Last year, up-and-coming actor Chris Pine was transported to a new frontier, professionally, when he played the leading role of a young Captain Kirk in the blockbuster feature film, "Star Trek."

Now in his first movie since becoming a much sought-after Hollywood commodity, Pine has chosen to star opposite a high speed train in filmmaker Tony Scott's adrenaline-fueled flick, "Unstoppable."

But it was less the movie and more his chance to work with two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and director Scott that Pine said was the real catalyst to climb aboard the thriller about a runaway train.

"No matter what I was doing, I was constantly overwhelmed by the fact that I was working with two people who for so long seemed out of my reach," Pine told Reuters. "That, for me, trumped everything else."

Due in theaters on Friday, "Unstoppable" sees Washington play a veteran engineer and Pine a rookie conductor who are paired together on the latter's first day on the job.

When an unmanned, out-of-control train carrying hazardous material heads toward a populated area at 150 miles per hour, the duo must race against the clock to stop it.

Pine holds his own opposite the powerful Washington, but he knows he is still considered a newcomer when cast against a veteran. He also is aware that the opportunity to star in "Unstoppable" came his way because of "Star Trek."

"It's a business, and the bottom line is money," Pine said, matter-of-factly, about Hollywood moviemaking. "'Star Trek' made a lot of money for people, and I just happened to be part of an ensemble that made it work. I'm still riding the wave."

After wrapping "Star Trek," Pine took a year off "because I was so burned out." Not only was the four-month shoot physically grueling, also heaped on his shoulders was the stress of satisfying legions of "Star Trek" fans while still appealing to mass audiences.