Why Chris Pine Chose Star Trek Over An L.A. Confidential Sequel
Blockbuster director, writer, and producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Armageddon,") has revitalized multiple franchises with installments including "Mission: Impossible III" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." In 2009, he brought one of his biggest successes to his franchise revitalization resume in the reboot of the classic sci-fi IP, "Star Trek."
One reason for the beloved status of the film (both critics and fans scored it over 90% in a rare moment of agreement on Rotten Tomatoes) is the stellar cast. While recasting classic characters is often a losing battle, with original fans judging and criticizing every angle, Abrams and crew were able to assemble some of the best modern versions of the characters. Included in that cast was Chris Pine, who was able to reinvent Captain Kirk for the new generation while staying faithful to William Shatner's version.
However, Pine joining the reboot to portray the captain of the Enterprise wasn't always guaranteed. During this time, the actor was also in talks to jump on board "White Jazz," the sequel to the 1997 film adaptation of the James Ellroy novel, "L.A. Confidential."
While one became a three-film blockbuster franchise and the other has been stuck in development purgatory for over a decade, the choice at the time came down to a conversation with Pine's sister and the relatable transparency of the main character.
He initially wanted to pass on Kirk
In a 2016 interview with The Off Camera Show, two possible parts he was up for became the topic of conversation. The roles were wildly different, with one role being a low-budget darker-than-noir peek into the change from the '50s Los Angeles to the '60s psychedelic era. The other was a big-budget science-fiction reboot with all the lens flare glory that J.J. Abrams brings to the table.
The result was a decision that Pine had to make, either join the cast as a deeply troubled character or the cast of an established straightforward legend. He explained in the interview, "J.J., that whole experience, was a tantalizing opportunity ... I won't lie, my ego was heavily involved in that decision. J.J. was really kind, and I really gelled with him, I felt like, in the audition room. But it was a really difficult decision. I took a couple of weeks to figure it out."
The "Wonder Woman" actor went on to compare the characters and reveal that he was leaning towards turning down the role of Kirk to choose the more challenging part. "One was a latently homosexual, homicidal, schizophrenic detective. It's like, 'That's the one I want to do.' And one was, you know, Kirk and 'Star Trek,' which I thought was way more straightforward." Fortunately for us, having a conversation with his sister changed his perception of the role.
A conversation with his sister changed his mind
Chris Pine spoke about the conversation he had with his sister and how it changed his perception of the role, finding a challenge that was less about the character and more about him as a person. "One seemed to be the bigger challenge and I think in talking about it with her, I was able to see in a different light that this was actually way more difficult for me because what it required was a lot more transparency. This ['White Jazz'], I could, ya know, do all sorts of fun s***. This one ['Star Trek'] was, like, movie star stuff. Not saying that I am, just that [it was] that kind of role, the leader of the pack."
He has since become just that, a movie star, appearing in bigger budget roles such as "Wonder Woman" and its follow-up as the pilot, Steve Trevor, and the latest as the lead in "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves." But it was his experience as Kirk that taught him one of the most critical parts of portraying the larger-than-life roles, relatability. "It's a very difficult thing to do. It requires a certain amount of transparency that an audience can kind of latch on to you and relate to you as both the character and you."
He goes on to describe Harrison Ford as being both the actual person and Indiana Jones. That is a quality that can be argued is shared with other actors. Robert Downey Jr. is both him and Tony Stark. Keanu Reeves is both he and Neo. While it may have been a close call whether we got him or not, Chris Pine is definitely both himself and Captain James T. Kirk.