George Takei: 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 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.
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!”
