Star Trek: The Hollywood Icons Who Inspired Chris Pine's James T. Kirk

In a 2009 interview with Australia’s Courier Mail in conjunction with the release of “Star Trek,” Chris Pine said in addition to the influence of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Indiana Jones, he looked to Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Maverick in “Top Gun” — a 1986 film that he admired growing up — to help embody Kirk’s heroic qualities.

Oddly enough, however, Pine didn’t look at Cruise in “Top Gun” with the dreams of becoming an actor like his father, veteran thespian Robert Pine. Instead, he wanted to do what the characters were doing in films for occupations in real life. “I wanted to be pretty much everything but an actor, and I think it was because I was so close to it that it didn’t hold any romance for me,” Pine told the Courier Mail. “Whereas I watched ‘Top Gun’ and I see Tom Cruise as a fighter pilot and all I want to do is fly planes. Or I watch ‘The Natural’ and all I want to do is be Robert Redford and play baseball. But I never thought about being the guy that was telling those stories.”

Pine reprised Kirk for two more “Star Trek” films after 2009: “Star Trek Into Darkness” in 2013 and “Star Trek Beyond” in 2016. Seven years after the last film’s release, the actor seems anxious to portray Kirk again, and like fans, Pine is frustrated about the lack of updates on “Star Trek 4.” Until then, Pine has other films coming up, including the role of a haunting character in Disney’s “Wish.”