Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
26 S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Demons. I had to leave set swiftly to get home since Ruairí was on his way!!! I was so fortunate that you were on standby. You sat down in front of my mixer and it was a seamless transition! That was such an exciting time. But a lot of my work now is outside the state. But back then, Maureen and I had literally just arrived in LA when the very first job I got offered wasn't in LA, it was back in Ireland! It was to work on the Bruckheimer film King Arthur that Antoine Fuqua was directing. Maureen once again had to deal with figuring out LA. She was able to join me for a period of time in Ireland, which I think was the first time I'd worked back in Ireland since I'd left in 1987. I remember the conversation of, "I know we've just gotten here, but I have to go." Your career, it's amazing. The list of movies and directors. Is there a standout film that you find yourself remembering time and time again? There are moments from all these films, whether it be Bad Boys or Pearl Harbor or Any Given Sunday. But I've always been a fan of the TV series Star Trek, along with some of the movies. So imagine the feeling when I got the job to do the J.J. Abrams reboot. That was hugely significant for me. To be on the set of the Enterprise in 2007, to see that captain's chair, to see this new cast, and then to record Leonard Nimoy as Spock, I can't say how significant that was. Every time I went to set, I would say to myself, "I can't believe I'm working on Star Trek." I was the person to record Leonard Nimoy's last performance in that character of Spock. I was also able to work with Patrick Stewart on the TV series Picard, which is also an amazing thing to be able to say. I remember you reaching out to me the night that you recorded Spock saying, "Live long and prosper." You were so excited. The first assistant director was a Scottish AD named Tommy Gormley who knew I was a Star Trek fan. I was reticent about going over to talk to Leonard Nimoy, but Tommy dragged me over and said, "Leonard, Peter. Peter's the sound mixer. He's a big fan." And that allowed me to have a lovely conversation with Leonard. And then Nichelle Nichols came to set and J.J. knew that I was a big fan and he brought her over to meet me, which was amazing. So that film and then to have worked on Star Trek Into Darkness with that cast for a second time, just yeah, there are times where you just pinch yourself, you know? And to have those personal connections with the films. I remember watching Transformers during one of the early screenings. Seeing the audience react to something you've worked on like the very first transformation for Optimus Prime where people in the theatre went crazy and to say, "Well, you know, I was there, I was a part of that film." That's a film that has had popularity and has impacted people all around the world. And then most recently to have worked on Black Panther with Chadwick Boseman and then Wakanda Forever, none of us knew that sadly we were going to lose him, but just the significance of that. That film became a movement. It was a film that impacted people. Star Trek with Leonard Nimoy In the Captain's Chair on Star Trek Into Darkness