A couple weeks after "Star Trek" opened with a $75 million first weekend and Chris Pine went from largely unknown actor to global superstar, the 29-year-old actor found himself a target of the paparazzi, who convinced there was something going on between him and "The Hills" star Audrina Patridge.
A couple weeks ago, MTV News honored Chris as one of the people we're most thankful for in 2009, and during a wide-ranging conversation about the "Trek" franchise and the future of his career, talk inevitably turned to one thing Chris ain't so happy about in 2009: those pesky photogs that targeted him earlier in the year.
"I certainly despise them with all my soul," he said.
As prepared for the intrusion as he was before the blockbuster success of "Trek," Chris admitted there's truly no way to prepare for the reality of paps staking out your home and waiting to snap snap snap as soon as you emerge into daylight.
"In terms of the private life stuff, I understood what would or could happen because of my involvement in something so big, but you don't really understand it until it starts happening and people are waiting outside your house," he said. "And I live in an apartment on a busy street. It was pretty brutal when the movie first came out, and then it dies down and the paparazzi lose their interest and go after the next flavor of the day."
For all the hassle of increased media attention on his personal life, Chris characterized the tabloid spotlight as a fair trade-off, or as he put it, "the deal with the devil you make."
"I would say that artistically it's been everything I wanted," he continued." 'Star Trek' has afforded me the luxury of choice in terms of what I want to do and where I want to take my career," he said. "I don't know how long that will last for, but certainly right now I'm enjoying that immensely."