Star Trek Actor Has Important Advice For Who Plays Spock’s Brother Sybok In Strange New Worlds

July 5, 2024

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Summary

Laurence Luckinbill advises future Sybok actor to focus on the character’s good intentions and not see him as a villain.
Luckinbill shared his experience working with William Shatner on Star Trek V and his interpretation of Sybok’s role.
His memoir, “Affective Memories: How Chance and the Theater Saved My Life,” is available for purchase.

Laurence Luckinbill, who played Sybok in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, has important advice for the next actor to play Spock’s Vulcan half-brother in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Sybok made a shocking comeback in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 7, “The Serene Squall” – 33 years after Luckinbill originated the role of Sybok in Star Trek V. Sybok did not appear in Strange New Worlds season 2, but it’s possible Spock’s older half-brother who eschewed logic for emotion could return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

In an upcoming exclusive interview with Screen Rant to discuss his memoir, “Affective Memories: How Chance and the Theater Saved My Life”, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Laurence Luckinbill offered his words of wisdom for whoever is eventually cast to play Sybok in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Luckinbill also spoke in depth about how he never saw Sybok as a villain and his conversations with Star Trek V director William Shatner. Check out Laurence’s quote below:

Hold on very hard to the idea that this is a man who really wanted to change the world that he knew to a better one, to a better world. And I’ve told the story before, but when Bill [Shatner] said, ‘Let’s meet to talk about how you see the role,’ we were supposed to have dinner, but we ended up at an orange juice bar with [us] standing in the corner. And he said, ‘Well, how do you see the part?’ and I said, ‘Lenin.’ And he said, ‘John?’ And I said, ‘No Vladimir Ilyich.’ And he said, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t a commie movie.’ I said, ‘No, no, that’s not my intention.’

My intention is the fact that all of these reformers start with the intention of making things better for people, for humans, freedom, equality, justice, all those things. But when they reach obstacles, and there are many people who don’t want the kind of government that the guy is projecting, then they start to get dictatorial. And that’s what happened when Sybok decided the key thing was to steal the Enterprise, which was a criminal act, and he knew that. But if you recall the ending, which I’m very, very fond of, where Leonard and I became brothers, and then I sacrificed myself for the community.

And so, I would tell anyone who’s got the new Sybok robes to remember, really, that his impulse is good, is really good. He is not a villain. He is someone who has made mistakes. You and I might make those mistakes. And in terms of trying to change your family or hold the community better, or something like that, you might get nuts and say, ‘No, you will do it this way.’ But the impulse [is] to make things better, and really, at its heart, is let me take your pain away. Let me make life better for you. So, that was what that is. That is my take on it. And I resisted the idea of being the villain. And I told Bill that. I said he’s not a villain. He’s a heroic guy. And he’s just, he’s just in the way of the legal stuff, you know. That’s what I would say.