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If you look at Laurence Fishburne’s filmography, you can’t help but notice an impressive array of sci-fi titles: The Matrix trilogy, of course, but also Predators, Man of Steel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Signal, The Colony, Event Horizon… and that’s without mentioning his very latest and upcoming projects, including Transformers One, Slingshot, Megalopolis, and The Astronaut. Sure, he’s also known for drama and is an Oscar nominee, but it’s absolutely clear Fishburne is a huge sci-fi fan—and in a new interview, he traces back just how far his love for the genre goes.
Speaking to Variety, Fishburne—who excitedly admits “I love the Transformers” and that “[sci-fi] is one of my favorite genres”—was asked where his sci-fi fandom began. “It’s very simple: I am a product of my time,” he told the trade. “I was born in 1961 so where do you think I fell in love with sci-fi? I fell in love with sci-fi on the television. There was a little show called Star Trek, and it was the first television show, in America, that had a diverse, and multiracial crew on it, so I could turn on Star Trek and see people that looked like me in space in the future.”
He continued, sharing more Trek love as well as other favorites. “The show had many guest actors, like the great William Marshall, who played Dr. Richard Daystrom. He was a brilliant scientist who built this amazing, sentient computer. There were so many people, and that’s where my initial love of science fiction began. And then on the heels of that came Star Wars. And I loved the Planet of the Apes. I loved quirky movies like a little movie that David Bowie did called The Man Who Fell To Earth, which was one of my favorite movies. Soylent Green is a great one and so was Omega Man.”
Slingshot, a sci-fi psychological thriller about a desperate and troubled mission to one of Saturn’s moons, co-stars Casey Affleck and is in theaters now; Transformers One releases September 18, and Megalopolis is out September 27. It goes without saying we’d love to see him in a Star Trek project one of these days, too.
Fishburne is also co-starring in season four of Netflix’s The Witcher, so perhaps sometime in the future we’ll get another interview where he reveals his thoughts on the fantasy genre. Head to Variety to read today’s full chat with Fishburne.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
