The Pike Scene In Star Trek 2009 That Was 'Hideously Uncomfortable'

Anson Mount is currently making Trekkies swoon in his role as Captain Christopher Pike on "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." Before him, though, there was Jeffrey Hunter (who played Pike in the original, unused "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage") and Bruce Greenwood (who played Pike in the two J.J Abrams-directed "Star Trek" films). 

"Star Trek" cleverly canonized "The Cage" by reintroducing Pike as Jim Kirk's (William Shatner) predecessor as captain of the Enterprise. The 2009 "Star Trek" film (an alternate timeline origin story for the original series) took that a step further and featured Pike as Kirk's mentor. His first scene is him pushing Kirk to sign up for Starfleet. 

In that role of a fatherly commanding officer, Greenwood was perfectly cast. He's an authoritative and personable screen presence, one who can even make a death merchant like opioid king Roderick Usher on "The Fall of the House of Usher" charming. With his strong but soothing voice, it makes sense that Greenwood has also played an animated Batman several times, mostly in stories that emphasize the Dark Knight as a surrogate father ("Batman:Under The Red Hood" and "Young Justice").

Of course, Pike isn't the hero of "Star Trek" — Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) both are. For them to step up, Pike needs to be out of the picture. So, he spends most of the movie not commanding the Enterprise, but as a captive of time-traveling Romulan villain Nero (Eric Bana).

Speaking to StarTrek.com in 2009, Greenwood revealed that Pike's torture was as uncomfortable for the performer as it was for his character.

Nero, having captured Pike and intent on destroying the Federation, employs a Centaurian slug. The creature enters through a host's mouth and releases a truth-serum neurotoxin; Pike thus spills the beans about Federation defenses — wouldn't you empty your guts after getting a mouthful of slug? (A deleted scene reveals that Nero and his crew spent time as Klingon prisoners and stole the slugs from them when they escaped.)

Abrams wasn't a Trekkie, but screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci were. The slugs are a homage to the Ceti Eels featured in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," but have a different name and burrow down the throat instead of the ear canal. Greenwood recalled that when he read Kurtzman and Orci's script, he figured the prop used for Pike's interrogation wouldn't be a real "scorpion." Alas, as he soon discovered, "It is a real thing and they dropped it down my throat...it was horrendous. It was a creature that they created, and it had a solenoid in it so it would wiggle and twist and writhe and it was sharp and pokey."

Despite the "painful" two day shoot, Greenwood attested that he "would do it again in a heartbeat." He even encouraged the crew not to go easy on him:

"They did it a bunch of times and would yell 'cut' and pull it away from my mouth and I felt that we were getting to the end of the coverage and I said to J.J. 'You are not going to drop it down my mouth?' and he was like 'Really?" and I was 'F**k yeah –- let it drop, it's not going to kill me'...It f**king near killed me."

Truly some bravery worthy of the captain of the Enterprise.