Quinto Tries To Keep Spock and Sylar Separate

NBC has sent castmembers from Heroes on a tour to promote the series, and Zachary Quinto has spent almost as much time talking about playing Spock in the upcoming Star Trek film as he has discussing murderous villain Sylar on the TV series.

"I think the fact that the show stopped production for a week so the cast actually can go out into the world and interact with the fans, that's a huge ordeal," Quinto said in the London Free Press. "It just doesn't happen very often." He will miss time filming come November as well when he will be devoting himself entirely to reinventing one of the most science fiction characters of all time.

"I feel really gratified that these creative and imaginative and exciting people have decided to include me in this journey," Quinto said of his casting by J.J. Abrams and the other producers. "I don't see the value in looking at it as anything but a great honour...I look to my left and there's Leonard Nimoy. I look to my right and there's J.J. Abrams. I couldn't ask to be in a better line of people."

The Gate quoted Quinto's admission that he had been "gunning" for the role, talkinga bout it in interviews to make his interest obvious. "When they started casting they called up and asked for some material," he said. "Not only were we able to send them my demo reel and scenes from the show but we could also send them all these articles in which I'd been talking about it."

The National Post asked Quinto about whether he sees similarities between Sylar and Spock in that they are both loners. "I think it's very important for me to very distinctly separate these two experiences and these two characters," he replied. "There is something about the way I carry myself obviously that lends itself to these kinds of characters, but I don't think that means I can't play other kinds of characters as well...I like to think that my dominant traits are versatility and a wide range of capacity as an actor, which I think comes from certainly my training and my experience in the theatre."

Quinto does see similarities in the milieu of Star Trek and Heroes, however, which is very different from doing a Shakespeare play and that in turn is different from doing a Molière play. "Certainly both the world of Heroes and the world of Star Trek are heightened worlds, and they are both very stylized," he explained. "I think that that's a strength that I have as an actor, is being able to understand those styles and commit to them and exist within the world of them, believably and genuinely."

The 30-year-old actor credits his training at Carnegie Mellon with teaching him to be prepared, but he doesn't like to be repetitive. "I like to get as far out of my comfort zone as I can," he said. "I think that what happens in those situations, in what you're presented with, is good fuel for a lot of unexpected discoveries...a lot of it has to do with where you are emotionally and how you respond to things personally."

Asked whether his performance was likely to seem familiar to fans or to disturb them, Quinto answered, "This project is being done with a great respect for what's come before it, but I think it's also being done with a clear intention to have its own perspective, and I intend to create the role in the same way." He believes the movie will appeal to longtime fans and "will inspire people that don't necessarily have a connection to the franchise to learn more about it."

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