Koenig Ponders Life Without Kirk

Walter Koenig (Chekov) discussed his return to the Star Trek universe in Of Gods And Men, calling the project "a very happy surprise for me" because of its unique focus: the departure point for the story is the question of what if Captain Kirk had never lived.

Producer Sky Conway and Koenig were partners on a different project, Koenig explained to iFMagazine.com, so he accepted the role "because he’s a friend...it came together in a very terrific way." The storyline was quite different from other Star Trek spin-offs in which he had been involved, which included a New Voyages episode, "To Serve All My Days."

Koenig was pleased to work with former co-star Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) again and to act with Gary Graham (Soval) and J.G. Hertzler (Martok), whom he knew from Star Trek conventions and gatherings. He described Of Gods and Men, which is directed by Tim Russ (Tuvok), as a very comfortable filming environment.

He remains close with Nichols and George Takei (Sulu), but Koenig noted that William Shatner (Kirk) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) have always traveled in different orbits, though he has great respect for Nimoy's career.

Koenig added that he and Conway have written a screenplay together and were working on financing a film, and in the meantime he had written a novelization that's "about fifty percent through." He called it "a very commercial project, and one that has not been done before, and approached in a way that certainly no story that I know of has been approached", saying he hoped to produce it for theatrical release as opposed to DVD or television.

At the time of the interview, Koenig was not certain of his next project; there was a theatrical role he was considering if he auditioned successfully. "It's hardly a done deal," he explained.

The full interview is here.

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