Summary
- Ethan Peck and Zachary Quinto bring their own sensibility to the role of Spock in modern Star Trek, creating a new, fresh portrayal.
- Adam Nimoy admires Peck and Quinto for investing their own experiences and personality into the character, making it come alive.
- Adam Nimoy believes calling Peck's Spock an "imitation" of Leonard Nimoy is not the right way to view his performance.
Leonard Nimoy's son Adam Nimoy reveals his feelings on how Ethan Peck and Zachary Quinto portray Spock in modern Star Trek. Of course, Leonard Nimoy originated the role of Mr. Spock in Star Trek: The Original Series and portrayed the iconic Vulcan on television and feature films up to his death in 2015. Zachary Quinto portrayed Spock in a Star Trek movie trilogy directed and produced by J.J. Abrams, while Ethan Peck currently portrays Lt. Spock on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
In an interview with CinemaBlend to promote his new book, The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy, Adam Nimoy was asked his thoughts on Ethan Peck's portrayal of Spock on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Peck's version of Spock is the younger version of Nimoy's Spock, and Ethan also penned a promotional blurb for Adam's book. Read Adam Nimoy's thoughts on Peck and Zachary Quinto's versions of Spock in his quote below:
I love what he's doing. He brings his own sensibility to it. It's a different character, but I think it's perfectly fine. It's lovely what he's doing. I really admire him and, look, it's so challenging to take on a role like that. That is so ensconced in the minds of us pop culture addicts in terms of the original Spock. Zachary Quinto had the same forces that he had to deal with when he entered the role, and he brings his own sensibility to it. You can't help but bring your own personality to the part. And it's different, it's new, it's a permutation, you know.
Adam Nimoy also told CinemaBlend he doesn't think calling Ethan Peck's Spock an "imitation" of Leonard Nimoy is the right way to view his performance. Read Adam's quote below:
It's not. I don't think it's an imitation necessarily. I think that the key to the pure artistry of Zach and Ethan [Peck} is that they invest their own experience and being into the part, and that's what makes it come alive. So, I love what those guys were doing.
Why Star Trek Has 2 New Spock Actors After Leonard Nimoy
Ethan Peck is now Star Trek's "Prime" Spock
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) movie reboot proved that the iconic original Star Trek characters could be successfully recast with younger actors. In the case of Spock, Zachary Quinto had the challenge of not just portraying the younger version of the Vulcan, but he also had to act opposite Leonard Nimoy himself when the two Spocks met in the film. The twist of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies is that time travel created an alternate Kelvin timeline, so Quinto's young Spock lives his life in a new reality different from the past experiences of Nimoy's aged Ambassador Spock.
Leonard Nimoy's final performance as Spock was a cameo in 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, however, is set in Star Trek's Prime timeline and is a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. In Ethan Peck's case, his Lt. Spock is the younger version of Leonard Nimoy's Spock. Peck is portraying the same character who will eventually grow to become the Vulcan Nimoy originated, and Peck admits Nimoy is always in his head when he plays Spock. Now that Leonard Nimoy has passed away, Ethan Peck is the Prime Spock in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while audiences hope Zachary Quinto will return as the Kelvin timeline's Spock in another Star Trek movie.
