Zachary Quinto UK

From the age of 11 Zach was a member of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Mini-Stars, where he won an award for his portrayal of Major-General Stanley in 'The Pirates of Penzance'. He also appeared in musicals staged by the CLO's summer camps.

At aged 16 Zach was involved in a serious car accident which led to a discussion with his mother Margo about responsibility. "I blurted out, "I wanna be an actor!" That, somehow, just turned it. I think she saw in my impassioned plea something serious about what I was after."

Zach's brother Joe is a photographer who takes his official head shots. His website is http://www.joequinto.com/

Zach's father sadly died when Zach was only seven years old. His father was a hairdresser from Pittsburgh. His mother raised Zach and his brother and also worked at an investment firm and county magistrate's office.

At seventeen Zach was already involved in a raft of community activities, as reported in this book (thanks to user 'therumjournals' on Livejournal). 

International Bible Lesson Commentary 2008-2009: King James Version: The New Standard in Biblical Exposition Based on the International Sunday School Lessons page 168.

"Seventeen-year-old Zachary Quinto has worked with the Boys Club of Western Pennsylvania for years. The high school senior also serves on the Youth Advisory Council that plans community service activities. He has helped with social programs in the areas of the homeless, youth at risk, and the frail and disabled elderly. He also chaired the Self-Esteem Fair.

Now he devotes time to promoting the Youth Volunteer Corps. He spends time trying to get young people involved in positive activities and getting teenagers to volunteer their time to others. Youth like Zachary are beginning to explore their leadership potential and provide an example for others to follow. What things could you do to help your community become a better place to live?"

There is a detailed article about Zach's early life and career here.

Zach is currently learning to cook and play the banjo, though hopefully not at the same time. He also practises yoga.

He enjoys hiking with his Irish Wolfhound/Airedale cross Noah and also has a black and white cat called Harold who he rescued from the streets.

On the subject of celeb parties Zach says :“I prefer having friends over for quiet gatherings more than I ever like to go to clubs, though I do that, too. I actually have a reputation among my (Heroes) castmates for being a partier.”

Zach's closest friends on the Heroes cast are Hayden Panatierre, Kristen Bell, Masi Oka and Milo Ventimiglia. He remains close friends with So NoTORIous co-star Tori Spelling.

One of Zachary's favourite pursuits is dining out. He talks about his favourite restaurants here.

According to USA today Zach's favourite shows as a child were Duck Tales and 20/20 which was an American current affairs programme.

Zach's real life hero is Mother Theresa . "God called her on her path. Once she listened to God and followed her life's purpose, she never heard from Him again. It was her faith in Him that kept her focused and committed."

His first job was at a hardware store in his native Green Tree. "It was kind of boring, but I liked mixing paint and making copies of keys for customers." When he first arived in LA Zach worked as a waiter on the 11pm to 7am shift!

On being asked what his last words would be : "N'at." I actually have that expression on my bumper sticker, a gift from my good friend, Brigid Ryan. The bumper sticker says it all and where I'm from. I take Pittsburgh with me everywhere I go n'at. (n'at is the Pittsburgh way of saying "And that.") Strangely that's a phrase that you'll hear more often in the UK, especially in the north and that.

Zach's favourite film is the romantic drama Harold and Maude.  He also likes The Jerk, Scarface and Magnolia. His favourite books are Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and Everyman by Philip Roth whom he considers his favourite author. Zach listens to Sarah Roberts, John Mayer, Chris Dallman and Rilo Kiley.

Sylar’s the coolest thing because he’s so unpredictable and so downright evil. It’s almost hard for me to watch because it’s the polar opposite of Zach’s personality; he’s just the kindest, gentlest most giving person.

Kristen Bell - Heroes co-star

As an actor you always want to work with someone who’ll elevate your work. He’s so talented, to be able to play such a complex villain you have to have a certain amount of talent. I just look up to him so much.

Dania Ramirez - Heroes co-star

Zach Quinto rules.  I love getting into scenes with him. I encourage him to be playful and unexpected. This is not a direction you can give all actors, trust me, but Zach can find a way to play a line in a completely unexpected way, that doesn’t lose the thought behind the original intention. He is always amazing when he gets a chance to play with the material - mixing up the cadences and playing against the obvious intentions of some lines.

Greg Beeman - Heroes director

I saw Zachary Quinto do things with the character that had never occurred to me, which I found quite delicious.I think he really has found a way to expand the character while at the same time, if you can understand what I’m trying to say, being true to the character. He has found ways to enrich the character. He’s wonderful and I’m really proud of what he has done.

Leonard Nimoy - Star Trek X1 co-star

I told Zach, after congratulating him [on getting the role of Spock], that all he needs to do to see how he is going to look like in forty years is look at Leonard today. They are spitting images of each other. The likeness is uncanny. They are both talented actors. Their personalities are alike, too. You know, Leonard and I used to talk a lot about political events. I’m a political activist, and so is he. We used to talk about the headlines all the time. Zach is a very serious and sober guy.

George Takei - Heroes co-star

We put Zachary on Crossing Jordan and had known him for a while. We were aware of his talents before Heroes. We just knew he had a lot of depth. Zach has a deep soul, for want of a better word. You look at his eyes and they can say an awful lot without his mouth even opening. He was just one of those actors we knew had many levels. From Crossing Jordan we knew Tim [Kring] loved to show both sides of a character. People who do bad also hadve a good side, and people who do good can tap into their draker side. We knew Zach could reach either way. If you needed him to be sympathetic he could be - which is showing a lot [in season three]. We also knew if you needed a twisted guy, Zach could tap into that too.

Natalie Hart - Casting director on Heroes