Heroes' 'Sylar' talks playing a young Spock

Fans of Heroes might be hoping that Zachary Quinto, who plays evil Sylar on the sci-fi show, meets a grizzly end, but the actor looks set to live long and prosper.

Speaking on the red carpet at Hollywood Scream 2007 Awards, the actor was ready to discuss his leap to the big screen in the hotly anticipated new Star Trek movie: "I'll be playing Spock on the next Star Trek movie which we start filming in just a couple of weeks. It's a really exciting time."

The film will be turning back the clock to the early years of Spock and Captain Kirk and the days when they trained together.

Zac will play the half-vulcan, half-human science officer alongside Chris Pine as the young James T Kirk. Zac says he can't wait: "It's an incredible honour and I feel really humbled by it and really grateful that I'm doing it with the support of Leonard Nimoy and the original cast. It's incredibly exciting and I feel really grateful."

The actor has certainly received the seal of approval from one former Star Trekker. George Takei used to play Sulu on the USS Enterprise but is now starring alongside Zac in Heroes, playing Hiro Nakamura's father Kaito.

Speaking at the same awards show, George said he was looking forward to the film: "The casting is already very promising. Zachary will make a fantastic Spock. [There's an] amazing, uncanny physical resemblance there so it's going to be a great movie."