Spock is easily one of the greatest characters Star Trek has ever produced, ranking comfortably alongside Picard, Kirk, Seven, and Worf in the pantheon of fan favorites. Deemed a complex individual, being half-Vulcan and half-human, Spock feels excluded from both societies. He is also an intensely emotional character, forcing himself to keep his immense anger and desires under strict control. As a Starfleet officer, he plays into his Vulcan side, but other Vulcans often look down on him for being too “human” – including his own father.
It takes a great actor to play such a nuanced individual. Here is a definitive ranking of everyone who played a main version of Spock throughout the Trek timeline.
3. Zachary Quinto
Quinto had the advantage of taking Spock in a totally new direction. Appearing in three modern films, Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2012), and Star Trek: Beyond (2016), Quinto’s Spock displays far more emotions than the Spock of The Original Series. This is due to the destruction of his home planet in the Kelvin timeline. Spock is seething with rage, less friendly with Kirk, and significantly more friendly with Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, to the point that he even enters into a romantic relationship with her.
Making Spock edgier was an interesting decision made to break the Star Trek tradition. Quinto turned the character into an outwardly angry young man. Wearing his heart on his sleeve allowed Quinto to show off his range of acting abilities, but some Trekkies argued that something integral about the character was lost in these films. One key reason why the original timeline’s Spock is so fascinating is because he is so repressed. This allows for some truly compelling moments when that strict Vulcan emotional control is removed.
Being only in movies rather than getting to live the character in long-running series meant that Quinto has not yet been able to develop Spock in the same way as other actors. Nevertheless, Quinto’s fresh spin on the character won him many fans.
2. Ethan Peck
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to impress die-hard fans and new viewers alike for its fast-paced, episodic, “planet of the week” plots. A significant part of this success can be attributed to Ethan Peck‘s portrayal of Spock. The grandson of golden age Hollywood actor Gregory Peck, Ethan has clearly made a deep study of Leonard Nimoy’s performance.
Peck first played the role in Star Trek: Discovery‘s second season, where the character was undergoing a similar emotional journey to that of the Quinto Spock. Despite the unusual plot, Peck’s ability to embody the character came through magnificently on screen. With that plot resolved, Strange New Worlds went on to depict a Spock closer to The Original Series, albeit somewhat younger and fiercely loyal to his captain, Christopher Pike. He is outwardly unemotional, but deep fires burn inside. Peck’s Spock is torn between his commitment to T’Pring (a Vulcan woman his parents wish him to marry) and his growing feelings for Christine Chapel, a nurse serving aboard the Enterprise.
The new show offers more lighthearted moments for everyone’s favorite Vulcan and even includes a comedy episode where T’Pring and Spock swap bodies. Peck’s performance draws on the best of Nimoy’s groundwork while still feeling distinct, allowing Peck to make the character his own. The actor channels Nimoy, rather than imitating him, and the result is a character that feels recognizable to fans while still being fresh.
1. Leonard Nimoy
For most Trekkies, Nimoy is Spock. The now-deceased actor appeared as Spock more times than anyone else, and being present in so many different Star Trek productions allowed Nimoy to not only define the character, but also explore his natural evolution like no other actor could.
We first meet Nimoy’s Spock in “The Cage,” the unaired pilot episode of The Original Series (before William Shatner‘s Kirk even came on the scene). In “The Cage,” Spock is full of emotion, famously grinning at the beauty of an unusual alien flower. However, the script editors quickly brought the character into line and a few episodes into the first season Spock lost his outward feelings.
One of Nimoy’s best, and most character-defining performances, came very early into the first season. The episode “The Naked Time” saw the crew become intoxicated by a virus, losing all inhibitions. Spock’s Vulcan self-control crumbled and he became a nervous wreck, unable to carry out his duties, and was overwhelmed by his affection towards his captain, even going so far as to sob “Jim, when I feel friendship for you, I’m ashamed.” Nimoy’s ability to portray a character torn between passion and control only grew in strength over the course of the show’s three-year run.
Kirk and Spock’s deep friendship became one of the main attractions of the series for viewers, and the chemistry between Nimoy and Shatner came through brilliantly on screen. The bond between Kirk and Spock was so strong that a number of fans began to “ship” the characters together in fanfiction (Kirk/Spock fanfics are where the term “slash fic” originates). This was helped along by several writers including suggestive undertones in some of the scripts (who else remembers that time Kirk thought Spock was giving him a backrub?)
Later appearances
In the subsequent Star Trek films, Nimoy’s Spock allows himself to explore more of his humanity. The Motion Picture (1979) began with Spock about to undergo the Vulcan ritual of Kolinahr, where all emotions were purged. About to attain a state of pure logic, Spock broke with tradition and walked away from the ceremony when he realized Kirk needed him.
By The Next Generation era, Spock is much more comfortable with his human emotions and is acting as a Federation ambassador. He is keenly pursuing unification between the Vulcan and Romulan peoples, despite protests that such a policy could never succeed. This older Spock has blended logic and emotion into a workable mix. He is an ideal representative for everything the Federation stands for — a living product of diversity, inclusion, and peaceful cooperation.
Nimoy underwent a similar transition in his personal life. Having become a pop culture icon for his performance as Spock, Nimoy initially chafed under the feeling of being typecast, and went so far as to release the book “I Am Not Spock.” However, as the years passed and the fandom grew, Nimoy came to embrace his status as a living legend — eventually releasing a second, more famous autobiography titled “I am Spock.“
Spock’s place in the sci-fi pantheon remains strong, and with Peck now carrying forward the work that Nimoy started, the character has many more stories left to tell.