The pieces are continuing to fall into place on the USS Enterprise.
Drumline star Zoe Saldana is in final talks to play Uhura in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek prequel, which will follow Kirk and Spock before they became the storied commanders of sci-fi's most famous ship, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The 29-year-old New Jersey native joins a lineup that already includes Anton Yelchin as a greener version of Russian navigator Pavel Chekov, played by Walter Koenig in the original TV series and seven feature films, and Zachary Quinto as young Mr. Spock.
Saldana's Uhuru, the Enterprise's chief communications officer, was famously embodied by Nichelle Nichols on both the big and small screen.
And while all of the young castmembers have plenty of previous material to study as they shape their characters, Quinto, at least, will have the chance to see the original Spock in action. Abrams announced at Comic-Con in July that Leonard Nimoy will have a beefy cameo in the new film.
Only Abrams and screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (and probably a few others) know for sure how beefy, however, as key plotlines are being kept tightly under wraps.
"People have been asking me why I'm doing this movie, and I think the answer is obvious—we have a great director, a wonderful script and a wonderful young actor playing Spock, so…it was logical," Nimoy said at the time. The 76-year-old actor hasn't appeared in a Star Trek film since 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Abrams' film is currently slated for a Dec. 25, 2008, release.
Before she reports for duty on the Enterprise, however, Saldana is busy filming James Cameron's first nondocumentary directorial effort since Titanic, the 3-D fantasy Avatar, about a paralyzed war veteran who leads a human brigade into battle against an alien army.
Aussie actor Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, the scarred military commander and Saldana his alien love interest Neytiri. Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and CCH Pounder also star.
After Saldana's star turn as dancer Laila in 2002's Drumline, she busied herself with roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and The Terminal and guest appearances on Law & Order: SVU and Six Degrees.
She'll be back on the big screen in February in the presidential-assassination thriller Vantage Point, with Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox.