Katie and Kellie Cockrell appear in Star Trek Into Darkness in supporting roles but if you've seen the film, chances are you probably remember the scene they share with Chris Pine (James T. Kirk). Below, they talk with CBM about their experience on set and the meticulous attention to detail exhibited by director J.J. Abrams.
Image credit Angel V. Prado and Andrew San Jose Mark Julian: You guys are in one of this summer's most anticipated blockbusters, can you tell me about how you landed the part?
Kellie: We went in for the audition, we got the call and it just said, Untitled Project for April Webster casting. We knew she was a really big casting director but that's all we knew. Our agent said 'We think this might be for the next J.J. Abrams project, so whatever happens, you just need to go to this audition.' So we went in and it went really well, we felt good about it, we took direction from April during the audition. But then we didn't hear anything back for a month so we thought we didn't get it. Then there was a call back, which was actually a photo shoot and that too went really well but then again, we didn't hear anything back. But a few weeks later, they called us for a meet and greet with J.J. Abrams. So we went on set and there's the Enterprise and they were actually filming. Once they cut, J.J. walked over to us and was friendly and just really casual but then he asked us if we were ready to be on set and so that was the first time we knew that we got the part.
You both had a 'memorable' but brief scene with Chris Pine early in the film, what was that like?
Katie: It was incredible. You just kind of pinch yourself, you're on the Star Trek Enterprise, J.J. Abrams is directing, Chris Pine is laying next to me. It's really a crazy feeling, it was exciting. Chris was really nice, we actually talked about how he got into acting. He was very welcoming and handsome, obviously very charismatic. We did 10-12 make-up days for all of one scene so that really just shows how much of a perfectionist J.J. is as a director. He really make sure each character and each scene is perfect.
How long did it take for make-up?
Kellie: It was 10-12 days of 12 hours of make-up tests. It was really cool because we got to work with some of the best make-up artists in the industry. Dave Anderson, the head make-up artist, he's won Emmys. We started with a head cast, where they put our hair back and basically pour plaster over your whole head including your ears and your eyes so you can't see or hear anything and you have to wait for it to harden. That was kind of scary. We tried tons of different ideas and then we'd go on set and present it to J.J. Abrams, he'd look at it and we'd do lighting tests and shoot from different angles to see how it looked on film and then J.J. would critique it and tweak different areas and then we'd go back and do it again until he liked the final product.
Your careers are just taking off in terms of mainstream feature films but is there a specific genre you'd like to work in?
Kellie: I'm attracted to movies like Moonrise Kingdom, Life of Pi and I Heart Huckabees, the type of films that are a little quirky but beautifully shot. I would love to get into something like that.
Katie: Obviously at this point I'm super excited to get any role but if I got to choose, I'd love to do a romantic, real-intense love-story. Typical girl answers, right? [laughs] But I'd also like to do something like Game of Thrones.
Well, seeing as this is ComicBookMovie.com, I can't let you escape without throwing a few comic book questions your way. So I'm just going to put you on the spot, if you could play any superhero, who would it be and why?
Katie: I would pick Supergirl but call her Superwoman, I would pick a strong female superhero because I think that's important. And Superwoman can fly and she has all these great powers and a great costume.
Kellie: I would pick another strong female character like Catwoman. There's not enough strong female superheroes, plus she's hot.
Lets pretend you guys are on The Bachelor and the final three contestants are Wolverine, Superman and Iron Man. Who gets that last rose?
Kellie: Superman for sure.
Katie: Yeah.
Kellie: I'm just not digging all the hair on Wolverine. Although Hugh Jackman is pretty cool.
Ok, I'll put my nerd hat away. Before I let you go, what other projects do you have coming down the pipeline?
Kellie: We just finished an independent film called Feels So Good, its a teenage comedy film. When Kellie and I were reading the script we were laughing out loud, it was that funny. There's no set release date for it but it should be coming out in the next few months.
Katie: The cast includes Matt Shively (Paranomal Activity 4), Hutch Dano (Zeke and Luther), Rock Anthony (Glee), Brendan Robinson (Pretty Little Liars) and it was directed by Josh Stolberg (Conception). RELATED CONTENT: 60 STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS International Trailer Screengrabs J.J. Abrams On The Role Of The Klingons In STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS International STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Teaser J.J. Abrams Acknowledges The Wait For STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Running Time: 2 hrs 7 min
Release Date: May 17 2013 (USA)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (confirmed)
Starring: Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto John Cho, Peter Weller, Karl Urban and Chris Pine
Directed by: JJ Abrams
Written by: Alex Kurtzman (screenplay), Damon Lindelof (screenplay),Roberto Orci (screenplay), Gene Roddenberry (tv series "Star Trek")
"In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness. When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew."
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.