Iconic actor Leonard Nimoy has undoubtedly had a storied career thanks to his legendary role as Mr. Spock in the classic "Star Trek" television series and several "Trek" spin-off movies. But perhaps apart from creator Gene Roddenberry's original series of 40-plus years ago, no chapter is as exciting to Nimoy as director J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek," an origins movie that chronicles the early years of the crew of the Starship Enterprise, including James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto).

Nimoy also stars in the film as the elder version of the famed Vulcan character -- in what he best classifies as a bookend role.

"What I find interesting now that I've seen the film a couple times, is that Zachary is playing a Spock before the character that I played in the series, and I'm playing a Spock character that at the end the line, after all of the series' and films," Nimoy said in an @ The Movies interview this week.

Nimoy said that he was very comfortable playing Spock in the sense that the role is closer to him as a person than it ever was before.

"I think that Spock and I have really merged. I'm totally comfortable with where I am and so is Spock," Nimoy said. "Zachary is playing a character that still has to find himself, and he comes to a point at the end of this movie, which I think is just wonderful, where he takes the final step to becoming the Spock I played in the original series."

Nimoy said that the only thing that would have made his return to the "Star Trek" universe complete would have been the inclusion of the original Kirk, William Shatner, in the film.

"Bill Shatner and I are very close friends and we see each other quite regularly, and we get together with our wives have dinner quite frequently," said Nimoy, 78. "I'm sorry he's not in this film. I hope that it's pretty clear that it would have been difficult to include him because of the backstory on Kirk. They did offer him a role in this movie, but I guess he didn't believe it was appropriate for him to be doing what they offered … I had no idea what the role was. Bill and I have not talked about it. It's just understood that this is a movie that he's not in."

The Kirk backstory in question, was in 1994's "Star Trek: Generations," the seventh "Trek" movie, where the cast of "The Next Generation" television series was introduced to the big-screen franchise and the cast members of the classic series were phased out. Some moves were curious if not controversial -- like killing Kirk off at the end of the movie. As for Spock, he didn't even make an appearance.

"When they eliminated Spock and killed Kirk, it was really a loss for both of us," Nimoy said. "I felt that we both had a lot that we could still contribute to 'Star Trek,' but the people who were making those films went their own way and they had a right to, I guess. I don't hold them responsible in any way. It was just a fact that they decided that they were going to go ahead without Spock and Kirk."

Nimoy likens his return to the new "Star Trek" as a homecoming, and a sweet one at that. For the lack of better words, he's thrilled to see that Spock has been given the chance to live long and prosper again.

"I have not been included in 'Star Trek' for a very long time so coming back with this wonderful movie, in a strong, solid contributing role, I feel like I've come home," Nimoy said. "I feel like I've slipped into a warm, comfortable bathrobe with a bunch of friends sitting around."

Making Spock Logical

While the intent of Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were to go back to the beginning with the new "Star Trek," Nimoy was happy to find out that there was one vital piece of the puzzle the filmmakers needed to make the project complete.

"They told me that they needed me to make this picture work and I was flattered by that," Nimoy beamed. "I hope that my contribution is important and some people seem to think it is. I think I give the picture a sense of weight of the past -- a connection to the past -- and I think it works. It's a function part of the story. I think they've done a very good job."

While Nimoy is more than familiar with Spock, perhaps the performer with the biggest weight on his shoulders to deliver the character in a new light was Quinto, who has earned critical acclaim for playing the villainous Sylar on the television series "Heroes."

Nimoy said that he was immediately convinced that the actor could do the Vulcan legend proud.

"By contract I did not have casting approval, but I had what you would call 'consultation rights,' and the filmmakers sent me some video footage of Zachary's earlier work," Nimoy recalled. "I immediately called J.J. and said, 'He's a very good choice. He looks enough like me to make it work, but at least as important -- if not more important -- he has an internal life and intelligence working which I think is very important for the character.'"

As for Abrams, Nimoy couldn't have been more impressed with the filmmaker, the mastermind behind hit shows "Alias," "Lost" and "Fringe" (which Nimoy recently guest-starred on), as well as the films "Cloverfield" and "Mission: Impossible III."

The odd thing is, Abrams is admittedly more of a fan of "Star Wars" than "Star Trek"; but Nimoy feels the unfamiliarity with the latter actually worked toward the director's advantage for this new "Trek" voyage.

"He wasn't bound by the sensibility of what had come before -- but on the other hand, Orci and Kurtzman were very much involved with 'Star Trek' and really understood and appreciated the whole history of it," Nimoy said. "So between the group, they were able to find a real good sense of what had gone before and a real good sense of taking it forward."