Will Zachary Quinto Leave Star Trek After Into Darkness?
This article is more than 2 years old
Will next year’s Star Trek Into Darkness be Zachary Quinto’s last go-round as everyone’s favorite son of Vulcan, Mr. Spock? That is one rumor currently making the rounds here on the interwebs.
The 35-year-old Pittsburgh native was just revealed as the villainous Bloody Face on the FX horror drama, American Horror Story: Asylum. Talking with Entertainment Weekly about his hesitancy to take the role after also playing the evil serial killer Sylar on the now defunct Heroes, Quinto hinted at his future with the J.J. Abrams-resurrected franchise.
After Into Darkness storms into theaters next summer, he wants to “go in a different direction,” career-wise. Worried about being typecast, he says, “It’s like an era of association with certain roles—a specific part like Spock, or a kind of part, like Sylar—is coming to an end. I think it’s safe to say this will be the last serial killer I’ll be playing for the foreseeable future.”
While that isn’t an out-and-out statement of his desire not to play Spock again, it gives the definite impression that he’s considering stepping away from the part. Right now we’re probably just reading too much into an offhand comment. Honestly, it seems doubtful he’d leave a blockbuster series, but it’s something to consider.
If this happens, what would the future of the new Star Trek franchise look like? Would they continue on with another Spock, or do something drastic like kill him off? Neither is a very viable option. Killing him off would screw up the timeline they established in the first film, not to mention create a tsunami of fan backlash. But it’s difficult to imagine anyone else in present-day Hollywood fitting the role as well as Quinto. Hell, he looks like the bastard child of Leonard Nimoy.
