Speaking to
io9, Zachary Quinto - perhaps best known for his portrayal of 'Spock' in J.J. Abrams'
Star Trek reboot - talks briefly about where his character journey could go in the sequel, while praising director Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof. He also confirms that the romance story will likely stay alive in the sequel, while talking a bit about the number of Vulcans still alive after the race was almost completely wiped out in the first film.
Where do you think your character is in the second film, where do you think his character journey is going?
I wonder about that. I would imagine (this is just speculative), his planet's been destroyed, he feels a real imperative to rebuild his race. But he's in love with a human. There's probably some potential conflict in that dynamic, I would not be surprised, and I would be intrigued and excited by that if that were the case. Again, I have such implicit trust in all of those guys: Damon, Bob and Alex, and J.J. I feel like they're going to take us where we need to go. And we're going to follow them whole-heartedly.
Do you think they'll keep the romance story alive with you, and do you want them to?
I do think [so]. I don't see how they could just drop it. It may be fraught, I don't know!
Where is Spock now? He's one of the last few Vulcans.
He's not the only Vulcan, I think I said, "Of my planet's nearly 6 billion inhabitants, approximately 10,000 have survived." He's not the only one. But the odds aren't great. He has a bit of a cultural imperative to [help].
Would Spock really seek out more Vulcans, especially since he turned his back on their culture previously?
He turned his back by choosing not to go to the Vulcan Science Academy, but his culture has always been a very important part of who he is. It's an integral part of his internal fabric. I think if he's wrestling with feelings of guilt for having sort of embraced his humanity, then an event like this is the great equalizer, it levels the playing field. I don't think he's going to spend too much time feeling guilty. I think he's going to spend a lot more time doing the logical thing. Which is to help repopulate, help support, and help rebuild the race of people. His father was full full Vulcan, and he has a responsibility there, and he loves his father very much. I don't think he's that torn about it. I think he's done the best he can to straddle a really complicated circumstance.
What other questions do you have about the next film? What are you excited for?
I'm interested to see what the villain situation is. What are we fighting against, what is our mission? That's going to be really cool for me. I'm really excited to see the direction in which they take my character in general. I'm excited to see when this movie takes place, in juxtaposition to when we ended the first one. Where do we pick back up? What's happened to the characters since then? My sense is what's the dynamic like between Kirk and Spock? Is it all smooth sailing? I imagine that they're both so strongly willed, that there will be some continued friction... I'm just excited to read it and shoot it.
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban, J.J. Abrams' currently untitled
Star Trek sequel hits theaters sometime in 2012/2013.