Yes, the famous filmmaker literally had a hand in it.
It’s been nearly 20 years since director J.J. Abrams boldly took the Star Trek franchise to a whole new level in theaters with the arrival of his Kelvin Timeline-set Star Trek in 2009. And while casting Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura was a true casting coup, it wasn’t Abrams who taught her how to do the Vulcan salute. No, that lesson was learned from none other than Steven Spielberg!
Five years before Star Trek made its big-screen debut, Saldana played officer Dolores Torres in the Tom Hanks-led dramedy, The Terminal (2004), which Spielberg directed. And he was the one who taught Saldana the proper way to place her fingers together when using the iconic gesture. Saldana said in an interview on The Graham Norton Show: “Stephen Spielberg, you know, taught me how to do the whole hand thing, the Vulcan thing [holding both hands up for the studio audience to see].”
Certainly, Saldana knowing about Vulcan was a good thing since her version of Lt. Uhura was romantically involved with Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) in all three of the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies (2009-2016).
Personally, I’d love to see her and the rest of the cast have the opportunity to reprise their roles, given that the franchise is returning to cinemas in the near future anyway thanks to filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. After all, two theatrical Treks are better than one, right?
Did you know Spielberg taught Saldana how to give the Vulcan salute before her interview with Graham Norton? Would you like to see her return as Uhura in a sequel to Star Trek Beyond (2016)? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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