Leonard Nimoy may have retired from action, but JJ Abrams seems to have some sort of hold over the sci-fi veteran, coercing him not only into reprising his role as the elderly Spock in the Star Trek reboot sequel, but appearing as William Bell in Fringe‘s Season 4 finale.
“It was explained to me that we’re opening up a whole world, and William Bell is being recreated as something else,” Nimoy told us of his Season 4 role. “He’s in another universe and has taken on other characteristics. There were challenges in the character itself that were attractive to me. I could play aspects that I haven’t played in a long time, so it was very welcoming to me.”
“The William Bell character started as a very intelligent and rational character,” says Nimoy of Bell’s arc. “I think he’s still very, very intelligent, but I’m not quite so sure that he’s rational anymore. I think you’ll see some behaviour in the finale that have taken him quite a distance from where he started.”
Now that Fringe has been granted a Season 5 to wrap up the universe(s), will he be back? “It will depend on what they have in mind for the character. There are a lot of issues that have to be dealt with, but we’ll be talking.”
Fringe Season 5 will air in the Autumn on Fox in the US, and Sky1 HD in the UK – would you like to see William Bell return?