J.J. Abrams' Leonard dream

(BANG) - J.J. Abrams says working with Leonard Nimmoy in the upcoming 'Star Wars' movie was a "dream experience".

The director has kept details of the movie tightly under wraps but does admit he loved having the veteran involved in the film.

He told movie website Comingsoon.net: "It was really just a dream experience, working with him. He is everything you want him to be. He's funny and incredibly thoughtful and was surprisingly open and receptive to direction.

"Like he was there recently and because we weren't shooting anymore I was standing there and I just looked at him while he was doing his thing. I wanted to burn it into my head. It was so great to get to work with that guy. He's just an amazing man and is terrific in the movie."

J.J. also revealed why he is such a fan of the 'Star Trek' franchise.

He explained: "I fell in love with the relationships between the characters. I fell in love with the characters. The idea of - it's so funny because you hear something so often and it loses its meaning. But 'Space, the final frontier' - if you actually consider space as uncharted territory there's something about the idea of these people, because any ship flying by isn't going to get you excited. "

'Star Trek' is due for release in cinemas in May next year.

(C) BANG Media International