{"id":19195,"date":"2016-10-23T23:51:33","date_gmt":"2016-10-23T15:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-inside-story-behind-jeff-bezos-alien-cameo-on-star-trek-beyond\/"},"modified":"2016-10-23T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2016-10-23T15:51:33","slug":"the-inside-story-behind-jeff-bezos-alien-cameo-on-star-trek-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-inside-story-behind-jeff-bezos-alien-cameo-on-star-trek-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"The inside story behind Jeff Bezos\u2019 alien cameo on \u2018Star Trek Beyond\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image:
Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos plays a Starfleet official (at right) who assists a rescued spacefarer (played by Lydia Wilson, at left). Credit: Justin Lin via Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When \u201cStar Trek Beyond\u201d comes out on DVD next week, you can freeze-frame on the big-name cameo appearance that zipped past so quickly in the theaters: Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 moment as an alien Starfleet official.<\/p>\n

If you missed recognizing him, don\u2019t feel bad. Even Bezos acknowledges that it was a quickie, and the fact that he\u2019s loaded up with face prosthetics doesn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will have to watch very carefully. Do not blink. You will miss me,\u201d he said during Saturday night\u2019s Pathfinder Awards banquet at Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight. Bezos was one of the honorees, along with airplane restorer Addison Pemberton.<\/p>\n

\"Vulcan
At the end of their introduction, Raisbeck Aviation High School students Brynne Hunt and Izzie Torres exchange the Vulcan \u201cLive Long and Prosper\u201d salute with Amazon billionaire (and \u201cStar Trek\u201d super-fan) Jeff Bezos, at right. Steve Taylor, emcee for the Museum of Flight\u2019s Pathfinder Awards, looks on and laughs at center. (Credit: Tania Shepard \/ Azzura Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cStar Trek\u201d cameo was Bezos\u2019 idea, all the way. He\u2019s been a fan since childhood, and has told interviewers that Amazon\u2019s Alexa AI assistant was inspired by the patient, know-it-all computer on the Starship Enterprise. A movie-prop Enterprise holds a prominent place at the Kent headquarters for Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Jeff Bezos shares big ideas, from drone landing pads to a 10,000-year clock<\/h4>\n

\u201cFor years, I have been begging Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, to let me be in a \u2018Star Trek\u2019 movie. I was very persistent, and you can imagine the poor director who got the call, you know, \u2018You have to let Bezos be in your \u201cStar Trek\u201d movie,’\u201d Bezos joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Look, I\u2019ll put any amount of makeup on. I\u2019ll be invisible, nobody will know it\u2019s me. But I want a speaking part, and I want it to be in a scene that is central to the story line so that I cannot end up on the cutting-room floor,’\u201d Bezos recalled. \u201cThose were my requirements, and they honored those requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Justin Lin had Bezos play an official who was getting a rescued spacefarer (played by Lydia Wilson) ready for an auto-translated interview with Captain Kirk and a Starfleet officer. \u201cSpeak normally,\u201d Bezos\u2019 character advises the alien. Then he walks off camera.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s it. Bezos\u2019 screen time amounts to about eight seconds, starting at the 13:12 mark in the movie.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, the film\u2019s poor director says Bezos did an \u201cawesome\u201d job.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a big entourage, but it didn\u2019t matter because he was so into it,\u201d Lin told interviewers when the movie came out in July. \u201cHe had to wait around all day because it was one day we were shooting, like, three different scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filming the scene required multiple takes, but Bezos \u201cjust nailed it every time,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n

Bezos, who is mentioned by name in the film credits, said the experience was a \u201cStar Trek\u201d geek\u2019s dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super-fun for me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a bucket list item.\u201d<\/p>\n

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