Screen
May 1984
Written by John Stark
Reported by Susan Champlin

"I don't think anybody realized how intensely prepared I would be for the job."

In 'Star Trek II' Spock had given his life to save the crew of the Enterprise. Reading the mixed reviews of ST II "it suddenly struck me that I could do a better Star Trek movie. I know more about Star Trek than either of the previous directors." He was trusted with the directing of Star Trek, a $ 16 million production.

"I think I know when they [the other crew members] have been well used and when they've been ill used. I could call on them to do things that others might not know were there."

"For me the best stories were always humanistic ones."

The two- story house is partly decorated in shades of pink and aqua. "My wife's influence. I would just go beige with everything. I'm utilitarian in that sense."

Harve Bennett said that Nimoy is a combination of intensity and restraint. When There was a major fire near the Star trek III set, Nimoy continued filming, undistracted.

Viewers suddenly saw in him answers to questions in their lives. "I think the time lent itself to that," Nimoy says. "People wanted magical solutions, and I was a target for that. I had people tell me I was sent here as a vehicle for certain ideas that had to be transmitted to save mankind. I'd say 'Thank you very much, I am an actor, I play roles.'"

The public still saw him as 'Mr. Spock' in any role he played (Vincent van Gogh, Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Golda Meir...). Reviving the cult alien in the 1979 movie Star Trek was a difficult choice. "I twisted and turned and discussed and thought and lay awake nights and argued with myself. I listened to all the pros and cons, but I didn't have a choice. What I said when I finally made the decision was the truth. I said I didn't want to see a Star Trek film without Spock and that I wouldn't want anybody else playing him."