Chris Pine went to Sundance to promote his new movie Bottle Shock -- but when you're the new Captain Kirk, that's really all anyone wants to talk about. Fortunately, Pine has proven himself willing to oblige.

Case in point: Entertainment Weekly's interview with the actor, which he opened by jokingly referring to Star Trek XI as "a small independent [film]...kind of like Star Wars and Spaceballs combined." Asked whether he felt any pressure to "evoke William Shatner," Pine responded:

"I actually feel the exact opposite. I think the biggest mistake I could ever do would be to try to re-create what Mr. Shatner did. There are certain qualities that Kirk has that are vital for someone who is a leader of men. And those qualities, I definitely wanted to take from what Mr. Shatner did in the original series. But my job is to take something new, to take that and build upon it, really do my own thing. I just feel no pressure when it comes to that."

This lack of pressure might be at least partially due to Pine's wise decision to stay away from Web forums where his casting in the new Trek might be greeted less than enthusiastically. Admitting that "the Internet is not my friend in this case," Pine went on to try and soothe Trekkies' fears:

I can understand, I don't have that many credits and people are very worried that their Kirk is going to be destroyed. But I can only say that we're having a great time. J.J. [Abrams, the director] has been wonderful and the cast is phenomenal. I think what we're doing is very special.

For more on Pine's thoughts regarding Star Trek XI -- including a rather spoilerish tidbit involving Leonard Nimoy -- follow the link below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly