It turns out the fighting in the action-packed Star Trek Beyond wasn’t all just movie magic.
On the red carpet for Wednesday’s world premiere of Star Trek Beyond at San Diego Comic-Con, Star Trek alums Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and Zoe Saldana were joined by newcomers Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella and director Justin Lin.
Beyond, which hits theaters this Friday, sees the crew of the USS Enterprise separated following an attack lead by the villainous Krall ( Elba) that leaves them stranded on a hostile, mysterious world.
Elba said that it didn’t take long for him to get comfortable with the cast, especially the set’s resident Captain Kirk, saying, “We had laughs. Chris and I had laughs, and then I gave him a black eye.”
When asked to explain further, Elba offered: “Well, we were doing a fight scene, and he got a bit cheeky, and I was just like pow!” He added: “I didn’t mean to do it, but Chris was quite proud of it.”
When asked about the incident, Lin explained with a laugh: “This cast goes all out, and I like to challenge them. We were shooting this third-act fight, and I kept pushing to get the right angle, to the point where Chris just got hit.”
But all’s well that ends well, because the black eye ended up finding its way into the movie. Lin said, “Continuity-wise, it worked out. That black eye played so well in the rest of the movie.”
When asked how it was coming into an established cast and crew who had been working together since 2009’s Star Trek, Elba said the experience was unnerving, at first.
“The cast and producers and the crew are really welcoming, but it’s daunting. You walk in, and you are supposed to be a leading guy and bring this new energy. And it’s a lot when you think about it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Elba found a kindred spirit in Lin, who took over directorial duties from J.J. Abrams, who helmed the rebooted Star Trek in 2009 and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and acted as a producer on the third installment of the Paramount franchise.
“He had come into it kind of late too. So we both were there going, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?'” Elba added: “He was very collaborative form the beginning and really knew his stuff.”
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