Actor returns to Star Trek as chief engineer
From left, Chief Engineer Olson (Greg Ellis, left) James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Sulu (John Cho) embark on their first mission in "Star Trek." (Paramount)
Actor Greg Ellis has previous “Star Trek” experience: He performed in the final two episodes of “Deep Space Nine” and loaned his voice to a “Star Trek” video game. But his experience in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” prequel film, in theaters today, tops them all.
“It basically sets the whole thing up of how the original Enterprise crew came to be,” Ellis said.
He said Abrams was a wonderful director.
“He is crazy smart, intelligent, but also down-to-earth and very imaginative,” Ellis said. “It’s just a great experience. I’d work with him again in a heartbeat.”
Ellis said he isn’t a “Trek” fan himself but that he’d be drawn to this movie even if he weren’t in it.
“How the crew of the Enterprise came to be is really cool,” Ellis said. “And you match that with the writers and with a director like J.J. Abrams. There’s one action sequence alone in the middle of the film, which involves skydiving down to the Romulans’ orbital platform, and it’s an amazing sequence. It just takes your breath away.”
Ellis plays Chief Engineer Olson, the original chief engineer of the starship USS Enterprise. He said his scenes are primarily with John Cho, who plays Sulu; Bruce Greenwood, who plays Capt. Christopher Pike; and Chris Pine, who plays James T. Kirk.
“Chris is an extremely talented actor and an exceedingly charming young man,” Ellis said of the man who is at the heart of the “Star Trek” relaunch. “And also incredibly down-to-earth. I just hope he’ll keep taking my phone calls! I think he’s destined for good things.”
Ellis said he thinks Pine managed to respect William Shatner’s take on the role while moving the character forward, as well.
“It’s not easy shoes to step into and create,” Ellis said. “In some ways, he is creating the role, because it’s the prequel. But he’s also having to respect, like everyone else, what’s gone before.”
Upcoming for Ellis is the animated film “Foodfight,” starring Charlie Sheen and Eva Longoria.
“‘Foodfight’ is about the supermarket products after-hours; they come to life and are threatened by the brand-X generic brands who come in to steal their turf,” Ellis said. “All the small brands have to band together to fight the big generic brands.”
Ellis said it can be unusual to voice an animated character and then eventually hear your voice coming back at you in ways you hadn’t imagined.
“I did the sequel to ‘Garfield,’ and I remember on that, I would do sessions with the director, Tim Hill, and he’d give me a basic premise of what was going on, and he’d let me riff and improv,” Ellis said. When the movie came out, they’d taken snippets from those improvisations and worked them into the script.
“It’s always odd watching yourself as a small ferret, running up Billy Connolly’s trousers,” Ellis said. “I never aspired to running up Billy Connolly’s trousers when I wanted to be in show business, but some things don’t work out as planned.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
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