William Shatner reportedly said “Who the hell is that guy?” and so did we, when we found out who was playing Kirk. Pine’s not a big name, with only supporting roles in Bottle Shock and Smokin’ Aces, and he isn’t a dead ringer for the Shat either. But he’s got the cockiness down.

This weird-looking guy called Zachary Quinto takes off the bowl-cut wig and the pointy ears at the end of the shooting day and still looks a bit odd. You might recognise him from the TV show Heroes, in which he played the bad guy called Sylar.

Aucklander Karl Urban tosses free his action-man shackles and embraces his sense of humour as the medical expert aboard the Enterprise. Urban told us he wouldn’t want to be a doctor in real life: “I don’t think I could handle the sight of blood or intestines.”

Saldana had a very small role in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Her post-Star Trek career sounds more interesting – 3D sci-fi epic Avatar, an African-American remake of Death at a Funeral, and the DC Comic adaptation The Losers.

Gay icon George Takei’s character of a Japanese-American helmsman gets replaced by a Korean-American – John Cho, aka Harold from Harold and Kumar. He doesn’t get many lines in the new movies, but makes the most of what he does have, including a nice little bit of armed combat.

Russian-born Anton Yelchin, last seen in Charlie Bartlett, will play the youngest crew member on the Enterprise – a sort of boy genius. His greatest challenge is still pronouncing w’s. Fan boys are annoyed that his hair is now curly.

British slightly-in-danger-of-being-overexposed comedian Simon Pegg masters the Scottish burr in his role as the ship’s engineer / comic relief. Of all the actors, Pegg probably resembles his counterpart the least.

Star Trek is now playing in cinemas. Read more on the film and check session times or watch the trailer.