Personally I think casting with unknows is a better idea with the exception of Gary Sinise as Dr. Mccoy.
however with that being said i've seen recent screen tests of unknow actors auditioning for the captain kirk role. And of all the screen tests i've seen i thought this actor had the best qualities to play the role of captain kirk.

I THINK THE WHOLE IDEA IS TOO STUPID TO GET ACROSS IN WORDS!!! THE CHARACTERS DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER BEFORE HAND! THERE OF BEEN HUNDREDS OF BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT THE CREW! WE KNOW KIRK AN SPOCK DID NOT KNOW EACH OTHER! BONES AN KIRK WHERE OLD FRIENDS! I WONDER WHO COMES UP WITH THESE IDEAS? ARE THEY EVEN FANS OF THE SHOW? IT WILL NOT WORK AN IS GOING TO RUIN ANY CHANCE TREK HAS OF MAKING A COME BACK!!! STAR TREK ENTERPRISE WAS A GREAT IDEA BUT IT FAILED BECAUSE IT STRAYED FROM BASIC LOGIC! STAR TREK FANS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE SMARTEST OF ANY SHOW OUT THERE AN WILL NOT BE FOOLED INTO BE LEAVING THE CREW KNEW EACH OTHER BEFORE THEY REALLY DID!!! WHAT WE THE FANS REALLY WANT IS A MOVIE WITH SOME KIND OF EMERGENCY WHERE CHARACTERS FROM GENERATIONS ,DEEP SPACE 9 AND VOYAGER ARE CALLED UPON TO COME TOGETHER TO SOLVE!!! THAT IS WHAT THE FANS WANT AND WHEN THE BIG WIGS AT STAR TREK START GIVING THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT AGAIN MAYBE THE ALEING FRANCHISE WILL START MAKING SOME MONEY AGAIN!!! RECASTING KIRK AND SPOCK WHO CAME UP WITH THAT IDEA TO SAVE STAR TREK? THEY NEED TO BE PUT IN A TRANSPORTER AND NEVER REMATERIALIZED

Matt Damon is right on! Gary Sinise is excellent! However, I think Chris Lawford (Peter Lawford's son) could pull off Scotty. Hallie Berry as UHura. Just my two cents......and I agree with Liev Schrieber as Spock too.

Ok, my two cents;

Damon as Kirk: Inspired choice.

Spock? I go with Liev Schreiber.

McCoy? Gotta be Matthew McConaughey.

Scotty as a woman? Go with Kerry Fox (1994's 'Shallow Grave')

Sulu? Not a clue.

Uhura? Star Jones. Hey, she's not busy, right? Ok, maybe not...

Okay - so if we are going for a ridiculous idea, I say we insert the Lost cast for the Star Trek roles. Here's how I see it.

Sawyer as Kirk - He definitely has the best abs for the job!

Locke as Spock - He is kind of spirtual and hasn't a lot of emotion. Why not?

Jack as McCoy - He is the only doctor in the bunch. It was a tough call - he might have made a good Kirk, but if there is a torn shirt I would rather see Sawyer.

Sayid as Chekov - Paulie made a great suggestion - freshen the character with a more modern equivalent.

Sun or Jin as Sulu - I think Sun would be better since she is more easily understood.

Kate as Uhura - She doesn't really have anywhere else to go.

Mr. Eko as Mr. Scott - All Mr. Eko would have to do is whack the warp engines with his stick and save the day. The nickname would have to go - "Eki" doesn't sound as charming as "Scotty."

Claire as Nurse Chapel - I figure as much I would like to see Sawyer with a ripped shirt, the fellas would like to see Claire in a short blue dress. She might also fill the spot of the Yeoman Whatshername with the braided hair do.

Charlie could serve as a red shirt and croak on the first mission.

Hurley could be the Horta.

I like a lot of those choices but I'd shy away from using Damon. I still like my idea of Ryan Reynolds in the role for Kirk. I also think Sulu should be beefed up, and as such, I think I'd cast Donnie Yen as Sulu.

I don't think Zane even looks remotely like Spock, but he would be a decent choice to play the mostly emotionless Vulcan. Then again Keanu Reeves could do it to since he is pretty wooden.

I like Sinise as McCoy. He can definitely pull off the smart and cranky part.

I still like Damon as Kirk. He is a big enough name, but also has acting chops that wouldn't ham it up the way Shatner did.

If you're going to recast Star Trek, you need to do some re-characterization as well, especially in the supporting cast. Just as Star Trek mirrored the situation in the 1960's (Russian at the helm, first interracial kiss), the Star Trek of the 2000's should represent a better future for OUR world.

The easiest example of a switcheroo like this would be to replace Chekov with a strong middle-eastern character. Explore the difference in fundamental beliefs and have discourse without conflict, at least within the crew.

The Enterprise should represent all of humanity, and conflicts should come from without, not within.

That said, I think the article skews a little old, based on what I've heard of Abrams going back to the early days of Kirk and company.

The only actor that comes to mind immediately for me is Cillian Murphy for Spock - there's a creepy other-worldness to him that might work.

If you're casting 23-28 year olds, then you're doing just right, maybe 30-35 for McCoy and Scotty. Do that, and you have enough room for aging through multiple inevitable sequels.

I think casting people like Myers and Sinise in roles simply because they bear a slight physical resemblance or can do an accent is a huge mistake.
And, at the risk of offending the multitude of Star Trek fans out there, I think the original cast was rather one-dimensional. Their individual character traits have become the source of parody. Watching an actor--whoever he or she is--merely do an impersonation is a recipe for bomb. Why not try to give some much-needed depth to the characters in a new film?
Or better yet, don't bother making it at all.