Written by Derek Kessler on
Friday, 10 August 2007
Trek Movie: Is the NBC hit Heroes becoming a proxy for Star Trek?. First there was the popular recurring role for George Takei (TOS: Sulu), then Dominic Keating (ENT: Malcolm Reed) was announced to recur in the 2nd Season and then series regular Zachary Quinto was announced as the new Mr. Spock for the new Star Trek movie. Earlier this week Heroes creator Tim Kring told E! News that he was looking "for another face that will have a very similar impact" to Takei when he came onto the show.
Now TrekMovie.com can reveal the ‘face’ Kring was talking about is none other than Nichelle Nichols, the original Uhura. Last week TrekMovie.com was told by a source about the Nichols casting and today had a chance to ask the actress herself about it (at the Las Vegas Creation Star Trek Convention). Nichols confirmed that she will have a recurring role, but couldn’t give any more details - noting the show’s penchant for secrecy. According to our source Nichols will appear in 5-6 episodes of the second season of Heroes.
Due to her hectic con schedule Nichols didn’t have much time, but did talk a bit about J.J. Abrams’ new Star Trek film. She said she was looking forward to the movie and was pleased to learn it will include the character Uhura. The original Uhura wasn’t aware of the latest report about Sydney Tamiia Poitier auditioning for a role in the film (possibly Uhura). However, Nichols said she knew Sydney Poitier (the father) well and gave her a bit of an endorsement saying "that would be beautiful…she’s beautiful."
