No Bones About It

Wellington-born actor Karl Urban, 36, is Dr Leonard “Bones” McCoy in director J.J Abrams’ Star Trek and for Urban, “the elephant in the room was to embody DeForest Kelley’s character without falling victim to mere impression,” writes the San Francisco Examiner’s Rich Bunnell. “The challenge for me was to really identify the spirit and essence of what Kelley’s McCoy was,” Urban says. “He had the most appalling bedside manner, but to me he had a heart of gold — he was never afraid to speak his mind, no matter the consequences.” Luckily for Urban — previously worshiped by an entirely different cult for his role as Eomer in the Lord of the Rings films — Abrams also perpetuated an environment on the set in which the cast and crew didn’t feel burdened with the need to live up to four decades of Star Trek history. “Often the challenge was to stop laughing before the cameras started rolling.”