According to industry speculation found on IESB, J.J. Abrams is set to cast 28-year-old Pennsylvania native Mike Vogel (who has appeared in such movies as Poseidon and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) as Captain James T. Kirk in the upcoming Star Trek movie, a role made famous by William Shatner on the TV series from 1966 to 1969. Vogel also appears in J.J. Abrams upcoming untitled Cloverleaf project.
If Vogel joins the cast, he would be alongside Zachary "Sylar" Quinto as young Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy reprising the role that he made famous as the older Mr. Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura originally played by Nichelle Nichols and Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov originally played by Walter Koenig.
I'm not surprised that Abrams is going for someone who is fundamentally an unknown. Obviously the director has worked with the actor before and is comfortable with him. This is the sort of role that doesn't require a big-name actor in it. The franchise itself is known well-enough to draw people in.
Of course, the real question would be not if Mike Vogel could act, but could he act like Shatner?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2007 @ 10:59AM
BStu said...
I hate being "that guy", but I felt compelled to make a Photoshop mock-up of Vogel as Kirk. I started out completely not buying his look, but ended up actually liking it.
http://img503.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vogelkirkyt6.jpg
I trust Abrams on his acting abilities given that he's worked with him and I generally like his casting so far. I will say that I hope the McCoy isn't yet another 20-something. I can buy everyone else, but McCoy better be older is all I'm saying.
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9-29-2007 @ 11:22AM
Cincinnati Mike said...
BStu--SOMEBODY has to be "That Guy!" Not a bad likeness. I would think, though, that the harder part for the actor (and Abrams) will be trying to decide if he is going to emulate Shatner's delivery. Particularly if Shat somehow ends up with a cameo. We mock Bill's halting "style," but it is so ingrained in the character!
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9-29-2007 @ 1:00PM
Porchland said...
He looks like Matt Damon.
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9-29-2007 @ 2:36PM
Jordan Running said...
Thanks, BStu. I thought the kid looked kind of like a douche until I saw your 'shop. Okay, he still looks kind of douchey, but in an appropriately Kirkesque way. Now, if the kid can act, we might have a winner on our hands.
...but I still would have liked to see Matt Damon give it a shot.
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9-29-2007 @ 6:16PM
Joe in LA said...
He looks much more like the original Enterprise captain, Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter), no?
http://www.scifilm.org/tv/startrek/startrek1.html
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10-01-2007 @ 8:52AM
jason said...
It's Dean from 'Grounded for Life.'
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