Chris Pine is currently promoting his… children’s book?? Did y’all know that he wrote a children’s book? It’s called When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel. It’s worth noting that Pine actually has a BA in English from UC Berkeley. Like, the man loves to write and he’s reportedly a huge reader. It just feels like Pine’s career is a lot weirder than it should be. He should be a full-fledged movie star with tons of A-list films on his CV. I get that he’s quirky and maybe he prefers smaller films, but still. I never would have thought that a guy who looks like Chris Pine would turn to writing children’s books. Anyway, that’s why he covered last weekend’s issue of Parade Magazine. Some highlights from Parade:
On starting his acting career: “I had blinders on once I realized after college that acting was what I was going to do. I had no room for doubt; I was just going to do it. It’s odd that I never thought about a world where it wasn’t going to work out. And I really didn’t f–k around in my 20s. There wasn’t a lot of going to parties and having a good time. I was like, I’ll do it.
On his first onscreen credit as a patient on the TV show, ER: “I think I was “drunk fraternity boy.” I might have had a name. There was something very romantic about the Warner Bros. studio in Los Angeles. On the ER soundstage they built this huge emergency room where the cameras are following characters going in and out. It’s exciting when you’re a young actor and you’re going to work with Maura Tierney and Sally Field.
On being on camera: “It took me a long time not to be self-conscious and terrified. I don’t know if there’s any acting school that can really prepare you for the permutations of set life. It’s a really bizarre thing to do.
A career highlight: “The first day on set for the first Star Trek movie. It was my first humongous movie, and we were on a soundstage on the Paramount lot. I come from a Hollywood family, so to be on a soundstage on a Hollywood lot was like everything that I dreamed about. Being on the ridge and looking out was definitely an out-of-body moment.
On why he wrote this book (during the pandemic): “I don’t have kids, but I have a dog and I’m in love with my dog. And I do have a deep love for stories, for literature and for books I grew up with. My mother and father would tell me stories before going to bed. And obviously I’m an actor, and I’ve written and directed and produced, so storytelling is kind of in my blood.”
On the message of his book: “What if the frustration and the anger that these two animals seem to have toward one another comes from a place of their own vulnerability and their own sense of being deficient? Why is a bully a bully? Probably because something happened to the bully, and maybe if you understood what happened to the bully, you can repair relationships and move on with love.
On his car collection: “I have an obsession with European cars of the mid-20th century. A Tesla is like the world’s largest iPad. It’s more romantic to get in a car that you’re not sure is going to start or it takes 10 minutes to warm up before you drive it.
“A Tesla is like the world’s largest iPad.” Seriously. And the Cybertruck is hideous and dangerous at every level. I also love mid-century cars, but even more than that, I love American metal from the ‘60s and ‘70s. There’s a very real nostalgia and modern need for things which are not “smart,” which do not operate through a phone or ipad or through the internet. “Dumb” refrigerators or HVAC or cars are making a comeback. As for writing this book during the pandemic… that’s sort of cool. It was probably his little project to keep himself sane. I wonder if he’ll do it as a series if the book is successful.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of Parade.