With J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness opening soon around the world, we recently landed an exclusive phone interview with Zoe Saldana.  During the interview, she talked about making the sequel, how nice it is to finally be able to talk about it, whether Klingon or Na’vi is more difficult to master, filming the bridge scenes first, who the biggest joker on set is and who tries hardest to make the cast break on camera, script changes, and so much more.  We also talked about Nina, Out of the Furnace, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more.  Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Star Trek Into Darkness also stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Peter Weller, and Alice Eve.  The film opens in IMAX 3D on May 15th and in 2D and 3D on May 17th.

Casting additions today are as follows:

• Mike Epps (The Hangover) will portray comedian Richard Pryor in Nina, the Nina Simone biopic from writer/director Cynthia Mort that stars Zoe Saldana (Avatar) and David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland).
• Hip hop artist, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi will join the indie rom-com, Two Night Stand, which marks the directorial debut of Max Nichols.
• Jai Courtney (Spartacus: Vengeance) will star opposite Joel Edgerton (Warrior) and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) in Felony.  Matthew Seville (Noise) directs from Edgerton’s script.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

Two pieces of casting to report:

• Zoe Saldana will play legendary jazz vocalist/pianist Nina Simone in the biopic Nina, written and directed by Cynthia Mort (Tell Me You Love Me).
• Jake Gyllenhaal signed on to star in Mississippi Grind, a gambling drama written and directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (It’s Kind of a Funny Story).

Hit the jump for details on both projects.