Quinto & Nimoy Talk Spock

It cannot be denied; even Spock would understand the tears shed during the Monday night screening of For the Love of Spock at the Tribeca Film Festival. The documentary, directed by Adam Nimoy, pays tribute to Leonard Nimoy, to Nimoy's most iconic character, Star Trek's Mr. Spock, and to the influence of both Nimoy and Spock on the world and those who loved the man and the character. On the red carpet and in the audience were Adam Nimoy and other members of the Nimoy family, as well as the franchise's current Spock, Zachary Quinto, and such Trek alums as Terry Farrell, Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor.

Following the screening, Quinto and Adam Nimoy joined For the Love of Spock producer David Zappone and Access Hollywood's Scott Mantz for Q&A panel moderated by Gordon Cox of the trade entertainment paper Variety. Zappone told the audience that there remains about "50 hours" of unused footage. Nimoy, reiterating what he told StarTrek.com the other day, said he never initially intended to include himself in the documentary. "My own story was bound up with (Leonard's) story," he explained. "It was my stepmother Susan (Bay) who said, 'You need to include your story, your own journey. It'll make it unique, your relationship with Spock and Nimoy.'"

Even now, though, there's still more of Adam in the documentary than he ever intended. "Very recently I was going through and looking to take out more Adam Nimoy stuff," he stressed, "because I didn't want it to be about me."


Quinto talked about how meeting Nimoy and "feeling embraced by Leonard" was a "turning point" in the younger actor's career and life, and in terms of playing Spock. "It developed into a profound connection," Quinto said of their relationship. "It became something more than playing a character."
Discussing the differences between his take on Spock and Nimoy's, Quinto pointed out that, "I think the humanity in my version is a little bit more bubbling to the surface. And that was a choice. We talked about the duality of the character. Leonard and I talked a lot about that."
Adam Nimoy initially planned to make the documentary in collaboration with his father. It morphed into something different upon Leonard's death in February, 2015, when they'd only gotten so far as the discussion stage. "I think he would have been pleased and proud," Adam said of the finished product. "My dad taught me a lot about directing and storytelling. I think we got to the essence of what we wanted to do."