Many will approach the new Star Trek reboot in a state of intense anticipation, eager for each of the franchise's beloved characters to be reintroduced on-screen. Me? I mostly cared about Winona Ryder and Tyler Perry. So how did their unlikely Star Trek cameos stack up against each other? Let's see!
Character Played
Ryder: Amanda Grayson, human mother to Spock (Zachary Quinto). It is here that we are obliged to point out that Ryder is six years older than Quinto.
Perry: Admiral Richard Barnett, the Federation hardass who's first glimpsed weighing Kirk's punishment after the young cadet cheats during the famous Kobayashi Maru test.
Amount of Scenes
Ryder: Two, though a scene from the trailer where Ryder is glimpsed giving birth to Spock has been cut from the finished film. Of the scenes that remain, Ryder has dialogue in exactly one of them and is aged up twenty years in both.
Perry: Two that we know of, although it's entirely possible that Perry played several other characters in disguise (including the suspicious Madealien, a loud, bewigged creature whose homespun aphorisms cause Uhura to rededicate herself to a life of spirituality).
Audience Reaction
Ryder: In our screening, Ryder's first appearance was met with stone-cold silence...
Perry: ...whereas Perry's introduction was greeted by warm, knowing chuckles.
Level of Miscasting
Ryder: Without a "birth of Spock" scene to justify her still-youthful presence, it's mystifying why Ryder has been cast in a role that could have been done by a more age-appropriate actor -- and one without Ryder's unique, extracurricular star baggage.
Perry: Though this is a rare role for Perry in a film he didn't direct, he fits right in and takes part in two of the movie's most pivotal, rousing scenes.
WINNER: Perry. Though this is certainly going to be Ryder's biggest movie in, like, ever, Perry's cameo fits neatly into his career trajectory. In the future, it's easy to see the mini-mogul making decisions that can affect the whole galaxy. We'll just cross our fingers that he doesn't exile WGA-friendly writers to a far-flung ice planet.