Stepping into her “Star Trek” costume made Zoë Saldana feel like a Trekkie.

“The moment the outfit was on, I was the character. It was so much fun. I was hooked,” says Saldana, who plays communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura in the latest incarnation of “Star Trek.”

The film, opening nationwide Thursday with 7 p.m. screenings, is based on the 1960s TV series created by Gene Roddenberry. “Star Trek” follows the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise, taking viewers to the origins of the ship’s crew, characters that fans have come to know through the years.

Given its rich history and devoted fan base, Saldana, 30, was a bit overwhelmed to become a part of the “Star Trek” family.

“Stepping onto the set was so surreal. I was so in awe,” she says by phone.

Until she was cast in “Star Trek,” Saldana was unfamiliar with the original series or the feature films that followed in the 1980s and ’90s. However, she has been exposed to its fanatic following.

Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, the word is out all over the web. The new Star Trek film contains a more-than-BFF relationship between the young Mr. Spock and his student/crewmate Uhura. The filmmakers excuse the match with an “alternate timeline” explanation in case the die-hard, old-school Trekkie fans of the classic, original TV series take offense.

On the TV series, as a Vulcan/human hybrid, Mr. Spock rarely showed his emotions and usually only under great physical duress, or under the influence of some alien drug. But, this was the older, more seasoned, more experienced and more practiced Spock. In the “Trek” re-boot, Zachary Quinto plays the younger Vulcan in his last years at Space Academy. He’s still wet behind those cute, large, pointy ears.

Did the younger Uhura have a soft spot for guys with elfish ears and bowl haircuts? Zach admits he had a bowl cut at age 12, poor kid. We wanted details so we asked the actors! Hey Zach and Zoe (awww, sounds sweet together, doesn’t it), wazzup with the match and what’s your take on your characters in general?

Picture tall, dark and cute Zach totally out of “Heroes” grim Syler mode and wearing gray jacket over light blue shirt and loosened stripe tie and, of course, pants. Zoe is in a gorgeous fuchsia silk dress and her long dark hair is down.

Read the rest of this entry »

When the original “Star Trek” TV series came out, actress Zoe Saldaña wasn’t even born, but her mother was always inspired by the strength and fortitude of Uhura, the African-American officer aboard the Starship Enterprise.

So in a way it seems appropriate that director J.J. Abrams chose Saldaña for the Uhura role in his new, updated “Star Trek” film, opening Friday.

“I never saw the series growing up,” says the 30-year-old actress, who was born in New Jersey and raised in the Dominican Republic and Queens. “But what’s interesting is that in ‘The Terminal’ [2004] I played a character who was a Trekkie, and who in the film goes to a Star Trek convention.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This week J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek blasts onto cinema screens as he takes the franchise right back to the beginning with a new, and young crew. Zoe Saldana takes on the role of Uhura who, along with the rest of the crew embark on their first Enterprise mission.

For those people who’ve never seen star trek, introduce your character Uhura. who is she and why is she on this ship?

Well, she’s a very important tool on the ship. She’s a translator. They’re traveling to all different kinds of galaxies and planets. So she’s an expert in linguistics. She’s able to translate and be sort of like the operator or the mediator between two commanders of two different ships from two different planets trying to meet in common so they can have safe passages.

That’s a very important thing. If she gets it wrong, she can actually start a war between two nations or something. And she’s very stoic. She’s very strong. And loves what she does. And sort of takes herself a little too seriously sometimes.

Read the rest of this entry »

When she saw what conventions meant to Star Trek fans and how they enjoyed them, Zoe Saldana wanted some of that passion.

As reported by TrekMovie.com, in her research to understand what it was to be a Star Trek fan, Saldana watched Trekkies 1 and 2 as well as Star Trek episodes. “I didn’t even know what the word ‘Trekkie’ meant,” said Saldana. “So I didn’t know what conventions were. I knew of Star Trek, but not extensively. So part of doing my research to have the feel to be a Trekkie and to go to these conventions.”
In watching the fans, Saldana felt a yearning to feel the passion that fans felt for a show begun over forty years ago. “I remember watching it and the people around me were sort of laughing at everything,” she said. “…I felt so overwhelmed and I felt so happy that I remember thinking ‘I want to be like that. I want to be so passionate about something that I incorporate it in my every day life and it is the reason I wake up and it fulfills me.’ So it was through the fans that I became very, very curious. What is it about this show and these characters and these stories that drew people to keep it alive after forty some years after only a few seasons?”

Saldana expresses her own passion through acting. “I am mostly passionate about what I do as an actor,” she said. “I love being able to tell stories. The participation of storytelling is what keeps me obsessed. I guess I am a Trekkie for movies.”

Speaking of passion, what about the Uhura-Spock romance? “I thought J.J. [Abrams] was out of his mind when he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman decided to take that route,” said Saldana. “My concerns was what effect it was going to have on the fan community and whether or not it was going to go according to what they had known for so long. But at the same time there was no way to disprove that something like that had taken place before on the Enterprise.”

From Trek Today