海角大神

After months of build-up and downright divisive pre-release speculation, has arrived in US theaters. The film has received an overwhelmingly favorable response from critics (read our ) and is poised to make big bucks at the summer box office 鈥� in spite of high-powered hold-overs like along with a surprisingly strong performance from .

Last week, we had a chance to chat with the film鈥檚 stars, including Alice Eve who plays the much-talked about Dr. Carol Marcus聽to discuss the latest Star Trek film, her upcoming projects, and what it was like joining the iconic Star Trek movie crew. We鈥檝e already posted our聽听(顿谤.听鈥�Bones鈥� McCoy) as well as (Lieutenant Commander Montgomery 鈥淪cotty鈥� Scott and聽Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, respectively).聽Make sure to check back in the coming days as we publish further interviews.

NOTE: The following is an abridged (and more concise) version of the interview with Alice Eve. You can read the entire transcript from our conversations with actress by clicking the link below:

• 聽(FYI: The unabridged version contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the film)

Next to Benedict Cumberbatch鈥檚 John Harrison, Alice Eve鈥檚 Dr. Carol Marcus was one of the most talked-about new characters prior to the Star Trek Into Darkness聽release. Fans poured over Eve鈥檚 haircut, uniform, and facial expressions in an attempt to figure out her role in the film ahead of time. Director J.J. Abrams even capitalized on fan obsession over the character 鈥� using a picture of .

However, the actress never let all the speculation distract her and, instead, tried to stay focus on the task at hand:

Alice Eve: I don鈥檛 follow that because it鈥檚 pretty damaging if you get too into that stuff. Obviously I have a bit of an awareness because I go to the internet like everybody else but I don鈥檛 get too involved in the details of those conversations just because it can hurt you if you stumble on something that鈥檚 not nice [...]聽Even with the internet aside there鈥檚 an element of JJ making an environment where you鈥檙e able to feel safe. If you feel safe there鈥檚 no fear or pressure. You feel that you鈥檙e just there to do your job and serve the movie that everyone鈥檚 making. There are thousands of people that go into making a movie like this. There鈥檚 us [the actors] but there鈥檚 the preproduction, there鈥檚 the post production and that amounts to a lot of eyes and ears and minds so you鈥檙e just a part of a big journey and a big bandwagon. You take it day by day.

In preparation for her role, Eve went back and rewatched the first season of the classic Star Trek series, along with several of the original films. Like many of the Star Trek reboot stars, the actress wanted to find a balance between developing her own interpretation of Dr. Carol Marcus while paying homage to the version played by聽Bibi Besch:

Alice Eve: I enjoy any sort of preparation. I love what I do. The process to doing what I do is to research it and to look into the depths of the person. Especially if there鈥檚 an established cannon such as there was with Star Trek so I enjoyed that process. That鈥檚 the process I enjoy; that鈥檚 the creation, that鈥檚 the building part of it. That鈥檚 why I do what I do.

Elaborating on what exactly she picked-up from聽Besch鈥檚 portrayal, Eve asserted that it was important to include 鈥減urpose鈥� and 鈥渟trength,鈥� elements that are clearly on display in Star Trek Into Darkness:

Alice Eve: I think that when Bibi [Besch] played her in the 1982 films with a real directness, a purpose and a strength. I definitely wanted to bring that to my Carol. But because JJ [Abrams] kind of split the timeline in 2009 it gave us a bit of room for our own interpretation. So obviously that was sort of liberating at the same time it was taking on the hallmarks of who she was as a person [...]聽She鈥檚 very strict with Kirk in the film in 鈥�82鈥� when they have that screen conversation she鈥檚 very strict about what she wants Kirk to do and the fact she has information at her disposal so with that information she鈥檚 direct to Kirk and I guess pedagogical is the word.

Still, there are major differences in the two versions of the character 鈥� most notably the addition of Eve鈥檚 English accent. In fact, Abrams was so concerned that the change would be a sticking point (Marcus had an American accent in the original series), he actually shot an expository scene where the character explains her own backstory 鈥� a scene that was eventually cut:

Alice Eve: There was one scene that we shot that didn鈥檛 make it into the film. That was about me explaining why I had an English accent; my mother moved to England when my father stayed in San Francisco to run Starfleet. I think that JJ felt that plot point wasn鈥檛 necessary and that you didn鈥檛 question it beyond the first moment. I think that made sense and we had a certain license with the split timeline.

Ben Kendrick blogs at .