Matt Damon Turned Down ‘Star Trek’

I love the new Star Trek film, saw it twice at the cinema, and will likely pick up the DVD or Blu-ray over the holiday season as well. Part of the appeal is the incredible casting, with every role superbly matched to the actors chosen.

However, one of the smaller roles, that of George Kirk, James’ father who gets killed off early in the film to provide the inspiration for the as-yet-unborn James, could have gone to another actor, a much more established one than Chris Hemsworth who ended up playing the part.

Director J.J. Abrams told MTV:

“I did [approach Matt Damon], but not for the role of James Kirk. I went to Damon for the role of Kirk’s father, and he declined in the most gracious and understandable and logical of reasons.”

“We lucked out with Chris Hemsworth, and he did a great job. Maybe it would have been distracting to have someone as massively famous as Matt Damon in that role… The decision was made very early on to have actors who were not necessarily the most famous but the most right for the role.”

Abrams’ explanation comes as those early casting rumors are put to bed once and for all. Matt Damon was first mentioned as playing James T. Kirk alongside Gary Sinise and Adrien Brody playing McCoy and Spock respectively. I think the right decision was made in the end.

I’m wondering if the George character had a bigger role at the time Abrams approached Matt Damon. I just can’t see a Hollywood A-lister being happy playing a part with five minutes screen time leading to an honorable death. Then again, that could be why Damon said “No.”