The character of John Harrison in STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS is the most talked about element in the upcoming JJ Abrams sequel. Below, Benedict Cumberbatch describes his villainous character, and Abrams describes the character’s back story to a certain extent.
Cumberbatch: “When J.J. described the role to me… he described someone who was, in movie terms, a mixture of Hannibal Lecter, Jack in ‘The Shining,’ and the Joker in ‘Batman,’…He’s someone who has enormous physical strength. He’s someone who is incredibly dangerous, both as a physical entity and through the use of various technologies and weapons and who performs acts of what I would describe as terrorism. He’s also a psychological master. He manipulates the minds of those around him to do his bidding in a very, very subtle way.“
Abrams: “His name is John Harrison and he is sort of an… average guy who works in an organization called Starfleet…and he turns against the group because he has got this backstory and this kind of amazing secret agenda. After two very violent attacks, one in London and one in the US, our characters have to go after this guy and apprehend him. And it is a far more complicated and difficult thing then they ever anticipated. ‘Into Darkness’ is very much about how intense it gets and really what they are up against.“
The film opens May 17th, 2013 and after Cumberbatch, stars Chris Pine, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Zachary Quinto, Peter Weller, Alice Eve, and Karl Urban.
