The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Patricia Sheridan recently sat down with Bruce Greenwood and discussed Star Trek XI, Greenwood's skiing past, and life as a celebrity.

Q: I read that you once wanted to be a professional skier?

A: I was pretty outdoorsy. And yeah, that was my plan, professional skier or a poet, if you can imagine that. That was the fall-back position if the skiing didn't work out, I'd make a living as a poet.

Q: So, do you still ski?

A: I have such a fried knee right now that I've had as a result of a couple of ski accidents and a motorcycle accident. I ski very little now, and when I do go up I have to gobble ibuprofen. I can't ski bumps anymore; I can only ski on groomed stuff like a couple of hours, max. You can't really call it skiing. I used to be really into bumps and powder, whatever. I just liked it all. I was really a bump skier, but I can't do that anymore.

Q: Your "Star Trek" character was not on very much in the original series.

A: Two episodes. Jeffrey Hunter originated the role. He was originally in the pilot and then the pilot was turned into a two-part episode in which he appeared. The Pike that I play and the Pike that Hunter was charged with playing have very different dilemmas. Hunter's Pike had this internal dilemma of not knowing if he wanted to continue with Star Fleet. My Pike's dilemma is whether or not to take a chance on a young man named James T. Kirk.

Q: Was the set extraordinary?

A: Superb, just superb. You know, hyperbole doesn't do it justice. It's just a phenomenal coming together of art direction and set design and ergonomics and functionality and fantasy that was exquisite to be part of.

Q: So walking on the bridge of the Enterprise is like getting in costume.

A: It was a total mind bender. You believe for a second you are about to press a button and go shooting through time. Of course, you just end up at the commissary. It's all a big letdown. It's fun when you press the button and then you realize your finger is off the button and you are just back in your trailer. It's kind of like "Oh, wow! What happened?" No, it was really, really fun and tremendously evocative. (souce Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

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