NUTSHELL TALKS TO LEONARD NIMOY - 1982

The magazine for the college community
Fall 1982

Interviewer:  Tim Smight

NUTSHELL: Star Trek first appeared on television back in 1966, when many of today’s college students were still in nursery school. A lot of students have literally grown up watching those old TV episodes, and they still watch them today. What do you think accounts for their life- long devotion?
NIMOY: Star Trek has always had a very loyal following on college campuses. Students tend to have bright, inquiring minds, and I think they find the show appealing for a number of reasons. They can identify with the science fiction, with the futuristic hopefulness of the show, and with the family of characters. On an intellectual level, many students find some of the philosophical ideas put forth in the show very stimulating. Or they may simply enjoy it as pure escapist adventure.
I think these different levels of reaction to the show also account for its longstanding appeal. Kids watching the show at age 10 or 12 or 14 may see it at one level, and maybe live or six years later, when they’re in college, they will see an episode again and realize there is a philosophical aspect to the show that they weren’t conscious of before. So they "discover" Star Trek all over again.

NUTSHELL: Speaking of Star Trek’s family of characters, the character of Spock especially seems to have a great deal of appeal for students. Why is that?
NIMOY: Above all, I think students enjoy the intelligence of the character. Spock is also a very well-centered character, a guy who knows what he’s supposed to do with his life. He’s dependable, and you can count on him; he’s not going to let you down. He’s logical and precise, yet he has a good sense of humor. And his humor is intelligent. There’s a lot of good stuff there for a person to identify with.

NUTSHELL: Spock’s inner conflict— the battle between logic and emotion— has always been central to his character. Why is Spock always trying to suppress his emotions, to reject his human half?
NIMOY: He was raised on Vulcan. One doesn’t want to be emotional when one is functioning as a Vulcan.

NUTSHELL: Would you say Spock sees human characteristics as inferior?
NIMOY: I’d say he looks at them... sympathetically. "Inferior" suggests that Spock considers himself to be a superior being. I don’t think that’s true. I’m more comfortable with the idea that he has chosen his way. Because of his Vulcan upbringing, his exposure to Vulcan culture, attitudes, and philosophy, he has made his choice. Having made his choice, he is working at fulfilling it and denying the other road, which is more humanist.

NUTSHELL: Still, in his never-ending arguments with Dr. McCoy, Spock always seems to be putting down humanity.
NIMOY: Yes, that’s true. But not because he considers humans inferior. He may, in his arguments with Dr. McCoy, suggest that his way is better. But McCoy does the same thing, doesn’t he? He accuses Spock of being something less than sensitive or caring. I don’t think that either side should be taken seriously just on the basis of those conversations— which are battles between two friends who relish their differences, I think. You also must remember that Spock is a scientist, which compounds his commitment to logic. It’s not just the fact that he’s a Vulcan.

NUTSHELL: Would you say that Spock’s inner battle between logic and emotion is a magnified version of what goes on within a lot of men in our society?
NIMOY: Yes, I think so. I think you can reduce it to the concept that man is told he should be calm, logical, and in control; that those qualities represent masculinity. Yet at the same time there may be sensitive, not-quite-so-macho concepts or feelings going on inside—feelings that the male has been told he should repress in order to appear more as an in-control, masculine man.

NUTSHELL: Do Spock’s Vulcan character traits represent what we might call the "ideal" male?
NIMOY: Perhaps in the traditional view. But I think that concept has changed. The "ideal" male today is one who has achieved more of a balance between the controlled and the emotional sides. I do think, however, that Spock is admired somewhat because he is always so much in control, so dependable in that way.

NUTSHELL: How much of Spock, if any, would you say is Leonard Nimoy?
NIMOY: It’s hard to give a percentage mix. I can’t really draw the line and say that’s where Nimoy stops and Spock starts. There’s a lot of me in various aspects of the character; in others he’s entirely different from me. I might say I understand all aspects of Spock. And some of the special Vulcan touches are purely me.
NUTSHELL: Such as?
NIMOY: Spockian humor, for example. One day when we were shooting, somebody said something and I turned and raised an eyebrow at him. They saw it in the projection room the next day and fell down laughing, so they started writing material to which I would give that kind of response. There was an episode in which I was supposed to hit somebody over the head with the butt of a gun and knock him out. I decided that was kind of gross for a Vulcan and suggested the neck pinch that Vulcans could apply to the human anatomy to render a person unconscious. The Vulcan greeting of the separated fingers came from my background in Judaism; it’s used in Orthodox services. Spock’s manner of speaking — the semi pedantic, arched style—just kind of developed through my interpretation of the material as I saw it on the page.

NUTSHELL: Notwithstanding Spock’s fate in Star Trek II, will we be seeing more of him in any future Star Treks?
NIMOY: All I can tell you is this: there is always hope for the future. This is science fiction, after all.

NUTSHELL: A very Spockian response.
NIMOY: Thank you.