Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born 26 August 1980; age 44), known simply as Chris Pine, is the actor who portrayed James T. Kirk in Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.
When it was originally announced that Pine was in negotiations to play Kirk in Star Trek, he was also in talks to star with George Clooney in the film White Jazz. This project would have reunited Pine with his Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan. [1] It was Carnahan who first broke the news that Pine had decided to do Star Trek instead of White Jazz. [2] Trekmovie.com soon after confirmed that Pine had signed on to play Kirk. [3]
Since being cast as Kirk, Pine has acquired an increased amount of recognition. The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Variety have all named him one of the rising stars to watch in 2009. [4] [5] [6] He was also named the Male Star of Tomorrow at the 2009 ShoWest exhibit in Las Vegas, Nevada. [7]
In 2010 Pine received two MTV Movie Award nominations in the categories Best Breakout Star and Biggest Badass Star for his work on Star Trek. [8] [9] Pine also received a Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards in 2009, two Teen Choice Award nominations in 2009, and a Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards in 2010 as part of the ensemble of Star Trek. The ensemble won the 2009 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards in the category Best Ensemble Cast.
Pine joined his fellow Star Trek co-stars and lent his voice to the video game Star Trek, which was released in 2013. Between January and May 2012, he filmed his scenes for Star Trek Into Darkness. Pine got the chance to conduct the orchestra during a visit to the recording of Star Trek Into Darkness's score composed by Michael Giacchino. [10]
Pine is the subject of a lawsuit by his former talent agency, SBD Partners, alleging breach of contract and seeking millions of dollars in commissions in part derived from his Star Trek work they allege they have been denied. The lawsuit provides some insight into Pine's salary for the next two Star Trek movies, claiming that he will get $1.5 million plus $500,000 in backend compensation for the second movie, and $3 million plus the same $500,000 for a third movie. Additionally, they claim Pine will get 5 percent of net merchandising revenue from the use of his name and likeness. [11]
In 2013, Pine received a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards in the category Choice Summer Movie Star: Male for his appearance in Star Trek Into Darkness. Another nominee in this category is former Star Trek: Voyager guest star Dwayne Johnson. [12] Pine appeared on card #36, titled Recruit James T. Kirk, card #56, titled Cadet James T. Kirk, card #84, titled Acting First Officer James T. Kirk, and card #101, titled Captain James T. Kirk, of the 2013 virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals. In 2014, Pine guest-starred with Patrick Stewart on Robot Chicken as "Captain Jake", the party-loving commander of the USS Enterprise-D's night crew.
On 26 June 2015, it was reported that Pine, as well as Zachary Quinto signed on for a potential fourth film in the alternate reality series of films. [13] He was to be paid about $6 million, double his original projected take. [14]
With the cancellation of Star Trek 4, Chris Pine's most recent appearance as Kirk came courtesy of a 2017 appearance on Saturday Night Live, albeit playing Shatner's Kirk instead of his own version.
Early life[]
Pine was born in Los Angeles, California. He is the son of Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise guest star Robert Pine and actress-turned-psychotherapist Gwynne Gilford. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English. He spent his junior year studying at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Career[]
Before Star Trek[]
Pine began his screen acting career with a role in a 2003 episode of ER. The episode, entitled "A Thousand Cranes", was co-written by VOY: "Pathfinder" scribe David Zabel. The episode also featured Brad Blaisdell, Michelle C. Bonilla, and Michael Buchman Silver. Pine followed his appearance on ER with guest spots on The Guardian (2003, with Erich Anderson, Tracy Middendorf, and Christopher Neiman), CSI: Miami (2003, with Wade Andrew Williams) and American Dreams (2004, with Ethan Dampf).
He made his film debut as the young male lead in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004, co-starring John Rhys-Davies). Pine then had the starring role in the independent thriller Confession (2005), opposite his father Robert as well as Bruce Davison and Kate Vernon. Afterward, Pine was cast in the male lead opposite Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck (2006).
After a guest spot on Six Feet Under in 2005 with Joanna Cassidy, James Cromwell, Ann Cusack, J.G. Hertzler, and Anne Elizabeth Ramsay, Pine played the lead role in Blind Dating (2006). He then appeared in the action film Smokin' Aces (2006), in which he and Star Trek: Enterprise guest actor Maury Sterling played two of the Tremor brothers, a trio of insane hillbilly mercenaries bent on accomplishing the title goal. Joseph Ruskin also made an appearance in this film.
In 2006, Pine starred in Carriers, featured Mark Moses. Pine then had the lead role in Bottle Shock, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2008 and ran for a limited US release starting in August 2008. This film also featured Kirk Baily, Louis Giambalvo, and Matthew Kimbrough in the cast.
After Star Trek[]
After Star Trek, Pine filmed Small Town Saturday Night (2010). He was also part of the ensemble voice cast of the 2009 short film Beyond all Boundaries. Others who lent their voices to this project include James Cromwell and William Sadler.
In addition, Pine worked on Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, in which he voiced the protagonist, a photon named Dave. The film also features the voice of the first actor to play James T. Kirk, William Shatner, making Quantum Quest the first and thus far only project featuring performances from both Kirk actors. Other voices heard in the film include Jason Alexander, Robert Picardo, and Brent Spiner. [15] [16]
On 22 January 2010, Pine participated in the fund-raising program Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief. He was among the celebrities who operated the phones for the benefit, along with his Star Trek co-stars Tyler Perry and Zoë Saldana, Star Trek: Voyager actress Jeri Ryan, Christian Slater, and Robin Williams.
Pine starred opposite Denzel Washington in Unstoppable (2010), in which Pine played a "newbie" train conductor hired to replace Washington's character. This became the last film directed by filmmaker Tony Scott, who committed suicide two years later. The supervising sound editor of Unstoppable, Mark Stoeckinger, also supervised the sound editing of Star Trek.
Pine next starred opposite Star Trek Nemesis actor Tom Hardy in This Means War (2012). Michael Papajohn worked on this film, as well, and Star Trek makeup head Mindy Hall was Pine's personal makeup artist on the movie. Joey Box was the film's stunt coordinator, while Lauro Chartrand, Zack Duhame, Terry Jackson, Chris Palermo, Susan Purkhiser, John Stoneham, Jr., Marcus Young, and Steve Kelso performed stunts.
Also in 2012, Pine starred in People Like Us, which was directed by Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness co-writer/producer Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman also co-wrote and executive-produced this film alongside his Star Trek writing and producing partner, Roberto Orci; Mindy Hall was the head of the film's makeup department. In addition, Pine was the voice of Jack Frost in the 2012 animated feature Rise of the Guardians.
After Star Trek Into Darkness, Pine appeared with Alice Eve in the video for Paul McCartney's single "Queenie Eye", alongside with many other actors and singers. [17](X)
Pine later played Jack Ryan in Paramount Pictures' Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014, featuring Seth Ayott and David Paymer).
Pine starred in the comedy Mantivities, which he co-wrote with several friends, including Enterprise alum Drew Howerton. He was also a producer on the film. [18] In addition, Pine made a cameo appearance in his Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan's Stretch (2014). [19] Pine also starred in Z for Zachariah (2014) [20] and played Cinderella's prince in Into the Woods (2014). [21] He played obnoxious kidnapping victim Rex Hanson in Horrible Bosses 2 (2014). In 2016, he reunited with Eric Bana in Disney's The Finest Hours, dramatizing the Pendleton rescue of 1952.
In July 2015 it was reported that Pine signed a multi-picture deal with DC to portray the character Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman and further sequels opposite Gal Gadot. [22]
In 2019, Pine reunited with Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins for I Am the Night, co-starring Golden Brooks and Leland Orser. He later starred in The Contractor (2022, with Gillian Jacobs).
Star Trek appearances[]
Pine appeared as Kirk in
- Star Trek films:
- Star Trek (First appearance)
- Star Trek Into Darkness
- Star Trek Beyond
Star Trek awards[]
Year | Film | Award | Result | Category | Shared with |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Star Trek | Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Won | Best Ensemble Cast | Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Clifton Collins, Jr., Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy, Jennifer Morrison, Chris Hemsworth, Winona Ryder, Tyler Perry, Faran Tahir |
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | Nominated | Breakthrough Performance | |||
Scream Awards | Won | Best Science Fiction Actor | |||
Nominated | Breakout Performance – Male | ||||
Teen Choice Awards | Nominated | Choice Movie Rumble | Zachary Quinto | ||
Nominated | Choice Movie Fresh Face Male | ||||
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards | Nominated | Best Ensemble | Zoë Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, John Cho, Ben Cross, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Clifton Collins, Jr. | ||
2010 | Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Nominated | Best Acting Ensemble | Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood | |
MTV Movie Awards | Nominated | Best Breakout Star | |||
Nominated | Biggest Badass Star | ||||
People's Choice Awards | Nominated | Favorite Breakout Movie Actor | |||
2013 | Star Trek Into Darkness | Teen Choice Awards | Nominated | Choice Summer Movie Star Male | |
2014 | People's Choice Awards | Nominated | Favorite Movie Duo | Zachary Quinto | |
2017 | Star Trek Beyond | Saturn Awards | Nominated | Best Actor |
Alternate reality films regular cast |
---|
John Cho • Simon Pegg • Chris Pine • Zachary Quinto • Zoë Saldana • Karl Urban • Anton Yelchin |
External links[]
- Chris Pine at the Internet Movie Database
- Chris Pine at Wikipedia