Achi news desk-
At age 93, William Shatner has been entertaining with the courage to go where no man has gone before — again.
The Montreal-born actor, famous for playing Captain Kirk in Star Trek, says he’s open to reprising the iconic role in the sci-fi franchise as long as the story is stellar.
“It’s an intriguing idea,” Shatner says in a video call while promoting his new documentary “You Can Call Me Bill,” which drops Tuesday digitally and on video-on-demand.
“It’s almost impossible, but it was a great role and so well written, and if there was a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there was a real reason for the character to appear, I could consider it.”
Shatner’s last appearance in the franchise was in 1994’s Star Trek Generations, where Captain Kirk was killed off. He suggests he could play a younger version of the Starship Enterprise captain because he recently signed on to be the spokesperson for Otoy, a company that specializes in technology that “takes years off your face, so in a movie you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger.”
He ponders a scenario where Kirk is resurrected.
“A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way to do that,” he says in a recent conversation from Los Angeles.
“‘We have Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.’ There’s a scenario. “Let’s see if we can bring back some salt, some pepper. Here comes Captain Kirk!”
“You Can Call Me Bill”, directed by Alexander O. Phillip, offers a look back at Shatner’s body of work — from his Star Trek TV show and movies to TV series including “Boston Legal” and “TJ Hooker” — and follows his journey into outer space aboard Jeff’s Blue Origin shuttle Bezos in 2021. It also features the actor’s musings on life, death and nature.
“Over the years, people have come to me and said, ‘Let’s do a biopic,'” says Shatner.
“I’d say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to do that’. A biopic kind of marks the end. Cut! And then you die.”
But Shatner says he was sold on the idea when the producers of Doctor Legion M approached him with the idea of ​​crowdfunding the film.
The self-described “fan-owned” company allows fans to own a financial stake in the film and any profit it generates. “You Can Call Me Bill” raised US$750,000 in four days.
The actor also wanted to “leave some truth” about him for his children and grandchildren after his death.
Shatner says he learned a lot about himself while making the film, but on the other hand, “I don’t know what ‘know yourself’ means.”
Even at 93, he says he doesn’t believe he has much wisdom to offer.
“It’s a mysticism that has no basis in truth: the older you get, the wiser you become. If you’re stupid as a young man, you’re stupid as an old man. You’re a stupid old man, that’s what you are. It doesn’t necessarily mean that time imposes wisdom on you. Whatever it imposes on you That’s how quickly life ends, that’s for sure.”
Well aware of his fleeting mortality, Shatner makes the most of the time he has left. He is releasing a children’s album, “Where the Animals Sleep? Songs For Kids & Other Living Things” later this month and will join an Antarctic cruise with astronaut Scott Kelly and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in December.
He also joined several “companies of the future,” as a spokesman for some and in the background of others, including one that is developing “technology like the medical equipment in Star Trek, so it’s the size of a pack of cards and can tell you if you have a disease or not,” and one ” He will take your DNA, create an artificial gem from it and give you two: one to keep and one to put in a box that will be released on the moon.”
“Life is so short, you have to do something now. Go to this place, meet this person, read this book now!” He says.
“That’s what I think the old woman (teaches you). But then, by the time you learn it, you’re dead. You don’t have time. It’s true. You’re dead.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 5, 2024.
