Posted in: CBS, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: bleeding col, bleeding cool, cable, discovery, Ethan Peck, Julie Nimoy, leonard nimoy, paramount plus, star trek, strange new worlds, streaming, television, tv, william shatner

Star Trek: Julie Nimoy Talks Ethan Peck's New Spock, William Shatner

Julie Nimoy is proud to continue her father, Leonard Nimoy's enduring legacy not only as an actor but also as an artist and humanitarian. As viewers were introduced to Leonard's Mr. Spock in 1966 on Star Trek: The Original Series, the actor continued to play the role until the end with his final appearance in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) before his passing in 2015. Leonard acted along with his film successor Zachary Quinto, who played the younger version in two of the three J. J. Abrams "Kelvin Universe" films for Paramount. Julie and her brother Adam Nimoy participated in a number of documentaries celebrating their father and his involvement in the franchise. Speaking with Cinemablend, she opened up about how she felt about Ethan Peck taking over the role of Spock on the TV end for Paramount+ and the family's relationship with TOS star William Shatner.

Peck plays Spock within the timeline that pre-dates TOS when Kirk is captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Nimoy recalled the time she met with the actor prior to the character's reintroduction to the franchise in Discovery season two. "We had a little afternoon meet up with him, my brother was there as well," she said. "We just kind of got to know each other, feel it out, and just get an idea of who this guy was and would he be right for the part and we just loved him. We thought he was awesome. His temperament is just very cool, calm, and introspective…I think he felt comfortable. It was really important for him to meet us and to get an idea of who our dad was not just as an actor, but as a person in his personal life. I think Ethan has done a great job, honestly. My brother and I met up with him for lunch before the pandemic started, just kind of checking in and making sure everything was going well with him and he was doing great…a real sweetheart."

Paramount+ ordered the spinoff in Strange New Worlds, the fourth Star Trek series to focus on the Enterprise. This time it features Peck along with Anson Mount as Capt. Christopher Pike and Rebecca Romijn as Number One also re-introduced in Discovery season two. The trio also participated in web-exclusive Short Treks. Pike and Number One, originally played by Jeffrey Hunter and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, were introduced in TOS original pilot "The Cage" and embraced into canon when it was repurposed in the episode "The Menagerie". Shatner's Kirk took over Hunter's Pike on TOS and the rest is history.

In Leonard's final years, the relationship between himself and Shatner soured a little at the end. The latter addressed the awkwardness of not being able to attend his funeral in 2015 online and subsequent memoir. Julie and her husband David Knight remain grateful for all the support one of their father's best friends offered over the years. "I've known Bill forever but we've never had a personal relationship," she said. "My dad and he did have one for many years. But Bill's been very helpful to us on just retweeting our tweets for us and just being very, you know, supportive and he's been great to us. Really." "I mean, every time we have an event or something, either around our film, or some kind of a promotion we're doing," Knight added. "He's very proactive in helping us. And he really has been great. I think he really loved Leonard a lot. It's clear he respected him. And so we're always very appreciative of what he's done for us."

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