The shipmate girl pirate in Pirates of the Caribbean played a particularily small role. Now Zoe Saldana will be enlisted once again to serve on another ship. Also filling the shoes of a small role.
Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl) has signed on to play Uhura in J.J. Abrams’ big-screen adaptation of Star Trek for Paramount Pictures, Variety reported. The casting was rumored on the TrekMovie.com Web site.
In the original Star Trek TV series, Uhura—whose name means freedom in Swahili—was a member of the bridge crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise who rose to the rank of commander. Nichelle Nichols played the Starfleet Academy alumna in the series.
One of the most iconic secondary characters in the original Star Trek series was Uhura. Despite being a very minor role with no real storyline hook, this character was an inspiration to the African American community, specifically NASA astronaut Mae Jemison and Whoopi Goldberg.
I find it interesting that they are giving a role to this character. Among the secondary stars the character of Uhura is at the bottom of that list. It was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that talked the original actress in sticking with the role that she wanted to quit because it was so insignificant.
Perhaps bringing attention to this character will have more fulfilling meaning in this pseudo reboot of Star Trek.
Do you think Uhura is “needed”? Are you hoping she has a more impressive role?
