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Leonard Nimoy said this is what everyone got wrong about Spock
The actor revealed his biggest pet peeve while playing the human/Vulcan hybrid.
There's a moment in the Star Trek episode "The Apple" that provides a rare example of Mr. Spock losing control of his emotions.
About 18 minutes into "The Apple," Kirk asks Spock, as the science officer, to explain how reproduction works, and instead of matter-of-factly explaining the functions, he instead like a schoolboy awkwardly stumbles over phrasing and even clears his throat.
One of the central aspects of Spock's nature as half-Vulcan was to have the power to control his emotions, but Spock actor Leonard Nimoy said this was often the most confused aspect of the character.
You see, these momentary blips in Spock's logical delivery were very much intentional, meant to give the audience an occasional glimpse into the emotions Spock otherwise so carefully managed. He was half-human, after all!
"I've seen him described as a cold, unemotional alien," Nimoy told The Orlando Sentinel in 1978. "I don't think that's accurate. Spock is not unemotional — he's in control of his emotions. There is a pool of emotions in this character and the fun for the viewer is to see if they can catch a crack in his reserve or a gleam in his eye. That gives him more dimension. With no emotions, he would have no dimensions at all."
A decade earlier, in 1967, Nimoy assured The Ottawa Citizen that in his personal life, "I have my emotions pretty well under control."
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Still, to The Orlando Sentinel, Nimoy admitted it irritated him when fans called Spock unemotional, but he didn't think it was necessarily their fault for confusing Spock's true nature. He blamed the way some lazy critics would often inexplicably describe the character that way.
"I honestly don't believe the press has ever captured or understood what Spock was about," Nimoy said.
He also revealed he had long laughed at the worst of these critics, who published false stories claiming he was experiencing an identity crisis playing Spock.
"All this stuff about Spock dominating my life is a myth," Nimoy said. "You've seen the headlines: 'Is he trapped by the character?' I've been reading that stuff for years and I just laugh."
Nimoy said he thinks these publications were just inventing a story they knew would sell.
"They were just going for easy drama," he said, noting for the record he never suffered an identity crisis, because Spock is "just a character, after all."
Rather than feeling tortured by the character he was playing, Nimoy told The Ottawa Citizen, he looked up to Spock.
"I admire his logic," Nimoy said. "It's so uncluttered. I appreciate the ability to be precise. I like to think that I am logical — but sometimes I look back and wonder if the things I do are logical."
As evidence of this, early on in his career, Nimoy said he foolishly only saw acting purely as a vessel for portraying emotion, with no other nuance.
"When I first started as an actor, my work was over-emotional," Nimoy said. "I considered acting an opportunity to express emotions — and I took advantage of every opportunity I got. It took me a long time to discover that restraint can be admirable."
By 1967, he was past that phase and prepared to play his most restrained character ever, which he said was a civilized way of being, whereas being unemotional he saw as pathological.
"I've been in TV and films for 17 years — the work requires a great deal of emotional control, if for no other reason than that the actor must reproduce emotions," Nimoy said. "I think of myself as an instrument that's tuned and that can evoke the proper sounds and responses."
Although he admired how Spock could control his emotions, Nimoy said ultimately the mind is no substitute for the heart. Even those small moments in which we see Spock embarrassed provided necessary occasional proof that underneath that cool exterior, there was sometimes a squirming, emotional mess.
"I'm much more emotional than Mr. Spock," Nimoy admitted. "Spock rarely betrays what he is thinking or feeling. He's fun to portray."
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That is, until the money started pouring in. And oh yes, the popularity.
So I would question his reaction being quoted, “Nimoy said he thinks these publications were just inventing a story they knew would sell.” Indeed his own book did, as well as the sequel, “I Am Spock.”
Per the writer, I’m not sure how having the power to control one’s emotions was the most confusing aspect of the character. It was pretty clear throughout the series what the character was about. Even Kirk baited him many times to push home his character trait. With eyebrow raised Kirk asks, “Annoyed, Spock?” So in 1979 was basically 10 years of critics never understanding the show anyway, much less the co-starring unemotional alien, meaning it was a pretty easy handle to hang your critique on. And especially to appear being very sophisticated in the process. After all, television was only a few steps away from being the boob-tube.
The problem is that the author left out probably the most critical self-assessment that Spock/Nimoy could make: From “This Side of Paradise” and no longer under the influence of the "spores" he says to Laila, “I have a responsibility to this ship, to that man on the bridge. I am what I am, Leila. If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else's.”
If anyone was going to catch the true drift of this character (and probably a good portion of ST's purpose anyway) it would be summarized from that statement. And as it played out many, many times in the series, especially evidenced in “The City on the Edge of Forever” (when Spock reiterates about duty, “He knows doctor, he knows.” Namely that the human conflict is between responsibility, accountability, self-respect, principles (… you get the idea) and personal pleasure. Does a person serve at the whim of his own inclinations? Or does he put into play the values of reasoning and selflessness for a greater good?"
If it's that difficult a concept for people to grasp (whether observer, fan or critic) then maybe they shouldn’t be watching the Show. But I also don’t think I’d post an article without a decent amount of research (not just from easy interviews) but in terms of gathering a well-rounded assessment of what the Show meant to natural fans.
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But I remember clearly, when the "I Am Not Spock" book came out. And fans were crushed. None of these actors should distanced themselves from what gave them their fame. If they did it right, it was easy enough find other roles to stretch their skills.
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Let's go to: Which Bugs Bunny best matches your personality?
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Tonight will be Sci-Fi Night. I have some great movies to scare you. Some to laugh and even some to not knuckle up with fright. A great story Sci-Fi. A more scary one and of course Cheesy from way back one. Then to top it off a wonderful for all ages not so scary but delightful animation WALL-E.
It's also an episode that dealt with death and loss, which is something you didn't see very much on Saturday mornings back in the 70's.
