Christopher Whitelaw Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American film, stage, and television actor.
Born in Los Angeles to actor parents Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, Pine was studying English at Berkeley when finally bitten by the acting bug. Prior to his breakout role as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek (2009), Pine played mostly in romantic comedies, leading fandom to be initially wary of his casting. However, his performance in the film received accolades from critics and fans alike as well as the enthusiastic endorsement of William Shatner himself.
Not to be confused with the former Australian politician, Christopher Pyne. Also not to be confused with Chrises Evans, Hemsworth, or Pratt, who have also had roles in superhero movies.
Selected Filmography:
- The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) as Nicholas Devereaux
- Just My Luck (2006) as Jake Hardin
- Star Trek Kelvin Timeline film series as James T. Kirk
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016)
- Unstoppable (2010) as Will
- This Means War (2012) as FDR Foster
- Rise of the Guardians (2012) as Jack Frost
- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) as Jack Ryan
- Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) as Rex Hanson
- Into the Woods (2014) as Prince Charming
- Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015) as Eric
- Z for Zachariah (2015) as Caleb
- The Finest Hours (2016) as Bernie Webber
- Hell or High Water (2016) as Toby Howard
- DC Extended Universe as Steve Trevor:
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (photo only; 2016)
- Wonder Woman (2017)
- Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
- A Wrinkle in Time (2018) as Dr. Alex Murray
- Outlaw King (2018) as Robert the Bruce
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) as Peter Parker / Spider-Man of Miles’ Universe (voice)
- I Am the Night (2019) as Jay Singletary
- American Dad!
- "Rabbit Ears" (2019) as Alistair Covax
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride (2020) as Westley
- All the Old Knives (2022)
- The Contractor (2022)
- Don't Worry Darling (2022) as Frank
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) as Edgin Darvisnote
- Wish (2023) as King Magnifico (voice)
- Newsflash (TBD) as Walter Cronkite
Examples of tropes in fiction:
- The Cast Showoff: Besides playing Captain Kirk and other acting projects, Chris Pine is also musically talented. He belted his voice as Prince Charming in Into the Woods, and sang a parody of Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl" in his SNL monologue to rant about the confusion of him and the other Hollywood Chrises.
- The Charmer: His characters are generally quite charismatic and likable.
- Covered in Gunge: He was slimed alongside Michelle Rodriguez during the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards while presenting a promo for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
- Deadpan Snarker: A lot of his characters have this going for them.
- He Really Can Act: Star Trek: Into Darkness got this reaction from some people, and the streak only continued with Hell or High Water and Wonder Woman.
- Large Ham: When the situation calls for it, he can pull this trope off beautifully. His "Agony" duet in Into the Woods would make William Shatner proud.
- Lovable Rogue: Plays these characters quite often.
- Mr. Fanservice:
- His bedroom scene in Star Trek (2009) heavily features all of the above.
- So does his bath scene in Wonder Woman.
- His SNL monlogue song lampshades his tendency to do this in real life as well: Kate McKinnon points out that he (and all the Chrises) frequently wear "raggedy tees that are tight just around the pecs".
- Oh, Crap!: He gets a ton of these moments in Star Trek (2009).
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: His character in Princess Diaries 2 usually has an English accent.
- Production Posse: He's been in the two Wonder Woman films as well as a series and he has also made two films with David Mackenzie.
- Reclusive Artist: A minor version of this but he's one of the few popular young actors who isn't on social media.
- Star-Making Role: James Kirk in Star Trek (2009).
- What Beautiful Eyes!: His blue eyes are quite striking and often given a lot of focus in his roles.
