Mount: Cast As Pike But I Was Almost Lorca
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Trek fans know that Anson Mount will be playing Captain Christopher Pike, but he almost got the role of Lorca.
“I had auditioned,” said Mount. “I was close to getting Lorca, actually. I’ve got to say, they hired the right guy. I’m a big Jason Isaacs fan. I was a fan of Jason Isaacs before he did that role. I actually just watched The Death of Stalin on the plane on the way here. He’s fantastic.”
Mount was a fan of the original series and of The Next Generation. “I grew up with the Original Series in syndication,” he said. “I’ve seen every episode multiple times. Then, The Next Generation started when I was in high school. After about the third season is when I went to college, and that’s when I went into a lock box for the next eight years.”
Even though he didn’t get the role of Lorca, Mount was able to audition for Pike, which he did get. “[Pike] felt good to them, it felt good to me, and we decided to do it,” he said. “I’ve got to say, I was very excited to get the role, and then it was surreal for a while. It’s still surreal.”
Mount was happy to play a character that he liked, although that is not necessary to him as an actor. “I’m not particular [about a character being likeable],” he said. “As an artist, I’m not particularly partial to that, but it’s a great side benefit when it happens. I’m not so concerned with characters being likable so much as understandable. I hope that Pike is both. The thing that we all knew from the beginning, the only thing we really knew, is that he needed to be the everything that Lorca was not.”
Portraying a character on television means that Mount had to think about this character as Pike had a past and perhaps the character might last for a while. “When you establish a character on TV, you tend to be careful about choices that you make because you’re making them for a long period of time,” said Mount. “You start with very general things. I know he probably had good parents, and he definitely had good mentors. And he knows that his greatest resource as a captain is his crew.”
Mount will be appearing with William Shatner at the Christmas with the Captains event at the Star Trek The Original Series Set Tour in Ticonderoga, New York. Mount will be available for autographs, photo ops, and will also do a Pike on the Bridge event on December 7 and 8.
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