This weekend, J.J. Abrams's follow-up to "Star Trek" hits theaters. "Star Trek Into Darkness" follows the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they look to take out a former Starfleet member who's gone rogue.
But before you check out the film, why not take a second to brush up on some "Star Trek" cast trivia? We've collected 17 of the most interesting tidbits about the newest Enterprise crew -- you know, for educational purposes.
1. Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) met prior to being cast for the “Star Trek” movie through a mutual personal trainer; now the two work out at the same gym together.
2. Benedict Cumberbatch's (John Harrison) full name is -- are you ready? -- Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch, and he was born in London on July 19, 1976.
3. Cumberbatch's parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, are both actors. His mother starred in "Men Behaving Badly" and "Only Fools and Horses," among other roles.
4. Pine's first credited onscreen acting role was as a drunk patient on “E.R.”
5. Karl Urban (Bones) was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and got his start acting on the New Zealand television series “Shark in the Park” in 1990.
6. Zoe Saldana (Uhura) is a trained ballet dancer.
7. Cumberbatch was involved in a carjacking while filming a TV series "To the Ends of the Earth" in South Africa. This would normally leave most people terrified, but, apparently, the "Sherlock" actor loves an adrenaline rush, having tried skydiving and hot air ballooning.
8. Urban was beat out by Daniel Craig for the coveted role of James Bond in "Casino Royale."
9. Zachary Quinto decided to pursue a career in acting at age 16, following his life-altering involvement in a serious car accident.
10. Cumberbatch used his gap year (the time between high school and college) during his prestigious post-secondary schooling to teach English at a Tibetan monastery.
11. John Cho (Sulu) was born in Seoul, South Korea, but he grew up in Los Angeles.
12. Cho is the lead singer of a band called Viva La Union (formerly called Left of Zed).
13. Pine reached out to the original Kirk, William Shatner, early in the movie's development to offer an olive branch, since Shatner felt he had been snubbed by not being included in the movie.
14. Like co-star Chris Pine, Quinto reached out to the original Spock, actor Leonard Nimoy, to prepare for his role.
15. Saldana cofounded a website, described as “the IMDB of the fashion industry,” called MyFDB (My Fashion Database).
16. Cho attended the same high school as Eva Mendes.
17. Zachary plays the banjo, and he reportedly brings one to the set on occasion. (What would you give to see Spock playing the banjo?)
[via IMDB, Biography.com, GeekSugar, Hollywood Reporter, TVGuide.com, ETOnline, the LA Times, DigitalSpy]
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