Don't Ask Zachary Quinto About His Favorite Ice Cream
New York Magazine attempted to interview Star Trek star, Zachary Quinto, but things did not turn out exactly as planned. Quinto is currently starring in Angels In America off Broadway and not doing much else so you would think the guy would be happy for any attention from the press. Nope. New York magazine managed to ask the guy one question before he got ticked off. Here is the entire interview from beginning to end.
What's your post-show ritual?
I like to take showers after the show. And then I read. I'm reading Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, like the rest of the world. But all these questions are too personal, sorry.
Let's get less personal then. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
Still too personal. Sorry.
Is there anything you feel okay talking about?
I'd rather just talk about Tony. I'm just beginning to learn from him, how to string together so many cohesive, multidimensional, layered, and unique thoughts. [Quinto ends interview.]
I understand celebrities not wanting to discuss their personal life, but what the heck is so personal about these? Seriously? This is how you manage to find yourself doing off off off Broadway and wondering how that whole Dr. Spock thing turned into a where are they now item.
ok, I have seen Zach doing interviews and he can be very sarcastic and enjoys tripping up interviewers.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna say he was just messing with the guys and challenging to ask him questions about the play and not dumb it down to...and you know he was gonna go there. Are you gay or not.
Funny...and good for him, cut them off at the knee's before they get the knives out.
ReplyDeleteThey asked him about ice cream. How was that a sign of pulling the knives out? I hope he was joking cause he looks like an ass.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't answer the question about ice cream because I couldn't pick just one. Wait, Nutella. There we go.
I'm with Timebob on this one, it sounded to me like he was just messing with the guy
ReplyDeleteHe does come off like an ass.
ReplyDelete@Karmen, technically Nutella is a spread an not ice cream. Maybe if you freeze it?? Mmmmm, Nutella.
It looks like they probably tried asking him other more personal questions first that he didn't want to answer, they got fed up and asked him a stupid ice cream question to be snarky, and he didn't want to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteHe's probably still ticked after the NY Times piece the other week that got awfully close to crossing the line into trying deliberately to out him.
He gets a pass from me because he doesn't do that stupid bearding routine.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he was trying to be sarcastic, but sarcasm never translates well from spoken-word to print.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Star Trek and know nothing about this guy, but I do think it's possible for someone who wants to practice the craft of acting not to want to whore himself out as a celebrity, even though that often seems like part of the game.
But he easily could have steered the interview towards areas he wanted to discuss...like the craft of acting, or whatever. Or just turned down the interview entirely.
Maybe he was just having a bad hair day...just got a parking ticket....just realized he'd left his iPhone 4 in the pants he just sent to the laundry...whatever. Maybe he had something else going on at the time.
Gonna give Zac the benefit of the doubt -- the interview was done at a party, most likely it was loud and busy and the star of the show probably didn't have time to coddle every writer and blogger for questions, every photog for photos and every fan for an autograph. And it's clear he only wanted to talk about the play and the character. The response to the ice cream question was bizarre, but I still smell a bit of creative editing on the part of the New Yorker.
ReplyDeleteWhen someone asks me about my fav ice cream, I assume they are buying. Starbucks Hot Chocolate Cocoa, btw....
ReplyDeleteI would like to hear a tape of this interview instead of trusting a transcript. Quinto seems to rarely do interviews, he only did Star Trek and Heroes promos paired with other cast members. He is not an attention seeker and seems to avoid the spotlight, picking and choosing only the projects he genuinely wants to do instead of whatever will make him rich and famous. Personally, he's a breath of fresh air to me.
ReplyDelete@it's just me - This was New York Magazine, not the New Yorker.
ReplyDeleteNew York Magazine is a trendy, lifestyle-type magazine, and it is populated by young, pushy media types, one of whom was once me.
I could certainly imagine how they could have rubbed this guy the wrong way.
The New Yorker is another kettle of fish entirely.
Is this really what happened, or is this just the way the magazine wrote it up when he walked out of the interview?
ReplyDelete@Patty - It's definitely an ice cream flavor. I got it all the time in Spain AND I made some homemade Nutella ice cream a few months ago. Ice cream and Nutella are my two favorite things, so that's pretty much heaven for me.
ReplyDeleteHere's the recipe: http://www.sugarlaws.com/nutella-ice-cream
My favorite interview of all time was on Deco Drive, a local South Beach show, when Jasmine Bleeth was asked how the day was going. "Fuck it, I told them I wasn't going to do this," she seethed, ripping the microphone off her blouse and throwing it to the ground and stomping off. This was before her coke addiction landed her in hot water -- this was during the "fun" period of her drug addiction.
ReplyDeleteI'm a retired journalist, so I tend to sympathise with the interviewer than the interviewee in this circumstance.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to be a douchebag during an interview for an article that is designed to promote YOU and YOUR SHOW, then don't agree to do the interview. There are plenty of people out there who want the publicity and who would be more than willing to politely conduct an interview without acting like an obnoxious twit.
There's nothing worse than trying to get a story out of a sarcastic, self-absorbed douchebag who really wants nothing to do with you. And, based on what I just read about this, that's what seemed to have happened.
Favorite ice cream? Post-show rituals? How are these prying questions? If the article is a profile on a person, then yeah, the questions are going to be personal. This guy needs to get a grip and be thankful that fans actually give a fuck about his stupid life.
Sorry, I'm overly pregnant and this shit annoys me.
My motto right now is, "Jerry, I'm pregnant and incapable of bullshit."
I liked him when he was on Heroes but haven't seen him in much since then. Sounds like he might have been speaking sarcastic. He should tread lightly cause he may end up as washed up as Heroes. You will see him along with Hayden Christensen doing Sci-fi conventions trying to act like he is still relevant 10 years from now.
ReplyDelete@Susan - It's OK. We all go on rants. I agree with you and I appreciate your perspective. Just eat some Nutella ice cream and everything will be better. Promise :)
ReplyDeleteHe needs better people who can train him on handling prying interview questions, which these clearly aren't.
ReplyDeleteThose off, off Broadway shows won't coffer a nice nest egg. He may not want to be an A lister, but NYC and LA ain't cheap.
@ Susan - What's overly pregnant? 10 mos? :)
ReplyDeleteDoesn't sound like, "Still too personal. Sorry." equals "ticked off".
I think this thread should be about our favorite ice cream flavors. How to choose? Rum Raisin. Coffee. Coconut. And don't get me started about sorbet, which I actually like better.... Mango. Lemon. Raspberry. Ben and Jerry used to sell a carton of heaven called "Purple Passionfruit" which was half berry/half passionfruit. YUM!
Enty, I think you found your next "Your Turn" ...
ReplyDelete@karmen: thanks for the recipe. totally making it this weekend.
ReplyDeletemeh. just another geek wannabe hipster trying to be too cool for the interview.
ReplyDeletepass.
We already had the fave ice cream thingy. I want something more salacious this time.
ReplyDeletePeppermint sorbet for the win. Every. stinking. time.
ReplyDeleteI think he was giving the interviewer a hard time, which is a total dick move. I understand how asinine a lot of questions he gets are, but that’s kind of what you signed up for you want to become a star of stage and screen.
I don't really have a favourite flavour of ice cream, I pretty much go with my mood. Sometimes its pastashio and strawberry, sometimes it's straight up chocolate, and sometimes its the flavour of the month.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm pretty sure rc and nice is right that we've already had this topic.
since we are throwing in favorite icecreams.....of the shelf? Anything Ben and Jerry ( I think I funded their employee raises two years in a row when I was pregnant ) but homemade? I live in the south, homemade peach icecream is just plain sinful. :)
ReplyDeleteStill love this guy, he is priceless in Startrek
@Karmen - I sadly only just this past week discovered Nutella. All those missed opportunities while I was pregnant *sigh*
Know what's just as good as Nutella ice cream? Maybe even better? Bacio gelato. Holy cow. That's some deliciousness.
ReplyDeleteI love pumpkin ice cream. I can't stand this guy.
ReplyDeleteMango - I'm four days past my due date, which kind of feels like a lifetime. Tomorrow is the day I'm being induced. Yay! Although, I am a bundle of nerves, as witnessed in my previous post about this asshat actor who I don't even know of.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm sure Nutella ice cream rocks, I have a major life-threatening allergy to nuts, so that won't work for me. I like your straight up chocolate chip, but homemade. I bought an ice cream maker a few years ago, and it is heavenly. Came in handy while knocked up.
I was just going to say, shouldn't you be pushing right now, but I didn't want you to go all apeshit on me. LOL! I work overnight tonight and I was planning to go to mass tomorrow anyway, so I'll be surely thinking about you...let us know how everything turns out! GOOD LUCK!!!
ReplyDeleteEnty, unless you mean the peacenik baby doctor, it's Mister Spock, not Doctor Spock. Spock in Trek isn't a doctor.
ReplyDeleteYes, loved the new Trek, but I still think Quinto sounds like he needs to get over himself.
@Susan - Eep. Didn't mean to give you fatal advice. Ice cream makes everything better, so I'm sure you'll find another flavor to make you feel better. Best of luck at the hospital tomorrow!
ReplyDelete@Sue Ellen - Bacio gelato sounds amazing. I will give it a go the next time I'm at a gelateria.
I'm tardy to the party, but there's an ice cream shop in New Hope, PA that has exotic ice cream flavors and wonderful fruit concoctions. I'm more of a chocolate person myself though. I went to a Baskin Robbins in London years ago and chocolate was not one of the 31 flavors that day. For the funness of it, I like birthday cake flavor from Kaleidescoops. I could talk about ice cream all day.....oh, and Zachary Quinto needs to lighten up and have a double scoop.
ReplyDeletei think i could sit down and eat a baskin robins ice cream cake today. i know its not as good as fancy cakes but all that sugar,ice cream, and cake sounds so good right now
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read the post I was thinking "What a DICK!" but I think @Nutty_Flavor is right... Maybe he was trying to be sarcastic, but sarcasm never translates well from spoken-word to print.
ReplyDeleteSo, very true!
Mmmm...you guys are making me HUNGRY! I love Mint Chocolate Chip. And pretty much anything from Cold Stone. And Ben & Jerry's. And Häagen-Dazs. Ok, I like all ice creams.
P.S. Good luck tomorrow, Susan! :)
ReplyDeletePeanut butter and chocolate ice cream is the best. I don't know who the hell Zachary Quinto is.
ReplyDeleteSusan, thinking of you and best of luck tomorrow!!! Kinda jealous because I'm getting way too big and uncomfortable but I still have about 8 weeks to go.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm a total freak and I don't like ice cream. o.O I'd rather have a bag of Doritos.
lol@Tardy for the party.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ice cream is Coconut Icecream at Izzy's Ice Cream in St. Paul not far from my house. http://www.izzysicecream.com/
Cool place, too. If I'm not mistaken they have solar panels that run the electricity at their place.
CHOPCHOP!! I knew someone else was preggo! You are due about when my oldest was born. Don't worry, the next eight weeks will fly because you have the holidays. PROMISE!
oh, and God bless homemade peach ice cream!
ReplyDeletechopchop - No ice cream while preggers? That's crazy talk. Guess you have a savory tooth.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the well wishes. It is 4:30 a.m., and I've been up for an hour. Can you tell I'm a bit nervy? OMG. I have to go back to sleep. I will miss all of you while cooped up in the hospital!
I'm sorry but this guy isn't new to the acting world and he should know how to pay the game.
ReplyDeleteIt astounds me how many celebrities don't research the publication/TV show/radio show they are being asked to be a part of. You talk to a tabloid the same way as you would talk to a high-brow magazine, so you have to be prepared for what they are likely to through at you.
And surely he had to know that this would be made public, and therefore, he looks like a bigger douche than if he'd "lowered" himself to actually asking the questions, even if it was for kicks, because a written transcript doesn't convey tone.