As a kid growing up in Texas, Jeff Bezos loved to play “Star Trek” with his friends from the neighborhood, complete with cardboard tricorders and phasers. As an adult, the Amazon CEO is making voyages to the final frontier a reality as CEO of the Blue Origin space venture. And now he gets to live out the ultimate Star Trek fan’s fantasy, as well — playing a part in the soon-to-be-released film, “Star Trek Beyond.”
He’s playing a Starfleet official, according to Bezos’ newly updated profile page on IMDb, the Amazon-owned Internet Movie Database. The Associated Press reports that Bezos’ character is an alien. That meshes with what we’ve heard: Bezos reportedly had to spend a lot of time in makeup before filming.
Bezos hasn’t commented publicly about the appearance yet.
Taking part in the film makes sense, given Bezos’ love for the Star Trek franchise. As his own Washington Post noted in a previous story recounting his childhood pastime, Bezos is a “giant, epic, subspace anomaly of a ‘Star Trek’ nerd.” For example, he acknowledged that the Alexa virtual assistant was inspired by the computer on the USS Enterprise.
A scale model of the Enterprise holds a place of honor at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Wash.
So how much screen time will Bezos get in “Star Trek Beyond”? Describing the appearance as a cameo, AP says there’s “a single tracking shot that includes his character.” Producer J.J. Abrams and director Justin Lin confirmed the Amazon CEO’s appearance in the movie during an interview on Friday, the AP reports.
Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk, told the news service about Bezos’ visit to the set: “I was there for the bit with his like nine bodyguards and three limos. It was really intense. … I had no idea who he was. Not a clue. But he was obviously very important.”
Bezos isn’t the first commercial space mogul to make an appearance in a major motion picture. Elon Musk of SpaceX appeared as himself in “Iron Man 2,” and Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic snagged some screen time in “Casino Royale” and “Superman Returns.”
“Star Trek Beyond,” the third installment in the rebooted movie franchise, premieres in the U.S. on July 22.
Post updated at 6:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. PT with additional information on Bezos’ role.
