Why Timothy Olyphant Lost A Key Star Trek Role To Chris Pine

In an alternate timeline somewhere, the U.S.S. Enterprise is being run under the guiding force of Timothy Olyphant's Captain Kirk. That's right: in a recent appearance on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast (via Variety), the "Justified: City Primeval" star revealed that he was actually considered for a spot in the captain's chair for J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" films, but his age may have been a deciding factor in the final call.

"I believe it was one of those things where it's like, they might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger and [Abrams] was having a hard time finding somebody younger," the actor explained to podcast host Josh Horowitz. Ultimately, of course, the filmmaker went with Chris Pine, an actor whose biggest roles to date at the time included a turn as a love interest in the "Princess Diaries" sequel and a lead role in the indie flick "Bottle Shock."

Pine played James Kirk for three "Trek" movies dubbed the Kelvin timeline films, and did a damn fine job with the role, but it's still intriguing to imagine what Olyphant might have brought to it as well. The actor is super versatile, but he's perhaps best known both for his swaggering charm in roles like that of "Justified" sharpshooter Raylan Givens, and his ability to play a man caught between a rock and a hard place, as he often did as Seth Bullock on "Deadwood." Olyphant does smooth-talking as well as he does mulling moral dilemmas, and Captain Kirk has to do plenty of both, so it's actually not difficult to imagine him in this role.

Still, it makes total sense that Abrams was going for a younger generation take on the classic series, with then 29-year-old Pine kicking off the saga with 2009's origin story installment. Before Olyphant auditioned for Kirk, he actually had his eye on the role of ship doctor Leonard McCoy, AKA Bones. While Olyphant may have been a better fit age-wise for that role than the role of Captain Kirk (Karl Urban, who ended up cast as Bones, is only four years younger than him), he says the part was actually already filled when he expressed interest in it.

"I went in and auditioned not for Captain Kirk, but I remember reading with J.J. Abrams and he's just a lovely, lovely guy," Olyphant shared, noting that the audition process itself was also "lovely." As he recalled, "Somewhere in there, I was auditioning for Doc, he's like, 'I already got a guy for Doc, so I don't need you for that, but I don't have a Kirk.'" Olyphant may not have ended up in the "Star Trek" reboot — which, honestly, could be a blessing in disguise if the timeline overlap would've stopped him from taking "Justified" — but he does still look back positively on the whole endeavor. "Auditioning sucks, and the fact that I remember the audition process fondly says a lot about J.J. Abrams and what a wonderful man that guy is."

Lest anyone start imagining a grudge between the two actors, Olyphant also noted that he and Pine have since met and got along swimmingly. "He's a good dude," Olyphant said, recalling that one year at the Golden Globes he "spent most of the evening at the bar with Chris Pine." Olyphant also complimented the "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" actor's career and performances, saying, "He's one of those guys who makes it look simple and easy."

A fourth Kelvin timeline "Trek" film may or may not be in the works (though it seems to be on life support at the moment). If another installment ever does happen, might I suggest a cameo from a certain beloved actor, perhaps playing another dazzlingly roguish space cowboy?