Summary
- J.J. Abrams' Star Trek helped launch the careers of Chris Pine, Zoe Saldaña, and Zachary Quinto into Hollywood stardom.
- The cast of the 2009 Star Trek reboot have gone on to star in major Hollywood films, showcasing their range and talent post-Star Trek.
- Each member of the Star Trek cast, from Zoe Saldaña to Chris Pine, has continued to amaze audiences with their diverse and powerful performances.
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies made household names of Chris Pine and his fellow cast members, who have multiple credits beyond the starship Enterprise. The cast of the 2009 Star Trek reboot were well on the way to becoming big stars, with Zachary Quinto rising to fame as sinister supervillain Sylar in Heroes, and Simon Pegg breaking Hollywood with Shaun of the Dead back in 2004. However, their casting as alternate timeline versions of the Star Trek: The Original Series cast pushed them into the stratosphere.
Star Trek was a box office smash on release in 2009, and the cast were soon in demand for a variety of roles, big and small, in major Hollywood movies. In the same year, Zoe Saldaña starred in Avatar, her first major step toward becoming one of the highest-grossing actresses of all time. In the 15 years since Star Trek released, its cast has gone from strength to strength, making it difficult to pick just one great role between each member of the USS Enterprise's crew.
Star Trek 2009 Cast & Character Guide
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek relaunched the movie franchise and reintroduced audiences to Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.
7 Anton Yelchin (Ensign Pavel Chekov)
Pat in Green Room (2015)
The late Anton Yelchin worked with an impressive list of auteur directors following the release of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek in 2009. The Chekov actor worked with Jim Jarmusch on Only Lovers Left Alive alongside Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, and starred in Paul Schrader's Dying of the Light alongside Nicolas Cage. Anton Yelchin's best role between Star Trek movies was in Jeremy Saulnier's gnarly crime movie Green Room. Yelchin played Pat, a member of a punk rock band who witnesses a brutal murder in the neo-Nazi bar they've been booked to perform in.
As the band try to make their excuses and leave, they find themselves in life-threatening danger as the neo-Nazis refuse to let them leave. Anton Yelchin is terrific at performing the panic of the situation, as he fights for survival against increasingly impossible odds. Green Room is also notable for featuring Star Trek: The Next Generation's Patrick Stewart as the group's leader, Darcy. It's a chilling performance from Stewart as he calmly copes with the brutal violence around him to try "reasoning" with Anton Yelchin's punk band.
Honorable mention: Jacob in Like Crazy.
6 Karl Urban (Dr. "Bones" McCoy)
Judge Dredd in Dredd (2012)
New Zealand actor Karl Urban has cultivated a reputation as a cult hero for his roles in Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Boys, and Thor: Ragnarok. Karl Urban's best role, however, is the performance where audiences never see his face. In Dredd, Karl Urban plays the titular law enforcement officer, who originated in the UK's legendary comic book anthology 2000 AD. Karl Urban nailed the character of Judge Dredd in a dazzling sci-fi action movie that was brilliantly evocative of the original comics.
Dredd was something of a labor of love for Karl Urban, who insisted on never smiling or removing the helmet throughout the shoot. Urban also insisted on riding Judge Dredd's iconic Lawmaster motorbike himself, completing his immersion in the role of the comic book legend. Judge Dredd's monosyllabic, no-nonsense approach to law enforcement was miles away from the wry comedy of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek, perfectly demonstrating Urban's range as an actor.
Honorable mention: Billy Butcher in The Boys.
Every Karl Urban Movie, Ranked From Worst To Best
New Zealand actor Karl Urban has steadily become one of the biggest stars in the world with his role in The Boys. Here's a ranking of all his movies.