Role of Captain Pike Has Been Cast

I am so happy to be able to report that one of my favorite actors has been cast in the important role of Captain Christopher Pike for the new Star Trek movie. We have been sitting on this for about a week now since first getting chirps from a little bird in our ear and was really hoping it would pan out to be true.

Actor Bruce Greenwood, who was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed, but ratings challenged HBO series “John From Cinicinnati” will don a Starfleet uniform and take charge of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 for the newest incarnation of Star Trek from director/producer J.J. Abrams.

Pike, the original character written by Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was played by Jeffrey Hunter in the first failed pilot episode of Star Trek titled “The Cage.” The only cast members from that pilot to survive the next pilot, which developed into a 3-year stint on NBC, were Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Majel Barrett (Number 1 – later Nurse Chapel). Hunter never returned when the show was picked up for a series and was replaced by William Shatner, who starred as the legendary Captain James T. Kirk. It was written into the storyline that Kirk took over command from Pike. The character was later seen in “The Menagerie,” the only two-parter in the original series. The episode spliced together scenes from the original “The Cage” pilot and incorporated an elaborate plot of kidnapping and intrique that put both Spock and Kirk’s careers in Starfleet in jeopardy.

Since the plot of this new film is rumored to pre-date Kirk’s command of Enterprise, the role of Pike is expected to be a pivatol one.

Some of Greenwood’s other genre-related work includes “Deja Vu,” “I, Robot” and “Mee-Shee: The Water Giant.” He will soon be seen with Nicolas Cage in “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and the TV miniseries government thriller “The Summitt.” He will also be doing voice work with John Travolta, Thomas Hayden Church and Woody Harrelson in the animated fantasy “Bolt.”

One of Greenwood’s most memorable performance was in the compelling drama “Thirteen Days” where he starred as President John F. Kennedy.