Entertainment Movies Chris Pine Says He 'Never Had a Passion for Acting': It 'Just Took Over My Life' "It seemed to be fated and it made a lot of sense," Chris Pine, whose family is full of actors, said of the career path By Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE Magazine. He began working with the brand as an Editorial Intern in early 2020, before later transitioning to a freelance role, and then staff positions soon after. Nicholas writes and edits anywhere between 7 to 9 stories per day on average for PEOPLE, spanning across each vertical the brand covers. People Editorial Guidelines Published on April 8, 2022 01:40PM EDT Photo: Jon Kopaloff/WireImage Chris Pine says acting wasn't his childhood dream. In a recent interview with IndieWire, the actor, 41, explained that he didn't really have much of a liking for the profession before making a career out of it. "I never had a passion for acting," Pine said. "Acting was something that seemed to pop out of nowhere and then just took over my life." "It seemed to be fated and it made a lot of sense," he continued, seemingly referring to the line of actors within his family, before he spoke about directing as well. "Directing, I never had a desire to direct, really, truthfully," Pine added. "The idea for [my directional debut] Poolman started as this little pebble in a pond." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Chris Pine. Steven Simione/FilmMagic Chris Pine Reveals He's Taking Ballet Classes: 'I Wish I'd Done It Years Ago' Pine — who has starred in franchises like Star Trek and Wonder Woman, among others — was born into a family with a history of acting. His father Robert Pine is an actor who starred on CHiPs as Sgt. Joseph Getraer, and his mom Gwynne Gilford is a former actress as well, having previously starred in the 1987 He-Man film, Masters of the Universe. His late grandmother, Anne Gwynne, was also an actress and a WWII-era pinup model, while his sister Katherine Pine has dabbled in acting as well. "I couldn't be prouder," Pine's father told PEOPLE in 2009 of his son's success. "He's an incredibly hard worker." RELATED VIDEO: Gal Gadot & Chris Pine on How Female-Powered Wonder Woman 'Flipped the Script' on Superhero Movies Speaking with IndieWire, Pine explained the decision-making process behind how he chooses his film roles. "I go where my interest is and my interest just so happens, in the past couple years, to have been these smaller-ish films," he explained of projects such as All the Old Knives and The Contractor. Noting that he has "thankfully" had "the luxury of 'yes' and 'no' for 10 years or so really" when it comes to picking his film roles, Pine continued, "I think there's a clarity of purpose now that I have with my work and my life." "It is very much more me [choosing], because I just have a lot of things I've sloughed off. I just know what I want. I know what I like. I know what will work for me," he added. All The Old Knives is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.