Within weeks of our premiere, it became obvious that Leonard [Nimoy] and the character of Spock were becoming something of a national phenomenon. . . . And to be unflatteringly frank, it bugged me. . . . [Then, Gene Roddenberry] said to me the wisest thing he could possibly have uttered. He said, `Don't ever fear having good and popular people around you, because they can only enhance your own performance. The more you can play to these people, the better the show. '
Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy.
Leonard [Nimoy] was such a teacher for me. He was one of the most fully realized human beings I have ever known on every level - in his personal life with his personal relationships and his love for his wife and his evolution with his family. Then as an artist, as an actor, as a writer, as a poet, and as a photographer. He never stopped.
I knew who Leonard Nimoy was, and that he embodied what Star Trek meant to all the fans. But it wasn't until I started doing my research for this movie, and started going to fan sites, that I began to fall in love with these characters.