Photo: An Rong Xu/HISTORY(NEW YORK) — Actor Zachary Quinto became “dear” friends with the late Leonard Nimoy when the former succeeded the latter in the role of Mr. Spock in the big-screen reboot of Star Trek.
“We were really close, really good friends in the last decade of his life,” Quinto told Good Morning America recently, adding his relationship with the actor and director is one of the reasons he wanted to step into Nimoy’s shoes once again.
Starting Friday, Quinto can be seen hosting HISTORY’s documentary-style show In Search Of, which Nimoy hosted decades ago. Now, as then, the show purports to shed light on some of the world’s most enduring mysteries and memorable spectacles.
“When they approached me about doing the show, I was really interested in carrying on his legacy as I always am,” Quinto said, noting, “I wanted to be more involved in the show. When Leonard did the original, he was the host in a traditional way with a turtleneck and blazer and studio introducing segments pre-taped in the field.”
Quinto explained to ABC Radio that he got his wish. “Part of that for me was about actually being on the ground and conducting these interviews and traveling around and exploring some of these things myself…So when they approached me about it, I said, ‘Yeah, you know, I’m interested in the idea of this, but if I’m going to do it, I want to be on the ground.”
And that Quinto did — though he was in the air, too, skydiving for one segment, and below the ground, exploring massive sinkholes in another. The latter phenomenon proved to be the most surprising for the actor, he tells us, thanks to the human toll sinkholes leave in their wake.
In Search Of debuts Friday, at 10 p.m. on HISTORY.
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