Timothy Olyphant Talks Auditioning for 'Star Trek' & Why He Lost Role to Chris Pine, Addresses 'Iron Man' Rumors

Timothy Olyphant is looking back on a role that got away from him – Captain Kirk in Star Trek.

The 55-year-old Justified actor revealed that he auditioned for the role, which first hit the big screen in 2009. The part ultimately went to Chris Pine, 42.

Chris starred in three movies with a fourth that was still in the works until 2022. During a recent interview, Timothy opened up about his audition process and why the part ultimately went to Chris.

He also addressed the rumor that he was in the running to play Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Read more about Timothy Olyphant’s Star Trek audition…

During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Timothy recalled auditioning for Star Trek. He explained that he wasn’t initially up for Captain Kirk and was actually for Dr. Leonard McCoy, which went to Karl Urban.

“I remember reading with J.J. Abrams and he’s just a lovely, lovely guy. And just a lovely audition process,” he said. “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.’”

He continued, sharing where it went wrong for him: “I believe it was one of those things where it’s like he might have been prepared to hire me, but they wanted somebody younger, and he was having a hard time finding somebody younger. And somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, ‘I found a guy, younger, who’s really good.’”

There’s no bad blood for him, though.

“I have since met Chris Pine and I am a huge fan of him both on and off screen,” Timothy gushed. “He’s one of those guys who makes it look simple and easy.”

In regards to Iron Man, Timothy danced around the rumor. “Maybe,” he said. “I would have happily suited up for him [Jon Favreau].” They later worked together on The Mandalorian. Robert Downey Jr. famously played Iron Man in the MCU.

Speaking of Star Trek, details were revealed last year about a movie that was shelved. It would have starred Chris Pine and another famous Chris.

Press play on the interview below…