With the announcement by Zoe Saldana over the Eastercon weekend that she expects Star Trek’s sequel to begin filming in early 2011, attention will naturally be less focused on that icon of science fiction, and onto the other projects of the stars over the next few months.
Some of them have been quite prolific of course, being in-demand talent. Others have strayed away from cinema and into television. Here’s a quick rundown of what they’ve been doing.
Chris Pine
Pine has been involved in a number of projects that have been released since Trek. He voiced ‘Dave’ in Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, provided additional voice work for Beyond All Boundaries, had the long-delayed Carriers released and also played the lead in Small Town Saturday Night. He is currently attached to an untitled Jack Ryan project, and The Art Of Making Money.
Zoe Saldana
Saldana has, of course, starred as the lead in a little-known studio effort directed by James Cameron, which has made more money than most of us will ever see in our lifetimes. Outside of that, she’s also playing Aisha in The Losers, and has taken roles in the films Takers, Death At A Funeral and Burning Palms.
Zachary Quinto
Despite emphasising that he was taking two years clear of the Star Trek franchise, presumably to avoid the typecasting that plagued his predecessor in the role of Spock, Quinto provided voice work for the recently released Star Trek Online game. He’s also continued to appear as Sylar in NBC’s superhero series Heroes, and is involved in several early-stage projects.
Karl Urban
Following Star Trek, Urban’s next release was Black Water Transit, where he took the role of Earl Pike. The New Zealand-born actor has a number of projects up for release soon, including the vampire-themed Priest (in which he’ll be playing the character Black Hat), Red, And Soon The Darkness and Relentless 3D.
Anton Yelchin
Yelchin’s highest profile role outside of Star Trek, released two weeks later, was Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation. Since then, he’s starred in Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac and The Beaver, and is slated to appear in Keep Coming Back and The Winter Queen. Reports today have also linked him with the upcoming remake of Fright Night.
Simon Pegg
Ever the prolific actor and voice artist, Pegg has the most credits to his name since Star Trek. He provided his vocal talent to the Ice Age 3 production, as well as Robot Chicken, and has worked on three films that are now in post-production – Paul, Tintin and Burke And Hare. He is also rumoured to be appearing in The World’s End.
JJ Abrams
Abrams still hasn’t signed on as a director for the Star Trek sequel, but we’d be very surprised if he didn’t take it on, given his level of involvement. That being said, he has a new television series underway in the form of Undercovers, as well as the end of Lost and the third season of Fringe. IMDB lists no less than ten in-development credits as well.
Leonard Nimoy
Although Star Trek may have been his last appearance in film, and certainly his last as Spock, Nimoy lent his voice to Star Trek Online and to Land Of The Lost, as well as the upcoming Transformers videogame. He will be appearing in the third season of Fringe however, which will (probably) definitely be his last time on the screen. Honest. Nobody is going to convince him to come back. Unless their name rhymes with Jabrams.
