George Takei is the Wil Wheaton of TOS; no other Star Trek cast member has an online posse like his. And he’s been leveraging that popularity to make some cool projects happen, like his web show Takei’s Take and a Broadway musical called Allegiance about his family’s time in an American internment camp during World War II.
During an interview with the New York Times, Takei talked about Allegiance, but he also answered some questions regarding his long-simmering feud with William Shatner, and how Shatner ramps it up “whenever he needs a little publicity.”
He called you psychotic. That seems strong for someone who just wants attention. Two months after my wedding, he went on YouTube and ranted and raved about our not sending him an invitation. We had. If he had an issue, he could have easily just phoned us before the wedding, simple as that. But he didn’t. And the reason he raised that fuss two months later is because he was premiering his new talk show, “Raw Nerve.”
But your distaste for Shatner goes all the way back to the set of “Star Trek,” at least according to your autobiography, “To the Stars.” It’s difficult working with someone who is not a team player. The rest of the cast all understand what makes a scene work — it’s everybody contributing to it. But Bill is a wonderful actor, and he knows it, and he likes to have the camera on him all the time.
As far as feuds go, it’s not very heated. “I don’t care for that wonderful actor very much” isn’t exactly an Amber Rose vs. Kim Kardashian-level of vitriol, and Takei is more than willing to be reasonable and interact with Shatner at group events. He even invited his former captain to the opening night of his musical. Whether Shatner ends up denying that he got an invite as another “publicity stunt” remains to be seen.
(Via the New York Times)
