Chris Pine Reveals Biggest Moment of His Career: 'Definitely an Out-of-Body Moment'

It’s one thing to say you’re an old-school, old-soul kind of person; it’s quite another to live it.

Chris Pine checks in for his Parade interview from the interior of a classic 1965 Airstream trailer currently perched in the front yard of his Los Angeles home. It comes complete with recessed lighting, vintage countertops and a pistachio-green stove.

“It’s made out of wood and metal,” he boasts while swiveling the camera. “I like craft and things that take time and are difficult to make.”

And when the acclaimed actor found himself with time on his hands during the pandemic, he didn’t aimlessly scroll Instagram on his phone—he drew on his lifelong love of literature and started writing poetry.

Now he’s come out the other end with a charming new children’s picture book. When Digz the Dog Met Zurl the Squirrel (available Oct. 8) is the story of two animals who are both sure they rule the roost in Ms. Pincher’s garden on Appletree Lane. When they come face-to-face in a showdown, the lonely dog and the squirrel with a too-short tail realize they might not be so different after all.

The story was based on Pine’s two rescue dogs, with the furry black-and-white Digz resembling Wednesday, his Great Dane/Pitbull mix. (The book is dedicated to her.) The writing itself comes from his love of language and Dr. Seuss tales.

“Those books were delicious to read out loud to myself,” he says, “Hopefully this book has enough delicious rhymes and words with a musicality, so when a parent has to read it for the umpteenth time to their kids, they’re not grinding their teeth; they’re happy.”

As an actor, Pine, 44, has been gripping audiences for 20 years. With an easy smile and California-bred cool charisma, he has effortlessly stepped into iconic film characters like Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise and war hero/love interest Steve Trevor in 2017’s Wonder Woman and its 2020 sequel. He showed off his singing skills in 2014’s Into the Woods and 2023’s Wish , and his comedy chops in 2023’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Audiences saw his dark side as a small-town crook in the critically acclaimed 2016 neo-Western Hell or High Water . And, of course, more than a few millennials still hold a place for him in their hearts thanks to the early-aughts rom-coms The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and Just My Luck.

Related: All About Chris Pine's Relationship History—And Who He’s Dating Now

But Pine—the son of CHiPs actor Robert Pine and actress-turned-psychotherapist Gwynne Gilford—has been thinking beyond a big-screen career in a world that’s oversaturated with entertainment.

“There are five billion other things attacking people’s attention spans, so if I feel like [a project] needs to be seen, I’ll do it,” he says. Otherwise, he says he’d like to continue writing, do more directing, and maybe even hit the books and continue his education.

Pine reflects on it all for this week’s Parade cover story.

Mara Reinstein: What inspired you to write the book?

Chris Pine: This all started at the beginning of quarantine when we were all cooped up and I wasn't doing much of anything except for hanging out at the house with my dogs and taking them on walks. I was on a walk with my good friend way out deep out in Altadena [California]. My dog ran after a squirrel, and she said, “Wouldn't that be a great idea for a story about a dog that falls in love with a squirrel?” That was the very basic beginning of that journey. I went home and immediately started writing. And then I couldn't stop and ended up writing, I don't know, probably seven or eight stories.

What don’t people understand about the process of celebrities who author picture books?

Well, I don't know how it went for anybody else. I don't have kids, but I have a dog and I'm in love with my dog. And I do have a deep love for stories, for literature and for books I grew up with. My mother and father would tell me stories before going to bed. And obviously I'm an actor, and I've written and directed and produced, so storytelling is kind of in my blood. I wrote every word and had great editors.

You also graduated from Berkeley with an English degree! That’s impressive.

I went to Berkeley where I studied English literature and ended up doing my senior thesis on Mark Twain. I also spent a year in England at a great university known for its English department. I love reading. Obviously that old joke about becoming a waiter with an English degree is true, but it has helped me deeply in terms of what I do for a living because storytelling is storytelling.

You never considered becoming, say, an English teacher?

I really was so lost in college. One minute you're in school and 18 and living with your parents, and then all of a sudden, you’re out of college into semi-adulthood. I had no idea what I wanted to do, and I knew I didn't like science and math. If I had to do it over again, probably I would have studied history and political science or something with the history of intellectual thought. But I know I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I sort of fell into acting. But yeah, I miss school.

And were you actually a waiter?

Oh yeah, I worked at a restaurant in LA. I actually turned down the waiting gig and ended up being a food runner and just taking the food to the customers.

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How did you make that pivot into acting?

I had blinders on once I realized after college that acting was what I was going to do. I had no room for doubt; I was just going to do it. It's odd that I never thought about a world where it wasn't going to work out. It was sort of naivete and probably how I was raised, but I also certainly had a fair amount of drive. And I really didn't f--k around in my 20s. There wasn't a lot of going to parties and having a good time. I was like, I'll do it.

Your first credit was a 2003 episode of ER . What do you remember about that experience?

It was so cool. You kidding? There was a time when being on a Hollywood lot was a big deal, so there was something very romantic about the Warner Bros. studio in Los Angeles. On the ER soundstage they built this huge emergency room where the cameras are following characters going in and out. We did a rehearsal at the nurse’s station so we were at the center of the action, and everyone was coming and going. It's exciting when you're a young actor and you're going to work with Maura Tierney and Sally Field.

Were you a patient with a head wound?

I think I was “drunk fraternity boy.” I might have had a name.

How did it feel to be on camera?

It took me a long time not to be self-conscious and terrified. I don't know if there's any acting school that can really prepare you for the permutations of set life. It’s a really bizarre thing to do. So no, I was not comfortable on camera.

Well, most writers and readers are introverts. You ended up a movie star.

I skew like a 60/40 split, where I think the 40 is extroverted. I find as I get older, I have to spend more time by myself to recharge. But I have often thought about that weird cognitive dissonance.

When you started out, was being on billboards and in blockbuster movies the big dream?

I just didn’t want to work at the restaurant. Like, Get a job; I’m broke. So I was just looking to work. I knew I could do big things, but there was no A Beautiful Mind scene in my room where I'm like, I’ll do this and then hopscotch and work with Martin Scorsese.

You’ve been acting for 20 years. Without overthinking, what’s your career highlight

The thing that comes to mind was a moment on the first day on set for the first Star Trek movie. It was my first humongous movie, and we were on a soundstage on the Paramount lot. I come from a Hollywood family, so to be on a soundstage on a Hollywood lot was like everything that I dreamed about. Being on the ridge and looking out was definitely an out-of-body moment. I was like, Wow, this is pretty far out. Then there are moments working with Tony Scott and Denzel Washington [on 2010’s Unstoppable ] that I'll forever remember. And working with Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster [on Hell or High Water ]. Honestly, I've had a really fortunate career.

Off-camera, aren’t you a big car guy?

I am. When I was growing up, my dad had his prized 1965 Porsche with a black canvas top and black interior. And I have these memories of riding in that car with my father, and then as life took its course, and he had to sell the car, I remembered the pain in his eyes. I shared that pain. Now I have an obsession with European cars of the mid-20th century. A Tesla is like the world’s largest iPad. It’s more romantic to get in a car that you're not sure is going to start or it takes 10 minutes to warm up before you drive it. Then you can drive it on a Sunday afternoon in the hills of LA with your friends.

Do you have a Jay Leno-type of car collection?

No, he gets paid far more than I do! But I have a great little car collection that I'm still fascinated by and madly in love with. So I don’t have an airplane hangar in Burbank; I have a garage.

Between the vintage cars and the Airstream and the poetry, you’re a real throwback.

Yeah, I do like older things. I think we live in a time now that's about rapidity. Give it to me now, give me faster. Here’s how I explain it: Before you had GPS on your phone, if you were in a new city and you had to get to the coffee shop, you go downstairs and you ask the hotel front desk, “How do I get to the café?” You can get lost making a right and going down the alley, but in getting lost, you see things. That’s the way I want to live my life. Now there’s a rigidity to it. You’re looking at your phone and you’re missing all these potential opportunities.

With that in mind, what’s the message of your book?

The idea that came out of the story was: What if the frustration and the anger that these two animals seem to have toward one another comes from a place of their own vulnerability and their own sense of being deficient? And once they understand each other, they can move on and be great friends. Why is a bully a bully? Probably because something happened to the bully, and maybe if you understood what happened to the bully, you can repair relationships and move on with love.

You mentioned that your parents read to you. What are your three favorite children’s books?

The Wind in the Willows [by Kenneth Grahame], anything by Beatrix Potter, and to pick one by Dr. Seuss would be impossible. So let’s say the entire canon of Dr. Seuss.

This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

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