Turns out William Shatner may pop up in “Star Trek 3” after all.
After tweeting last week that he knew nothing about his rumored cameo in the upcoming threequel (first reported by Badass Digest), the original Captain Kirk is now revealing that he has, in fact, been contacted by J.J. Abrams about potentially appearing in the film opposite his former co-star Leonard Nimoy (a.k.a. the original Spock).
“[J.J.] calls and says 'I”m calling, Bill, because the director of the 'Star Trek' movie, [Roberto Orci], has had an idea where you might be involved in it,” Shatner told fans at the Wizard World Nashville convention over the weekend. “So I am calling to see if you would be interested.' I said 'Oh, yeah. If it is meaningful.' …So it depends on what you do with the character. I said 'I would be delighted.' And he said 'you can”t say anything.' And I said 'I wont even tell my wife. I wont tell anyone. I wouldn”t do that, JJ.'”
Shatner went on to cite an alleged interview given by Orci as the source of the initial rumor, though as TrekMovie notes, he may in fact be confused on this point as all press surrounding last week's speculation appears to revolve around Badass Digest's original report.
“So I get back from Australia and it is all over the internet, that the director [Orci] held an interview and said they wanted Shatner and Nimoy to be in the next movie,” he continued. “I bet J.J. is frothing at the mouth. So the news is out that they have an idea that they want Leonard and myself. They might want Leonard and myself. I don”t know what to do with it. How do you get me fifty years later into the movie…I know it”s science fiction, but even I couldn”t come up with an idea.”
You can watch a fan-made video of Shatner making the comments below.
Would you like to see Shatner in “Star Trek 3”? Any ideas on how to work him into the plot? Sound off in the comments.
“Star Trek 3” is slated for release in 2016.