Quinto: Spock, Sylar Are Similar

Spock and Sylar: separated at birth? Not likely, but actor Zachary Quinto--who plays the younger version of the iconic Vulcan in J.J. Abram's Star Trek movie, as well as the brain-sucking villain on NBC's Heroes--told reporters that there are similarities between the two characters.

"I think there's elements of the characters that echo each other, but I think they echo each other through very different, opposite ends of the spectrum," Quinto said during a conference call with reporters. "Each of the characters employs a stillness and a sort of rich internal point of view that informs the way that they behave and the way that they relate to people around them."

Quinto added: "It's great fun to have characters that are rich and that are full of challenge and full of rewards. Both of these characters are clearly that. So as an actor I don't really approach a character as to whether or not it's good or bad. I just approach a character as to where it lives in me, and I think for numerous reasons both of these characters, these very different characters, find life in me."

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The original Spock, Leonard Nimoy (left), shared a press conference with the new Star Trek's young Spock, Zachary Quinto.

Quinto shot Star Trek during his most recent hiatus from Heroes, which kicks off its third season this month. He veered from playing Sylar to playing Spock to playing Sylar again. But Quinto didn't consider it a relief to let loose again as the murderous Sylar after several months of essaying the logical Spock.

"I think that's the thing, that's kind of one of the similarities," Quinto said. "Both of these characters are very contained and very controlled, so [it's only] letting loose in the sense of engaging in or indulging in these sort [of] instincts or impulses to murder and let loose in a violent kind of way."

Returning to Sylar was kind of like coming home, Quinto said, "when we came back to work on the show after going away on a new and unchartered excursion with the movie and the sort of scale and size of the franchise and the iconic nature of the character that I was stepping into. There was a tremendous sense of completion when I finished the film and a tremendous sense of familiarity when I came back to the show."

Star Trek will beam into theaters on May 8, 2009. NBC will launch season three of Heroes with a two-hour premiere on Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. (NBC is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) --Ian Spelling