Speaking with
Empire Online, Alice Eve (Dr. Carol Marcus) and Benedict Cumberbatch (John Harrison) discuss J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated sequel
Star Trek Into Darkness. Eve talks in detail about the audition process for landing the coveted role, and reveals when she found out that she was cast.
"Mine was actually completely different to Benedict’s – mine happened over a longer period of time, much earlier on in the process. (Turning to Benedict) You were finding out at the end of December 2011, for me it was at the end of September, October I think it was…
"All very civilised, really. I met J.J. a couple of times, read for him, met with him, spoke with him, and then he called me up! I was driving when he called and I got shaky, I thought I was going to crash, so had to pull over into this little car park. He kept saying all these things to me in his rather charming way and I didn’t really know what he was getting at, and this went on for, like, 10 minutes before I said, “J.J. I’m so sorry, I just have to clarify, are you offering me the job? Because before I say that I’d lay my life on the line, I will eat real live frogs for you, Sir J.J. Of Abrams, I need to know if I’d be doing it for the benefit of the job…” He goes, “Yep, I’m giving you the job. I think that’s what happening, yes.” So I said, “That’s wonderful, thank you, I’d love to do it!”" When the first official still from
Star Trek Into Darkness was released, many were speculating that the film is joining the new trend of having a villain captured, but it was all part of the plan. This plot device was used in
The Dark Knight,
The Avengers and most recently
Skyfall. Cumberbatch confirms that he's well aware of these comparisons.
"Yep, all three of those films, and I’m quite worried about it – though they are great films, with great villains – but so what if they do? Not all of those bad guys had Enterprise costumes on, and that’s what matters. But it’s very exciting, that scene, that was a great sequence to film." Finally, Cumberbatch talks about the difficulties of living up to Trekkies' very high expectations.
"If you have an over preoccupation with perception and trying to please people’s expectations, then you can go mad. We’ve got J.J. Abrams, and he’s already beautifully cracked that nut in the first film, and I think it pleased a lot of the varying camps: people who were coming to the franchise for the first time, the J.J. Abrams fans and the Star Trek fans, so that was a big comfort to me.
"It’s always a compact between me and the writers and the directors – the people who are hiring me to do the job – and if I’m making them happy, I can trust that it’ll make fans happy as well… You know, ‘Sherlockies’ – as they’re probably known now, after Trekkies – have a long history. Jeremy Brett and Basil Rathbone are huge icons, playing a character that’s been taken on by different people over 70 times – you know, it’s the most played fictional character of all time – so having done two series of that and being reasonably confident we’re doing all right with it, and I’m doing all right with him, I’m not… overly confident about this, but I’m just saying it’s something you don’t let preoccupy yourself." For Empire's full chat with Cumberbatch and Eve, in which they share their thoughts on some of the film's characters, click the source link below.
Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve and Anton Yelchin. The film is set to hit theaters May 17th.
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