Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Matt Damon Turned Down 'Star Trek' Role

Matt Damon doesn’t want to boldly go where no man has gone before.

J.J. Abrams, the director behind "Lost" and this summer's highly anticipated "Star Trek" prequel told Life Magazine he originally wanted Matt Damon for the role originated by William Shatner.

Abrams shared, "I actually approached Matt and we had some discussions, but everything happens for a reason. On the one hand, it would have been great to work with Matt -- but at the end of the day, it was such a better move to cast the movie with unknowns."

The ‘unknowns’ Abrams is referring to are led by Chris Pine as the Starship Captain John Kirk.

Abrams hopes the cast will add to the depiction of beloved franchise characters.

"It is fun to discover the stars of tomorrow, but even more so, just like with the first Star Wars, you didn't know who those people were when you saw the movie,' Abrams explains. "You believed that guy was Luke Skywalker. You didn't recognize him from six other movies. You bought into who this guy was. It is a slippery slope when you cast any actor that is somewhat known. We weren't beholden to any fame meter."

Star Trek will be released next month and costars John Cho, Simon Pegg and Winona Ryder.


Below is the most recent movie trailer, which includes an appearance by the original Dr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy.


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