For the Love of Spock
{5/5} “There are 500 or 1000 who could play our characters effectively. There’s only one person who could play Mr. Spock.” — Walter Koenig
For the Love of Spock, released in 2016
Leonard Nimoy worked for many years doing odd jobs while he did intermittent acting work. His first acting job that lasted more than 2 weeks was Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry saw him in The Lieutenant and wanted him for his show. The character of Spock partly came as the result of playing off the effusive William Shatner, as well a director’s comment that Spock should have a scientific response to what’s happening. Nimoy’s hard work has an effect on his family — and on the world.
This is a documentary released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and focusing on the character of Spock and the actor who played him.
It includes interviews with William Shatner, George Takei, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Dorothy Fontana, Neil deGrasse Tyson, as well as Nimoy family and friends.
One nice part is the footage where Nimoy reads the original Variety review of the show, which was quite negative.
There are some great things here, including insight into how Leonard Nimoy created the character.
It’s a very personal documentary, as it was made by Nimoy’s son. All Star Trek fans will want to watch it.
Directed by Adam Nimoy (a couple of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation).