In an interview released this week from IGN, McCoy actor Karl Urban revealed a few insights into his long-standing love of Star Trek – and how without the words of STAR TREK BEYOND director Justin Lin, he may have not come back for a third outing.

Urban is one of the few “new Trek” stars to make it to the convention circuit, having been involved with genre media going back to his Xena: Warrior Princess days in New Zealand. The Kiwi actor made sure to credit the fans for why he continues to attend those events.

[Attending Trek conventions is] a tradition that was established by the original cast, and I feel like it’s important to acknowledge the fanbase, because if it wasn’t for the fanbase, there would be no ‘Star Trek.’

Owning up to his Trek geekery, the actor was also quick to rattle off his favorite adventures of the classic Enterprise crew.

My favorite episodes would probably be “The Corbomite Maneuver,” “Amok Time” — I don’t know the name of it, but the episode where Kirk fights the Gorn. I love “The City on the Edge of Forever.” That’s great, that’s particularly brilliant. Then there’s another one which I loved, which is essentially a submarine episode, where there’s a Romulan captain battling Kirk, and they’re at it the whole time, and there’s this cloak-and-dagger kind of vibe. My favorite movie is ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture.’ For the longest time I felt that it was too slow, but with age I’ve come to a great appreciation of it. I really love it. It’s still, you know, the essence of exploring the unknown.

Something we talked about the other week after the latest BEYOND trailer came out also turns out to be Urban’s homage to DeForest Kelley in that first big screen outing.

Spoiler warning on this quote!

I love when [McCoy] reappears, and he’s got this huge beard and this big medallion around his chest — and his chest hair! I love that! I actually put a nod to that in ‘Star Trek Beyond.’ You’ll see at the end of the film, I’m wearing an open shirt, and I’ve got a medallion on. Like, not a big one, but it’s there, and it’s a direct nod to DeForest.

Finally, because the Trek cast’s contracts for three films expired in 2014 due to early delays in the BEYOND development process, Urban almost didn’t return before he heard from Justin Lin.

[Having Justin Lin direct] was a breath of fresh air, and I really appreciated Justin’s intimate knowledge and understanding of the character dynamics. I was on the fence about doing the movie until I spoke with Justin [because] I had a conflicting schedule, and I had a decision to make about which film to do, and I was no longer under contract to do a third picture. So I had a decision to make, and it was talking with Justin that enabled me to commit to it. I mean, he gets [‘Star Trek’].

We already know that Chris Pine and Zach Quinto are contracted for at least one more outing; let’s hope Urban follows suit should Paramount move forward with TREK 4.