentioned earlier. It was literally the first time we saw each other. We were both in the elevator, and I froze, I had no idea what to tell him, I simply introduced myself, very formal. When we were about to go on stage, he touched my shoulder and said “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, boy,” smiled and went on. Then I can say that I had the honor of becoming his friend, which fills me with pride.

Bernard Cribbins (Doctor Who: The End of Time) (BBC America)

Raymond Cruz (Breaking Bad) (AMC)

Michelle Forbes (True Blood) (HBO)

John Lithgow (Dexter) (Showtime)

Leonard Nimoy (Fringe) (ABC)

Mark Pellegrino (Lost) (ABC)

Do you find there is a big difference in your approach to actors when you are directing comedy versus high drama?

When you're playing comedy, I think it's important that the actors understand that it calls for a certain kind of pace and a certain kind of attitude. There should be an atmosphere of "We've got to find the fun of this piece here. We've got to find out what's entertaining, what's funny about this," and it's got to be played with a certain kind of rhythm, a certain kind of understanding that somewhere there's a joke here. I don't think we should keep it a secret from the actors when we are doing comedy.

Gene Wilder played a very mischievous character in Funny About Love. How did you instruct him?

I told him that here was a guy trying deal with difficult moments by being funny. And Gene Wilder brought a great deal of truth and honesty to it, something he was actually pulling from the very depth of his being, because he had just experienced the tragic loss of his wife.

On the other hand, if a reality-based moment is supposed to be comedy, then the actor has to find a way to play it, even angrily, and to get the comedy out of that anger. For example,Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg trying to diaper a baby. Selleck is playing angry—"I should be able to do this" — and it gets very funny.

The crying scene at the reception after the funeral in Funny About Love—how did you motivate a comedy actor like Gene Wilder to do it?

Oh, that's an interesting moment. The scene called for Gene Wilder to finally face the reality of the death of his mother. In the character and in the actor, there was a lot of denial going on. The character, Duffy, is trying to joke his way through this scene, trying to be funny about it, denying the emotion. There's a moment where a couple of kids are running and one of them comes running to Gene, bumps into him, and starts to cry. Gene comforts the kid and they sit down. He is holding the kid and saying, "No, no, no, no, no, no." Now the actor has to turn a corner and get into his own emotion.

While the camera was rolling, I said to the kid, "Hug him, hug him hard," and the kid reached up and grabbed hold of Gene Wilder and hugged him real hard, and Gene burst into tears. We did it in one take and it was a great moment of satisfaction for me as a director.

Do you talk to the actors while the camera is rolling?

Not often, but in this particular scene between Gene Wilder and the kid I did, because I saw that Gene was right on the edge and needed something to get him to release emotionally. I got the result I wanted.

Up until that moment Gene Wilder was working at what the script. told him to do, which was to comfort this kid, but he wasn't touching his own emotions, he wasn't dealing with them at all. As soon as I said to the kid, "Comfort him, squeeze him hard," Gene cried. I guess it's a matter of instinct based on years of experience being an actor and dealing with actors.

The movies that you direct seem to have very strong themes.

Well, yeah. I am very much concerned with the thematic center of a piece: why we are doing it, what we are saying, what it is about. Not the plot. When I used to teach classes, this was a favorite concern of mine. I would try to teach actors that they should be concerned about what the piece is about, not the plot.

Don't tell me the plot. I know it's about a guy who holds up a liquor store and gets in trouble, and then he's on probation and his father comes and says there's just this little thing I want you to do for me. Whatever. There's a plot. But what's it about thematically? What does it say about the human condition? What does it say about our human experience or our non-human experience? What does it say about us as a people? What does it say about us as a society? What does it say about family? What does it say about religion? What does it say about commerce? What does it say about art? What does it say?

When a script is submitted to me, I'm concerned about what it's about. Does it touch something in me that's larger than the plot? What does it illuminate for me?

Leonard Nimoy On The BBC

May 23, 2005, by Sam Sloan

While Leonard Nimoy was in London, England this past week for the London Expo he dropped in on Danny Baker and gave a fun interview on BBC’s famous Breakfast Show.

(...)

When asked by Baker when he became aware of the power of the Star Trek series Nimoy stated that almost immediately after the show was put on the air there was a core of intense viewers, “not in hugh numbers but an extremely intense audience” was there from the beginning.Star Trek series

Leonard Nimoy stated he still remembers the day he got the call from a NBC Vice President telling him that Star Trek was being cancelled. The first words out of his mouth to the executive were, “You’re a fool!”

Leonard Nimoy Talks 'Zombies Of The Stratosphere'

The whole world is familiar Leonard Nimoy from his role as Spock on the original Star Trek series. But what's a lot less known is that Nimoy originally expected to become a star by playing a completely different kind of alien.

"I had a very important job in what we used to call a serial," Nimoy said last week on a BBC Radio breakfast show, recalling one of the first jobs he had as a 21-year old actor. "[They played] ach Saturday afternoon, a 50-minute with a cliffhanger at the end. The hero or the heroine is in terrible trouble, come back next week and see what happens. And I was in one of those, I was very important in it, and I thought it would rocket me to stardom. It was called Zombies of the Stratosphere. And I was one. One of four that came from Mars. We stole a pickup truck and a revolver, and we were going to take over Earth."

Unfortunately, the role didn't prove to be quite as lasting as Nimoy he had hoped, and for the next dozen years the actor found himself struggling to make a living. "I was always a supporting player, ocassionally a guest star, but usually a supporting player. Second or third man through the door, they used to call them. It was a period in which good-looking guys that lived next door were the kind of people they were looking for. And I was not that type, I was considered off-beat, ethnic-looking so forth, and my eyes were too small, my nose a little too crooked, my hair not quite right, and the wrong colour. And I hadn't really come into myself."

Must-see, larger-than-life, larger-than-movie movies

THE Melbourne International Film Festival might be nearing its end but there are still opportunities to catch some great arthouse films before they either disappear into oblivion, appear at the dark end of the new-release shelves or turn up at 11.20pm on a Saturday night on SBS.

Here's my selection of 10 must-see titles:

(...)

One of Our Favourite Mysteries is Missing (92 min) France/Belgium

Each year, dozens of aircraft and pleasure craft disappear inside the infamous Bermuda Triangle, yet nobody seems to care the way they did back in the 1970s. An absorbing documentary that explores the need for mystery in our lives. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy.

Q & A With Leonard Nimoy

Jewish Journal: How did you get involved with the Griffith project?

Leonard Nimoy: About five years ago, my wife, Susan, got up one morning and read a piece in the Los Angeles Times about how the observatory was shutting down for renovations, and that they needed funds. We immediately contacted the key people and learned about their plans and hopes and dreams. One thing we discovered was that while the Griffith has had a Planetarium where you could see laser shows, they've never had a theater for presenting films, lectures and the exchange of ideas. I was drawn to the theater because of the obvious connections: I explored the stars, the planets and the galaxies on "Star Trek," and I got my professional start in the theater.

JJ: Specifically, the Yiddish theater.

LN: My parents were immigrants from the shtetl, so I grew up speaking Yiddish and was able to perform with visiting theater troupes in L.A. as a young man.

JJ: It wasn't until you were in your 30s that you got your big break playing the Vulcan Spock on "Star Trek." Which came first, your association with science fiction or your interest in science?

LN: Actually I've been interested in physics and mechanical issues since I was a child in Boston, where I attended science programs at the neighborhood settlement house [an institution that helped poor immigrants and their families]. Also, one of the first movies I ever did was a [1952] science fiction film called "Zombies of the Stratosphere" -- how's that for starters (he laughs)?

JJ: What did you play?

LN: A zombie, of course.

SCIFI: On to more general genre stuff... What is your first memory of science-fiction?

AT: Star Trek initially, the original Star Trek. And my brothers watched it, so I remember watching. I wasn't a huge sci-fi fan to begin with, I am now, but I wasn't as a young girl. I was a Little House on the Prairie girl, but my brothers loved Star Trek, and so I remember watching it with them, and thinking that Leonard Nimoy was really freaky [laughter], and, yeah, loving it though.

Mr. Nimoy speaks about his Jewish identity and more in Israel

(...) Meeting Mr. Nimoy was a prospect not to be missed, so I took a day off from my studies (we only get one day off a year) and headed to the Tel-Aviv Cinematheque Prior to attending the press conference and lecture at the cinematheque, Mr. Nimoy spent his time in Israel visiting the Herzeliya Museum of Modern Art, teaching a master-class at the Beit Zvi Academy of Performing Arts and having dinner with Israeli stage and film veteran Gila Almagor and her husband Yaakov Agmon, until recently CEO of Habima, the National Theatre. They met last year while Habima was visiting New-York with “Kaddish Le’Neomi”, and their performance took place in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre

(...) The man who walked into the room, sans makeup and costume, was warm and smiling, obviously well-versed in situations like this, and oh so human. The most I got from this meeting with him was not when he spoke about Star Trek (and how could he not, having two autobiographies, one entitled "I am not Spock" and another, published twenty years later, entitled "I am Spock"), because lets face it, I knew all of that information by heart, but when he spoke about the work he has done in the last twenty or so years, mainly as a director and photographer.

Leonard Nimoy & Zachary Quinto Spock Star Trek Interview

QUESTION: Leonard, obviously this Star Trek takes place in an alternate timeline. And the younger Spock is very different from your Spock. I mean, he's much more emotional, much more human. He has the relationship with the girl.

LEONARD NIMOY: He does, doesn't he? Yeah. Yeah. I noticed that, yeah. [LAUGHTER]

QUESTION: How did you feel when you first read that script? Were you resistant to that, because it's quite a significant character shift.

LEONARD NIMOY: You know, I'll tell you. I was bemused by it when I read it in the script. I was amazed by it when I saw it on screen. I thought it was incredible.

QUESTION: So, do you think it works?

LEONARD NIMOY: Brilliantly. Don't you?

QUESTION: Well, I guess - he's more of a human. I understand that Spock is half-human and half-Vulcan. And I guess it's more of a human Spock, and less of a Vulcan Spock.

ZACHARY QUINTO: I don't necessarily agree with you. I think there's a duality, and an internal conflict, because he's really split between those two halves of himself. But I just don't think he's gained the kind of control over that duality that Leonard had when he played the character. That's the journey of this character. It's not that he won't arrive there, and it's not that he possesses more humanity than - Vulcanity? [LAUGHTER] It's just that he's chosen to -

LEONARD NIMOY: That's great! I loved that. I like that. Vulcanity. That's a new one.

Frankly, I was extremely jealous of his scenes with Zoe Saldana, and I think it's totally unfair that I never got to do that. I will never forgive the writers and the director, for having put me in this position, to have to be watching that, rather than participating.

Final Frontier calls to Nimoy

The new "Star Trek" film's trailer shows a vast shipyard where the U.S.S. Enterprise is under construction, as a voice intones that famous phrase, "Space, the final frontier . . ."

Ah, that deep, rich voice. It's unmistakable. Spock is back.

In 2002, Leonard Nimoy, now 76, said he was retiring from acting to focus on photography. But in May 2009, he'll return to the silver screen as the pointy-eared pop culture icon who has been his alter ego since "Star Trek" debuted on television in 1966.

"My photography is still a major love and a major part of my creative life, but this is a 'Star Trek' project, so it's something special," Nimoy said.

His last "Trek" movie was 1991's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"; four more have been made since. Nimoy said he was drawn to this next one by the energy and reputation of director/producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Alias," "Mission Impossible III"), "a really special guy with a wonderful script and a great production.... He's the real deal."

"And I feel I owe it to 'Star Trek'; it's been a big, positive factor in my life," he added. "I do think this is a very serious chance for the entire franchise to become reinvigorated."

LEONARD NIMOY - I LOVE TUNA!

The sage-like star of "Star Trek" and "In Search Of..." turned out to have more of a sense of humor than anybody would have thought--but, alas, not enough to appear in THE FINGER.

We tracked Mr. Nimoy down at a Borders Books promoting his collection of science fiction radio plays called "Alien Voices." Spock's discussion was peppered by enthusiastic fans nitpicking about various "Trek" episodes and whether Nimoy believes in God. He does.

We asked Nimoy to sign his book, I AM SPOCK and quickly pitched THE FINGER. We "disguised" the project a bit by saying it was a book about hand-gestures in general. "You know, the peace sign, the Spock sign...(clears throat)...THE FINGER. Could give us the Spock sign?" Nimoy chuckled and moved into the famed pose.

Next, we asked if he could flip us off if we made him angry enough. "No, " was all he said.

However, our pal Joe did come away from the signing with a real treasure. "I'm sorry, this was the only book I could afford!" he blurted out as he handed the "Starkist Tuna for Today Cookbook" over to Mr. Nimoy to sign. "Could you please write, 'I love tuna'?" he asked innocently. Nimoy raised a Vulcan eyebrow. "Does that mean something?" he asked, slyly. Was the logical Mr. Spock afraid we would trap him into admitting he liked pussy? Of course.

BEFORE HE WAS SPOCK
Leonard Nimoy remembers his first major role as “Kid Monk Baroni”
by Gloria Rodriguez March 9, 2006.

A 20-year-old Leonard Nimoy was the star at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California.

A public screening of “Kid Monk Baroni” (1952), in which Nimoy had his first major role, was part of a tribute to B-movie producer Jack Broder. A panel discussion followed that included the reminiscences of Nimoy and co-stars Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen of the “Adventures of Superman” series) and Mona Knox.

There was a cozy, community sort of atmosphere with almost half of the audience consisting of the family and friends of the panelists. (This was obvious from all the reserved seats labeled “Nimoy”, “Larson”, etc.) In fact, Nimoy, his wife Susan Bay Nimoy, his brother, and about 30 of his invited guests were seated right behind me.

The host made introductions and gave background on Jack Broder and the movie. He was apparently a little star-struck as he not only gave Leonard Nimoy a big build-up, but couldn’t resist making “Star Trek” jokes during his presentation.

The movie itself got some good-natured laughs because of its old-fashioned moralizing and melodrama. Nimoy plays Paul “Monk” Baroni, a New York street tough who is encouraged to better himself by a Catholic priest. Father Callahan then lures Paul and his gang off the streets by teaching them to box, which leads to Paul’s career as a fighter.

Fringe: J.J Abrams Talks Nimoy and Next Season!

While standing in the eye of the wondrous storm he created in Star Trek, last Friday, J.J, Abrams took the time to field a conference call on the television end of his entertainment empire, which is currently Fringe. You might think J.J. wouldn't have had his head in the game for this one, what with Trek taking over theaters as he spoke, but it was in fact us media folk who couldn't stop gushing about the movie. Which is probably why the first question thrown out had to do with the courting of Leonard Nimoy for Fringe

"I called him and I essentially started begging," said Abrams. According to the Trek helmer, Nimoy was familiar with Fringe but hadn't actually taken in an episode at the time the pitch was made. Abrams explained the appearance of William Bell, Fringe's equivalent to the man behind the curtain, as a "big deal for the show," not just because of where Bell comes from and his back story but where he's going.

"It would be an obvious honor" said Abrams regarding the casting of Nimoy. "He was open to the idea of it but of course wanted to see the show and read some pages so we sent him everything we could. He thought it was intriguing and interesting and that's actually how we got him to return to the role of Spock in Star Trek. We pitched the thing and his response was 'interested intrigue' and I knew that was a good sign."

As for what to expect in tonight's finale, Abrams referred to the episode as a "tentpole episode in the mythology of the show," and a "massive turning point in the long term arc of the series."

When asked if he had anyone in mind for the part of William Bell from the beginning, J.J. revealed that there was talk of the reclusive mastermind making an appearance earlier on but as the show found its first season pace, it was decided that Bell's unveiling should be pushed back a bit. For Leonard Nimoy, I'd say it was worth the wait.

While Jenkins says Nimoy's performance as Spock was a marvel of sensitivity and nuance, he is looking forward to a new actor playing Spock in an upcoming movie. Jenkins is brave enough to make a comparison to Hamlet: Like Shakespeare's conflicted hero, Jenkins says, Spock is a character for the ages.

"We can imagine seeing hundreds of different actors play Hamlet, and indeed the richness of Hamlet is seeing differences and the different interpretations of that character," Jenkins says. "With the new movie, we will for the first time see Spock as a character larger than an actor."

Nimoy drops in on retirement bash

Wright State University President Kim Goldenberg received a surprise at his retirement bash in Dayton, Ohio - a visit from Mr. Spock of "Star Trek," aka actor Leonard Nimoy.

Nimoy greeted Goldenberg with the Vulcan salute, usually paired with the well-wishing, "Live long and prosper."

Goldenberg, 59, said he and his wife, Shelley, are Trekkies.

"We don't collect the paraphernalia and all that," he said. "We like the show for its philosophies."

Goldenberg will retire Jan. 31 after nine years as president of Wright State.

About 200 people attended the celebration Thursday night at the Dayton Art Institute.

Nimoy, 75, starred in the original "Star Trek" TV series, which ran from 1966-69, and in numerous "Star Trek" movies.

Nimoy’s theatrical history began in the ’40s in Boston, where he did quite a bit of stage work. “I couldn’t stay long because I couldn’t afford it,” he explains. “I had to work to make a living, so I moved to Hollywood.”

Keep in mind, Nimoy knew he wasn’t what Hollywood’s studios needed in a leading man. His ambitions were focused on the legitimate stage. So why L.A. and not New York?

“That’s a very good question,” Nimoy reflects. “Unfortunately, the answer is kind of stupid. I didn’t have good information. I used to read Theatre Arts Magazine, and the Pasadena Playhouse [acting academy] always had a full-page ad. They had an impressive reputation. On the other hand, on the streets of Boston, if I talked to a couple of people about New York, they’d say, ‘Oh, it snows there, you’ll freeze your ass off.’ ”

In the late ’40s, while in Boston, Nimoy was playing Ralph in a production of Clifford Odets’ Awake and Sing, when a pre-Broadway production of Odets’ The Big Knife rolled through, with a very successful character actor named J. Edward Bromberg.

“I sought his advice. I started calling hotels and looking for him. When I got the Ritz-Carlton, he answered the phone.

“Mr. Bromberg?”

“Yes?”

“My name is Leonard Nimoy. You saw me playing Ralph.”

“Yes. What can I do for you?”

“I want to study acting. What should I do?”

“Go to California.”

A twist of mockery plays on Nimoy’s lips: “The first professional actor I ever spoke with said, ‘Go to California.’ I had no choice.”

Leonard Nimoy's Heavy Conversation

On a brisk Tuesday night, multihyphenate actor-author-photographer- former-Vulcan-neck-gripper Leonard Nimoy is being interrogated by — no, forgive me, is having a Hammer Conversation at the museum with — science writer Natalie Angier in front of an audience desperately trying not to ask him to say, "Live long and prosper." The thing on people's minds (aside from bad Star Trek jokes) is this: What's with the pictures of the chubby girls?

(...)

"I think these people look kind of cold," Nimoy says, referring to naked Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell. "These people" — in his own version of the pictures — "look more comfortable to me."

Asked what he thinks about Captain Kirk ("Who?") and weight gain in males, Nimoy says he's not sure where to go with that question. "In reference to my friend Will Shatner, yes, he's gained some weight." He's not thought so much about fat men. The artistic process, Nimoy says at one point, is akin to walking into a dark room and looking for the light switch, but being aware that there are holes in the floor and you never know where they are. This is not a problem, however, for the clever fat girl, because no matter how big the hole, she will never fall through it.

Nimoy: I spent some time in front of a microphone doing voice work for them. I am essentially a tour guide or narrator. I don't do the Spock character. I'm an omniscient voice that tells the player what is going on (and) what to do next, 'Congratulations, you've just done this or that,' 'Now try this' or 'Think about that' or 'Make a left turn or a right turn if you want to do such and such' or so forth.

He was very good in this movie. I was really impressed in the scene where he rejects the entry into the Vulcan Science Academy, when they tell him that in spite of the flaw in his genetic makeup they are accepting him and he refuses the offer saying in effect, 'Go screw yourself.' But what he did with 'Live long and prosper' in that moment was very refreshing to me. ... I don't know whose choice it was, his or J.J. Abrams' but whatever. When I saw that I thought, 'Whoa, that's good.' Nobody ever said, 'Live long and prosper' with that subtext before.

The acting school became known as "the star machine," with students including Jamie Farr, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, William Holden, Rue McClanahan and Sally Struthers. In a recent interview, Leonard Nimoy told the L.A. Weekly that the reputation of the Pasadena Playhouse' actor training program is what drew him to California from Boston, in 1949.

Bimah Me Up, Scotty!

(...) The son of a Ukrainian-born barber, Nimoy grew up speaking Yiddish in a one-bedroom apartment shared by six relatives in Boston's West End, a Jewish enclave in the predominantly Catholic city. Klezmer music, performed by an uncle and four cousins, provided the backdrop at social events.

After Nimoy left home at 18 to study acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, his knowledge of the mamaloshen helped him land roles with visiting Yiddish theater troupes. One highlight was meeting legendary star Maurice Schwartz: "I had an appointment to audition for him at a theater on La Cienega, and as I was waiting for him to acknowledge me I heard his wife say, in Yiddish, 'He looks like the gentile in 'It's Hard to be a Jew,'" Nimoy recalled with gusto. "She didn't know I spoke the language, and I thought, 'This is going to be a snap.'"

The young actor promptly landed the role and bleached his hair platinum blond for the play's 16-week run.

When asked how the ultralogical Spock would have viewed the melodramatic Yiddish theater, Nimoy heartily laughed.

"I think he would have had the same problem with it that my parents, who were from the shtetl, had with 'Star Trek,'" he said. "They just didn't get it, didn't understand it, although they were delighted that it made me a success." (...)