William Shatner was a ‘prima donna’ on ‘Star Trek’ set

It’s safe to say George Takei won’t be telling his “Star Trek” co-star William Shatner to “live long and prosper” anytime soon.

The entertainer, 85, who played Hikaru Sulu in the sci-fi series, spoke to the Guardian recently about his former castmate, characterizing Shatner, now 91, as some kind of diva on set.

Takei was asked if cast members of the 1960s TV show were friends. He noted that while many of the actors grew close over the years, there was one person who refused to be a pal.

“Yes. Yes. YES. Except for one, who was a prima donna. But the rest of us shared a great camaraderie,” he explained.

The LGBTQ activist revealed that “none of us” got along with Shatner, who portrayed series lead Captain James T. Kirk.

Takei continued of Shatner, “He was self-involved. He enjoyed being the center of attention. He wanted everyone to kowtow to him.”

Takei starred as Sulu and Shatner as Kirk in the film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” released in 1982.
CBS via Getty Images
American actors Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Walter Koenig, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Canadian William Shatner on the set of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Actors Leonard Nimoy (clockwise from left), Takei, Walter Koenig, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols and Shatner on the set of the 1989 movie “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”
Corbis via Getty Images

Takei also acknowledged that the Canadian native thinks Takei speaks about their feud in public just for some good old-fashioned p.r.

“I know [Shatner] came to London to promote his book and talked about me wanting publicity by using his name,” the “Anglophile Angelino” said.

“So I decided, I don’t need his name to get publicity. I have much more substantial subject matter that I want to get publicity for, so I’m not going to refer to Bill in this interview at all,” he added.

Before dropping he subject, Takei said Shatner was a “cantankerous old man.”

“I’m going to leave him to his devices. I’m not going to play his game,” he concluded.

Actor George Takei
The feud between “Star Trek” co-stars Takei and Shatner goes back decades.
WireImage

The pair’s feud reportedly spans decades. But just last year, when Shatner took flight on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket, Takei couldn’t help but bring him back to Earth, telling Page Six that Shatner is “unfit” for space travel.

“He’s boldly going where other people have gone before. He’s a guinea pig,” Takei scoffed.

“So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more wear and tear on the human body, so he’ll be a good specimen to study. Although he’s not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he’ll be a specimen that’s unfit!”

Read the full article Here

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

DON’T MISS OUT!
Subscribe To Newsletter
Be the first to get latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
Stay Updated
Give it a try, you can unsubscribe anytime.
close-link