Shadows And Shades

Even those with only a slight familiarity with the Star Trek mythology probably know that Dr Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise, is something of a grouch. After all, he's a character given to barking, “I'm a doctor, not a [insert description here]!” So it's a bit of a kick in Star Trek Into Darkness, the new chapter in filmmaker JJ Abrams' reinvention of the much-loved sci-fi franchise, to see a flirtatious McCoy turning on the charm a bit when he's sent to a remote little moon with a fetching female science officer.

“It was wonderful to explore that aspect of his character, and others as well,” says Karl Urban, the New Zealand actor portraying McCoy in the new Star Trek saga. “McCoy is irascible, yeah, but he's also incredibly loyal and altruistic. At the heart of it all, he's a humanist. When we found him in the first film he was a bit adrift, then he stumbles across this crew, this group of people that becomes his new family. He loves them, he cares for them. And he would lay down his life for them.”

In Star Trek Into Darkness, he just might have to. The sequel sees the crew of the Enterprise, led by Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr Spock (Zachary Quinto), facing a powerful, cunning and ruthless adversary in the form of the mysterious John Harrison (Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch), who harbours a lethal grudge against Starfleet.

It's a story with a slightly darker and definitely more emotional tone than its predecessor, but Urban had faith in Abrams' ability to bring it to the screen fully-formed. “For better or worse, a film never turns out the way you first imagined it,” he says. “It's always a leap of faith. In this instance, though, we're working with JJ, one of the most gifted filmmakers currently behind the camera. He's a very fluid director – you could be in the middle of a scene and he may throw you a new line of dialogue or even rewrite the scene then and there and you have to be prepared for that. For me as an actor, it's a very exciting environment to work in. We're all there to energise these characters and present something new to the audience, and that's what JJ does.”

When it comes to his own character, Urban sees McCoy as a counterbalance to the analytical, rational Spock. “The character was originally devised by [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry in the mid-'60s to externalise this internal conflict that is raging within Kirk at any given time,” he says. “So he came up with the characters of Spock and McCoy to represent these two opposing factions within Kirk's head. Spock argues for rationality and logic, while McCoy represents passion and emotion. So they have these two characters debate whatever the dilemma is, and Kirk gets to take the best of both arguments and execute the best course of action.”

While the actor won't be drawn on the possibility of a third Star Trek adventure, Urban's creative relationship with Abrams is continuing with the upcoming TV pilot Human, a futuristic police drama overseen by Abrams in which Urban plays one of the first cops to be partnered with a human-looking android. “The premise of the series is that it explores that point in the evolution of mankind where we realise the genie is out of the bottle and there's nothing we can do to get it back,” says Urban. “To me, that is incredibly interesting, fertile ground. If we get picked up and get a chance to run with it, we'll get the chance to deliver a series that's fun and action-packed but also very thought-provoking.”

WHAT: Star Trek Into Darkness
In cinemas Thursday 9 May