For Winona Ryder, it's a fine line between pixie-like and Vulcanesque.
The actress has become the latest boldface name attached to J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated reboot of the Star Trek franchise, signing on to star as mother to a young Spock.
It will be Ryder's biggest studio film since 2002, when the two-time Oscar nominee costarred in Mr. Deeds with Adam Sandler and S1m0ne with Al Pacino. Ryder laid low for several years following her shoplifting arrest and has only appeared in a handful of mostly independent films, most notably in Richard Linklater's 2006 rotoscope-animated feature, A Scanner Darkly.
Variety reports the erstwhile Heathers star will play the Vulcan mother of the Starfleet logician, sending Trekkers into a tizzy. Abrams is messing with a key element of the Star Trek canon: In all previous installments of the franchise, Spock's mother was human, not Vulcan (the pointy ears come courtesy of his father's side of the family).
"I'm not a Winona hater...but Spock's mom isn't Vulcan, isn't brunette, and isn't the type that Winona is good at," a user going by the name Toroth's 1st Officer posted in response to the announcement on a thread entitled "What the F---!" on TrekWeb.com.
Meanwhile, a seeming voice of reason, posting under the name VoR, tried to assuage fan fears.
"Sometimes I think that half the Trekkie population is hard-wired to overreact to any bit of news," they wrote. "Chill. It'll be okay."
Meanwhile, on the Trek BBS message boards, fans seemed unperturbed by the backstory gaffe, focusing instead on the casting of Ryder.
"I could see WInona as a Vulcan, she has a certain face that would lend itself well...Of course, Amanda isn't a Vulcan, but still," posted Stone Cold Sisko.
A user going by the name jon1701, one of the scant few Trekkies who no longer seems to be holding Alien: Resurrection against the thesp, provided one of the most positive reactions to the casting news.
"I think she'll be good," he wrote. "The prop department might have to keep an eye on her though."
As conceived by Trek mastermind Gene Rodenberry, Spock's mother was Amanda Grayson, a teacher who met and married Sarek, the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth. The two later decamped to planet Vulcan. Spock's maternal unit was first introduced in a 1967 episode of the original series and portrayed by actress Jane Wyatt. Wyatt reprised the role in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
The 36-year-old Ryder will mother Heroes' Zachary Quinto, an actor just six years her junior. It's unclear whether movie makeup magic will make up the age difference or whether Ryder's character will only appear in flashback. Original Spock Leonard Nimoy is also slated to appear in a cameo role, though it's unclear in what capacity.
No official details have been released about the film's plot, other than it will revolve around the Starship Enterprise crew's first mission together.
Ryder's addition signals the end of casting. In recent weeks, Abrams beamed up Chris Pine (Kirk), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Anton Yelchin (Chekov) and Eric Bana (the nefarious Nero) to the film.
Shooting is scheduled to begin on the film this month and is expected to last through March 2008. The film is slated for a Christmas 2008 release.