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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Chris Pine

Telisa Carter

August 19, 2016

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Chris Pine could very well be one of the most sought after actors in Hollywood, but you would never know it by the low-profile he keeps. Pine has starred in many films of many genres and most notably landed the iconic role of Captain James T. Kirk in the massive reboot of Star Trek which has now spawned two more films. As his star keeps getting bigger and bigger, but he remains down-to-earth, all of his fans who are affectionately referred to as “Pine-nuts” want to know more about the star! Check out 10 things you never knew about Chris Pine:

10. Arrest

When it comes to big stars getting into trouble, most would never think of Chris Pine as being one of them. Regardless, he did end up on the wrong side of the law in March 2014 when filming Z for Zachariah in New Zealand. Pine was pulled over and then arrested near Methven after he was unable to pass a roadside breath alcohol test. He pleaded guilty to drunk driving after having four drinks at a pub, but thanks to his clean record, the judge said “the incident was out of character” and Pine was prohibited from driving in New Zealand for six months and had to pay $93 in reparation.

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9. Space Travellers

Chris Pine is well known for his role as Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek films, but as it turns out, he comes from a long line of family who have portrayed space travellers. His grandmother Anne Gwynne appeared in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe in 1940; his mother Gwynne Gilford appeared in Masters of the Universe in 1987; and his own father, Robert Pine, appeared in Star Trek: Voyager in the episode “The Chute.”

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8. Early Life

Christopher “Chris” Whitelaw Pine was born on August 26, 1980 in Los Angeles to his parents Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford. Both of his parents worked as actors, and his mom went on to practice psychiatry. He also has an older sister Kate, and famous grandparents as well! His grandmother Anne Gywnne was a Hollywood actress while his grandfather Max M. Gilford was an attorney who was elected president of the Hollywood Bar Association.

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7. Education

With such a famous family to follow, Pine was adamant about staying away from the business and wanted to carve his own path in the world away from the spotlight of his family. He followed through with his education starting at Oakwood School before attending the University of California, Berkeley which he graduated from in 2002 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. After his graduation he did an exchange program and studied for one ear at the University of Leeds in England, and then finally went after acting by studying at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. After graduating from college, Pine also won a coveted place at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, but with little money and not wanting student loan debt, he had to pass up the opportunity.

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6. Getting Started

Despite his success now, getting his big break wasn’t so easy for Pine. In 2006 Pine revealed that he took part in a theater festival in Massachusetts two summers after he graduated college and then went to L.A. to pursue work, but once he was there he started to think it wasn’t going to happen and planned to move to New York. “I bought a plane ticket and found a place to live in New York, packed my bags and of course the universe told me that I was not meant to go. Suddenly a week before I was supposed to leave, I had three job offers and one of them was my first movie. I think that when you let go and throw it all away and stop getting attached and say whatever happens, happens, you don’t invest too much in anything particular, and things work out.” Luckily for Pine, his first movie role was as Nicholas Devereaux in the hit film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

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5. Losing and Getting Roles

Like all other actors, Pine has won some big roles, but also lost out on some. He beat out Mike Vogel for the role of Kirk in Star Trek, and as such became the youngest actor to play a lead in a Star Trek film or series at 28 years old, and was the only Star Trek lead to be born after the franchise began. He was also rumored to be in line for the role of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan that went to Ryan Reynolds, and with the stir he caused by auditioning for Star Trek, he was quickly asked to audition for another huge 2009 film: Avatar. Unfortunately, his audition for Jake Sulley ended up being, according to Pine, the worst audition he ever gave. Apparently the audition was going so badly that Pine stopped himself, shook the casting director’s hand and just left because he was messing it up so bad.

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4. Personal Life

Chris Pine is about as non-Hollywood as an actor can be. He likes the simple life away from the spotlight and is skilled at keeping his romances away from cameras, so skilled that there is never any definitive answer to who he is dating. It may be surprising to learn that Pine has a very long list of women he has reportedly dated, beginning with his Just My Luck co-star and including women such as Zoe Kravitz, Audrina Patridge, and Olivia Munn. Most recently Pine was connected to Vanderpump Rules star Vail Bloom, but there has been no updates on the pair in months.

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3. Net Worth

It isn’t surprising Pine is often overlooked when discussing Hollywood A-listers because of his ability to stay out of headlines and away from paparazzi most of the time, but as the star of Star Trek, there is no doubt he is raking in the same money as other leading men. Pine has an estimated net worth of $30 million, and that is thanks in large part to his role as Kirk. He was reportedly only paid $600,000 for Star Trek in 2009 with bonuses if it was profitable, which it was. He then had a huge jump to $1.5 million for Star Trek: Into Darkness with a $500 thousand bonus, and was most recently paid $6 million for Star Trek: Beyond. On top of his other earnings for films such as This Means War and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, money is certainly not an issue for Pine.

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2. Early Work

Getting a late start in acting meant that Pine had to take on many various jobs to pay the bills before the multi-million paying jobs came rolling in. “I worked in a restaurant and in a bakery, and I once worked for my landlord as a construction guy who would repair things in the house. But I was not very good because I do not know a hammer from a screwdriver, so that did not last long,” he once explained of his pre-acting life.

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1. What Goes Around Comes Around

When asked about what he believes in when it comes to religion, Pine revealed he is more of a guy who believes in karma. “I believe in luck and fate and I believe in karma, that the energy you put out in the world comes back to meet you. So if you have positive good energy, hopefully good things will come to you from the universe… I definitely have a spiritual outlook […] I am not a religious guy, I am probably agnostic. The more you are positive and say I want to have a good life, the more you build that reality for yourself; by creating the life that you want. It is not always the case that things will fall into your lap or that life will be great, but it is all about perspective and having a positive outlook. If something goes wrong, you say, ‘That happened for a reason, what can I learn from that and how can I grow?'”

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Telisa Carter

Telisa enjoys learning and writing about all things entertainment in the world of Hollywood. When she isn't catching up on her favorite TV shows, she likes to read, and obsess over all things football.