Like his predecessor William Shatner, Christopher Whitelaw Pine was relatively unknown by the general public when he landed the role of James T. Kirk, but in Hollywood circles he was one of the hottest young actors in town. In fact, while he was in talks in 2007 to play science fiction's most iconic leader in the J.J. Abrams "Star Trek" film, he was faced with a conflict between that and a starring role opposite George Clooney in a film noir crime drama called "White Jazz." He chose Kirk, and now Chris Pine is one of the most prominent figures in the Star Trek universe.

Born August 26, 1980, in Los Angeles to a show business family, Pine got his first acting job at age 23 with an episode of ER, followed closely by The Guardian and CSI: Miami. He hit the silver screen in 2004 with "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," in which he played one of several love interests to Anne Hathaway's character. He gained greater notice in 2006 as the male lead opposite Lindsay Lohan in the romantic comedy "Just My Luck," even though that film was a flop. But then he really earned street cred by chewing up the scenery as the neo-Nazi assassin "Darwin Tremor" in "Smokin' Aces." ("Aces" was directed was Joe Carnahan, who desperately wanted him for "White Jazz," but supported Pine's ultimate decision and wrote in his blog, "You don't get opportunities like that often and I told him as long as he could control as much of that process as possible and not get sucked into doing lesser sequels as a result of taking this gig, then good luck and God bless.")

On television, Pine has also appeared in American Dreams, Six Feet Under and the TV movie "Surrender Dorothy." On the big screen he starred in another romantic comedy called "Blind Dating," in which he played the sightless lead who falls for an Indian woman, and just prior to "Star Trek" he filmed the independent features "Bottle Shock," "Carriers" and "Small Town Saturday Night," each scheduled for release in 2008. Earlier in 2007 he also graced the stage in a play by Neil LaBute called "Fat Pig" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.

Even before being cast as Kirk, Pine already had a connection to Star Trek through his father. Robert Pine played a Delta Quadrant politico named "Liria" in Voyager's "The Chute," and the emotional Vulcan leader "Tavin" in Enterprise's "Fusion." The elder Pine also co-starred in CHiPs alongside Michael Dorn.

In addition, Pine's grandmother was the late Anne Gwynne, who was known as one of the first "scream queens" in Hollywood horror films, as well as a popular pin-up girl during World War II.