Zachary John Quinto (born June 2, 1977) is an American actor best known for playing Sylar on Heroes and Spock in the 2009 film Star Trek.
Biography
Early life
Quinto, who is of half-Italian and half-Irish descent,[1] was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Green Tree, Pennsylvania with his mother Margo and his brother Joe.[2] His father, John, who was a barber, died of cancer when Quinto was 7 years old.[3] He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1995 and then attended Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, from which he graduated in 1999.[4]
Career
Quinto first appeared on television in the short-lived television series The Others, and appeared as a guest star on shows including CSI, Touched by an Angel, Charmed, Six Feet Under, Lizzie McGuire, and L.A. Dragnet. In 2003, he landed a recurring role on the Fox series 24, as computer expert Adam Kaufman. Quinto appeared in all but one of the third season episodes of 24.
Quinto during the Jules Verne Adventures Film Festival in Paris, 2007.
In 2006, Quinto played the role of Sasan, the haughty, gay Iranian-American best friend of Tori Spelling on her VH1 series So NoTORIous. Later that year, he joined the cast of NBC's Heroes as the quiet, insecure, and dangerously superpowered serial killer Sylar.[5]
Quinto at the
Heroes Season Three Premiere Party in September 2008.
His casting as a young Spock in the J. J. Abrams-directed reboot of the Star Trek film franchise was officially announced at the 2007 Comic-Con.[6][7][8] Speaking alongside Leonard Nimoy at a press conference to promote the new Star Trek film, Quinto revealed that Nimoy had been given casting approval over who would play the role of the young Spock. "For me Leonard's involvement was only liberating, frankly,"[9] says Quinto. "I knew that he had approval over the actor that would play young Spock, so when I got the role I knew from the beginning it was with his blessing."
In a September 2008 interview, Star Trek director J. J. Abrams said of Quinto's performance as Spock: "Zachary brought a gravity and an incredible sense of humor, which is a wonderful combination because Spock's character is deceivingly complicated. The revelation for me watching the movie, when I finally got to watch the whole thing after working on sequences, was that he is extraordinary. He was doing things I didn't even realize while we were shooting - these amazing things to track his story."[10]
Following Star Trek, he appeared in the comedy short Boutonniere (2009), explaining it "...was a movie written and directed by my former landlady and friend [actress Coley Sohn]. She called up and said, 'Would you do me a favor and be in my short film?' I played this very brief but extreme, funny character.... [I]t's had a fair amount of success on the festival circuit."[11]
Today, with his Star Trek and Heroes body of work, Quinto hopes to capitalize on his cachet by adding to his artistic endeavors as a producer. Teaming up with Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson, both 2000 graduates of Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama, he recently formed Before the Door Pictures, a production company named after the school's acting exercise.[12]
According to the official website for Before the Door Pictures, the company is working on projects in film, television, new media, and the graphic novel arena. In July 2009, Quinto, Moosa, and Dodson announced a three-book publishing deal with a comic book publisher called Archaia at the San Diego Comic-Con. The first project from the partnership will be a 100-page graphic novel called Mr. Murder is Dead, created by writer Victor Quinaz. The second project will be a comic book series called LUCID: A Matthew Dee Adventure written by writer/actor Michael McMillian, who appears on the HBO series True Blood as the Reverend Mike Newlin.[13]
Film and television
- The Others, 2000
- Touched by an Angel, 2001
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Anatomy of a Lye"), 2002
- Off Centre, 2002
- Lizzie McGuire ("Party Over Here"), 2002
- Haunted, 2002
- The Agency, 2002
- Six Feet Under, 2003
- Charmed ("Cat House"), 2003
- Miracles, 2003
- Dragnet, 2004
- 24, 2003-2004 (23 episodes)
- Hawaii, 2004
- Joan of Arcadia, 2004
- Blind Justice, 2005
- Crossing Jordan, 2006
- Twins, 2006
- So NoTORIous, 2006 (10 episodes)
- Heroes, 2006–present
- Robot Chicken, 2008
- Bordeaux, 2008
- Star Trek, 2009
- Hostage: A Love Story, 2009
- Untitled Star Trek sequel, 2011
Audiobooks
Quinto was the reader of the audiobook version of the 2009 novelization of Star Trek.
References
- ^ Rob Owen (2006-04-02). "The Insiders: 4/2/06". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.pittsburghpost-gazette.com/pg/06092/678228-42.stm.
- ^ http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/zachary-quinto/bio/191120
- ^ Hollywood.com: Zachary Quinto
- ^ Carnegie Mellon University Alumni: 1999
- ^ "Sylar coming back next season on 'Heroes'". Access Hollywood on MSNBC. 2007-07-13. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19214539/. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ^ Owen, Rob (2007-07-24). "Pittsburgh native to play Spock in new Star Trek". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07205/803985-100.stm. (dead link)
- ^ Pascale, Anthony (2007-07-23). "Quinto as Spock deal almost done". Trekmovie.com. http://trekmovie.com/2007/07/23/e-reports-quinto-as-spock-deal-almost-struck/.
- ^ Weeks, Adam (2007-07-25). "Zachary Quinto Is Spock". Moviehole.net. http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070725_zachary_quinto_is_spock.html. (dead link)
- ^ "Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto: The Two Faces of Spock". SuicideGirls.com. 03 May 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Leonard+Nimoy+and+Zachary+Quinto%3A+The+Two+Faces+of+Spock/. Retrieved 2009-03-04. .
- ^ "J.J. Abrams on TV's Fringe". SuicideGirls.com. September 5, 2008. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/J.J.+Abrams+on+TV%27s+Fringe/. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ Lovece, Frank. "Zachary Quinto is 'Spock' in new 'Star Trek'", Newsday.com, May 6, 2009. Extended online version of print article, p. B4
- ^ Owen,Rob . "A Stars Trek'", www.carnegiemellontoday.com, April, 2009.
- ^ [1], Before The Door Pictures official website, July 2009.
External links
