Perry On Accepting His Role In 'Star Trek XI

TrekToday · March 15 2008, 12:49 AM

Taking on a Star Trek XI role was on account of J.J. Abrams, not from being a fan of Star Trek.

As reported by Blackfilm.com, Tyler Perry explained why he agreed to work in Star Trek XI. "J.J called and said, 'I'm a fan and would love for you to do my movie' and I said, 'Great! I'll call you back.' I called my agent and was like, 'Who is this guy?' and he said I need to look at his stuff. I was so impressed with what he does because it parallels a lot of my own stuff."

Unlike some of the Star Trek XI actors, Perry is not a Star Trek fan. He decided to take part in Star Trek XI solely because of J.J. Abrams. "...it was J.J Abrams," said Perry. "He talked me into it and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no.

Perry will apparently be playing the head of Starfleet Academy. His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet. Perry could not give details, bound by the confidential agreement he signed. "All I can tell you is that I love J.J Abrams," said Perry. "He is the absolute reason I did it. He and I have a lot of things in common. He's got television and film and I was watching him direct, and people coming to him and asking him things and it was eerie because it was so much like my own life and my own situation. The only difference is that he has a wife and two kids and I don't know how he does it with the family."

To read the article, head to the link located here.

Kirby · March 15 2008, 02:11 AM

TrekToday wrote:

I was so impressed with what he does because it parallels a lot of my own stuff."

Lots of parallels... my favorites are J.J. Abram's Lost and J.J. Abram's Cloverfield

ancient · March 15 2008, 03:27 AM

I don't see familiarity as a requirement for this kind of role.

ancient · March 15 2008, 03:28 AM

Meaning, a new character. (where hath the edit button gone?!)

Turbo · March 15 2008, 03:42 AM

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

IndyJones · March 15 2008, 04:11 AM

All I want to know is if Perry will be playing a man or an eldery black woman with attitude...

C.E. Evans · March 15 2008, 10:35 AM

Turbo wrote:

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

Blame hanging around Gary Mitchell too long for that.
:thumbsup:

Timofnine · March 15 2008, 04:05 PM

TrekToday wrote:

.......and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no

Shame I've never heard of this Tyler Perry. Must be an American thing.

Broccoli · March 15 2008, 04:57 PM

Turbo wrote:

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

I disagree. There was one throw-away line that said that Kirk was a "stack of books with legs." Perhaps the expulsion was the reason on why he became like that. Also, it just takes one incident to face exclusion.

DorkBoy [TM] · March 15 2008, 09:21 PM

You know, Wesley Crusher was a walking stack of books with legs.

And he was nearly expelled too.

It's always the quiet ones...

Basil · March 16 2008, 12:15 AM

Broccoli wrote:

Turbo wrote:

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

I disagree. There was one throw-away line that said that Kirk was a "stack of books with legs." .

Actually, considerably more -- his admission (to Bones if memory serves) that he was positively grim as a cadet, his interplay with Finnegan, a trickster who constantly picked on him for it, Mitchell's whole "think or sink" comment about Kirk's class and how he pushed a lab assistant toward Kirk to get him to loosen up, etc. Combine that with his quieter, more thoughtful characterization in the first season, and it adds up to Kirk being quite studious and "by the book" in his earlier years. Even Meyer's issue with Kirk "cheating" didn't necessarily suggest he was a cocky hothead with a flaming libido -- that was more the half-assed retconning of the character in a so-so novel (Enterprise, perhaps?) to fit an individual author's imagining. And even if "stack of books with legs" was the only line, it's hardly "throwaway" if it sums up who he was as a character.

Temis the Vorta · March 16 2008, 01:38 AM

Timofnine wrote:

TrekToday wrote:

.......and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no

Shame I've never heard of this Tyler Perry. Must be an American thing.

Lets just say he makes the kind of movies that give him no call to be huffy about Trek, even at its worst.

IndyJones · March 17 2008, 06:29 AM

Temis the Vorta wrote:

Timofnine wrote:

TrekToday wrote:

.......and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no

Shame I've never heard of this Tyler Perry. Must be an American thing.

Lets just say he makes the kind of movies that give him no call to be huffy about Trek, even at its worst.

Well said, Temis.

Pioneer · March 17 2008, 12:59 PM

Timofnine wrote:

TrekToday wrote:

.......and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no

Shame I've never heard of this Tyler Perry. Must be an American thing.

I'm an American and I've never heard of him either. So I looked him up on IMDB and I didn't recognize him nor any of his work. And yes, it helps to be a fan if you're going to be an actor in a Star Trek movie. I would say it's essential.

Aragorn · March 18 2008, 08:36 AM

You know, the parallels to Madea's Family Reunion and Mission: Impossible III are startling. And Daddy's Little Girls is totally a big screen take on Lost.

Dusty Ayres · March 19 2008, 09:06 PM

Turbo wrote:

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

Worse, in the novel Best Destiny, he's made into being a JD who steals ships, and has to be straightened out by big daddy George. If he was like that, he would not have lasted long at Starfleet Academy, but would have been thrown out instead.

Mistral · March 20 2008, 06:53 PM

Turbo wrote:

The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.

What about "Shoreleave"?

cardinal biggles · March 21 2008, 03:40 PM

[quote=Pioneer;1442940]

Timofnine wrote:

I'm an American and I've never heard of him either. So I looked him up on IMDB and I didn't recognize him nor any of his work. And yes, it helps to be a fan if you're going to be an actor in a Star Trek movie. I would say it's essential.

Temis the Vorta wrote:

Timofnine wrote:

TrekToday wrote:

.......and it's a good thing I didn't see the last Star Trek movie or I would have said no

Shame I've never heard of this Tyler Perry. Must be an American thing.

Lets just say he makes the kind of movies that give him no call to be huffy about Trek, even at its worst.

Oh, here we go again. This is the same sort of faux scorn & hatred you guys laid out on Keri Russell when an interviewer asked if she'd be interested in a role in Trek XI, and she replied "I'm not that nerdy!"

Get a life, people! Trek is not the be-all and end-all of the entertainment industry. Some people will think of it as "just a job" and not give two shits about 40 years of arguments about how you're supposed to align the dilithium crystals. Some people will want to become involved not because it's Trek, but because it gives them the chance to work with a director they admire.

We should be happy anybody wants to be involved with Trek at all, given that one appearance will sign them up for a lifetime of having this performance, their career, and any statements they make about the movie until the day they die under magnifying glass-type scrutiny.

Brutal Strudel · March 21 2008, 08:47 PM

[quote=cardinal biggles;1457591]

Pioneer wrote:

Timofnine wrote:

I'm an American and I've never heard of him either. So I looked him up on IMDB and I didn't recognize him nor any of his work. And yes, it helps to be a fan if you're going to be an actor in a Star Trek movie. I would say it's essential.

Temis the Vorta wrote:

Lets just say he makes the kind of movies that give him no call to be huffy about Trek, even at its worst.

Oh, here we go again. This is the same sort of faux scorn & hatred you guys laid out on Keri Russell when an interviewer asked if she'd be interested in a role in Trek XI, and she replied "I'm not that nerdy!"

Get a life, people! Trek is not the be-all and end-all of the entertainment industry. Some people will think of it as "just a job" and not give two shits about 40 years of arguments about how you're supposed to align the dilithium crystals. Some people will want to become involved not because it's Trek, but because it gives them the chance to work with a director they admire.

We should be happy anybody wants to be involved with Trek at all, given that one appearance will sign them up for a lifetime of having this performance, their career, and any statements they make about the movie until the day they die under magnifying glass-type scrutiny.

Considering how much love Nemesis gets, you'd figure he'd get cheers for that comment. Russell's comment, however, struck me as gratuitously bitchy, especially considering that her only real talent seems to be the ability to grow long, curly locks.

Ehhh, whatever.

Alidar Jarok · March 21 2008, 10:28 PM

ancient wrote:

I don't see familiarity as a requirement for this kind of role.

I agree.

[QUOTE=Turbo;1437872]The edit button was disabled in here for some technical reason or another.

His human character will supposedly oversee a Starfleet courtroom event where young Kirk is facing expulsion from Starfleet.

Expulsion? *sigh* As much as I love the Nick Meyer movies, they gave Kirk this stupid hothead cadet image, when TOS implied just this opposite.[/QUOTE

Well, because they gave him that image, it's fairly legitimate that Abrams use it in the movie.