Quinto and Nimoy have become fast friends since meeting briefly at San Diego's Comic-Con sci-fi convention last month. They had more time to connect during a recent tour of the Griffith Observatory. That led to Nimoy inviting Quinto to his home for dinner. Though there is speculation about how Abrams will make use of both Spocks in the film, no one is talking. "I honestly … can't say," Quinto, 30, says during lunch at the observatory's cafe after bidding farewell to Nimoy.

But perhaps a tiny clue is revealed. "I think there's going to be a sense of guidance through this film and beyond," he says. In Nimoy, 76, Quinto has found a father figure of sorts.

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In November, he will check out of Heroes to beam aboard Trek's 85-day shoot. He says 11 stages have been built on the Paramount lot, and two weeks will be spent shooting in Iceland. "I really identify with Spock's struggle," he says. "We're going back to a time before anything (Nimoy did in the original series) was established. These characters are in a completely different stage of their lives." After he turns in his Spock ears, Quinto hopes to live long and prosper on the series that made him a star. "If I could be on Heroes for the next 10 years, I would absolutely do that. But when something like this (movie) comes along, and you step away from one thing to do another thing, you never know what the future holds."