William Shatner Replies

You ask, Bill Shatner answers. (It seems just about everyone calls him Bill, so we might as well too.) A nice series of glimpses at the man behind the TV and movie face.

1) your reputation
by tps12

I happened to have seen both of your Twilight Zone episodes (the famous "something on the wing of the airplane" one and the less-famous-but-no-less-interesting one where you are obsessed with a prophecy-dispensing toy in a diner) recently. I have to say that in both episodes I was taken aback at the unexpected quality of your portrayal. Even though everyone associates your face with Captain Kirk, the characters in the TZ episodes came through loud and clear, drowning out my preconceptions.

For this reason, I'd like to ask what you think of your humorous reputation for bad acting. Would you blame some of the egregious hamminess of some of ST on the perception that TV (or SF) wasn't "real" acting or was it directing? Or some other thing?

Bill:

Of course, I don't hear the bad reviews or see them. All I know is the glowing notices that people read to me that some reviewer thinks I'm wonderful. So I've slowly come to think that I'm wonderful.

2) Favourite Parody
by hero

Star Trek has been parodied many times in many different formats; other television shows, movies, comics and so on. You yourself have probably been parodied as much or more in people's "Captain Kirk Impression" stand up skits and the like. My question is, do you recall a favourite parody for its comedy or cleverness of either yourself or the series?

Bill:

I think John Belushi probably did the best.

3) First Interracial Kiss
by Irvu

What was it like to do the first on-screen interracial kiss? How much effort did it take to make the studio go along with it, and how much of an effect did it have on you and the show as a whole?

Bill:

I think the whole interracial kiss thing has been overrated. Nichelle Nichols was a beautiful woman and her lips were full. I merely sought to make an impression.

4) Saturday Night Live
by billmaly

Years ago, when you hosted SNL, you participated in the now classic Trekkie sketch (actually, one of my all time favorite SNL sketches).

Was that sketch a catharsis for you, a means of finally casting off some chains and letting the world know what you think and feel, or was it just a sketch? I am not dissing you, your work, or Trek fans, but, let's be honest here, some people do need to, in your words, "Get a life!". Do you/did you feel that way, or was it just an act? Come on, be honest..... :)

Bill:

Ok, I'll be honest. It was a laugh. Pure & simple. You should have at least been mildly amused. It seems to me that you need to get a life.

5) MPAA
by jhines0042

Concerning the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Do you consider them to be a boon or a bane to actors and actressess?

Bill:

Actually, I don't think that actors think much about MPAA. They're more concerned about AARP.

6) Galaxy Quest
by vrone

I will preface this by saying I am a mild trekkie and as such, I immensely enjoyed the 1999 film Galaxy Quest.

I think everyone who has seen Galaxy Quest will agree that the show that it is based upon is, in essence, "Star Trek". It follows that Tim Allen's Character was essentially meant to be you.

So my two part question is this: Did you enjoy the show, and, how accurate was their portrayal of life after Trek?

Bill:

Yes, I enjoyed it. I think Tim Allen was very funny. As for accuracy, not at all.

7) Time at McGill
by peg0cjs

It's fairly well known (at least here in Canada) that you attended McGill University for some time. They even went so far as to rename the Student Union building the Shatner Building.

I've heard that you were invited to the renaming ceremony, but refused to attend. I've also heard that you generally speak very poorly of your time at McGill. What was it about McGill that was so dreadful/horrible/annoying/etc that has made you so sour on the subject?

Bill:

Oh Contrare. That's French, in case you need it, for 'to the contrary.' I had a great time at McGill. I did go to a ceremony at the student union building and my feeling about McGill is that it's a great university and it produced many great students. Unfortunately, I was not one of them.

8) Nerine Shatner Memorial Fund
by Tsar

After the tragic and untimely death of your wife Nerine, a recovering alcoholic, you took the courageous step of establishing a fund in her name to benefit Friendly House, an organization for recovering alcoholics. How is that work progressing, and has your involvement with this effort helped you work through this loss?

I know that this subject must be painful for you, but I'm sure there are many in the slashdot community who would benefit from your experience and insights here.

Bill:

Thank you for asking about Nerine's fund. It benefits a rehabilitation place called Friendly House. They do wonderful work. Nerine has a rehabilitation home with her name on it and my hope and sympathy is for these recovering women.

9) Seriously...are we cool?
by CleverNickName

Hey Bill,

Are we cool, or what? I mean, I always thought you didn't like me, but I had a good time with you at Weakest Link watching the World Series.

So are we cool, or was that just pre-game strategy?

Wil

Bill:

Dear Will,

We are so cool, we're beyond cool. We are in orbit man. I don't do pre-game strategy.

I look forward to some personal time with you.

10) The balance between Hollywood and Real Life
by Geek In Training

As a normal everyday guy from Canada, it seems hard for "the public" to grasp the diparity between "Bill Shatner, age 61, three adult children, loves horses" and "Actor/Singer/Producer/Writer William Shatner blah blah blah fourth wife ... blah blah blah personal tragedy .... blah blah blah inside scoop" that Hollywood and the Tabloid press seem to turn everyone's life into.

At the end of the day, has the fame been worth the price? Is knowing that you've raised three daughters and entertained people for several decades worth the cost of your privacy? Do you feel that overall, you've gotten a fair shake, even after all the public airings of your alleged failings as a person? Are you going to continue to live in the limelight during your golden years, or settle in and call it good, letting the cards land where they may?

Do you feel you've finished your professional legacy and are ready to leave it for media history, or do you fret over whether or not that legacy is "good enough?" And the same regarding your personal legacy as a man, a husband, a father, a son? What advice can you give to others so that they don't have any regrets?

Bill:

Regret is the worst of human emotions. There is no going back with regret. There is no future with regret. Regret is not something I live with. If there is something I wished I hadn't done, I don't do it anymore or I forgive myself and try better.

My life is my statement and I try to be true to myself and thusly to other people. Whatever my failings are, they are human and I try to perfect it each day.

These are awefully short answers...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought he could a little more, um, effort into those answers

Short Replies

[sp3c1alK]

Mr Shatner seemed a bit rushed didn't he?

A bit short

[WPIDalamar]

This is one of the shortest replies we've had for a slashdot interview. Too bad, it could have been real great. I guess the myth might just be better than the man.

Re:French approximation :-)

[Lendrick]

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that was probably on purpose.

Uhmmm...?

[mcrbids]

Billy boy did as good as he could with the lame, suck-ass questions that were presented to him.

Why couldn't we come up with some halfway DECENT questions? ("Seriously... are we cool?")

Query by committee, I guess, produced borked results like these above.

Was it just me...

[Cap'n Canuck]

...or did he manage sound flippant? He seemed to treat this whole thing as a joke.

Good show, Bill!

Re:Ah...

[elmegil]

Short? Yes. Rude? Where the hell did you get that idea? He mostly seems to be trying hard to be amusing, with some success.

A bit disappointing

[binaryDigit]

While he answered all the questions, his answers were certainly terse. I realize that he is probably a busy man, but if you're going to agree to do something like this, I would have hoped he would have put some more of the ole "William Shattner that we know and love" into it. Of course that the bothered at all was certainly nice of him.

That said, I wonder how much of the way he replied had to do with his not fully grasping what /. is? Not that we're some all powerful force or anything (well except for unsuspecting websites) but I wonder if he thought that we were just a group of a dozen pimply faced nerds not very far removed from Trekies/ers?

Theatrical Pauses

[Zerbey]

My suspicions are confirmed. William Shatner even has theatrical pauses when he writes! (Don't ever change, Bill)

What was the CleverNickName question all about? Maybe the poster could explain? I almost fell off my chair laughing at the reply.

No offense but these were some boring questions.

[zaqattack911]

Except for the one about his wife, none of those questions seem vaguely interesting to me.

I don't mean to flame, but could someone PLEASE explain questions number 9 to me?! I don't follow Bill's every move.. so I might not (along with others) understand inside jokes.

Also, questions asking actors about when they were called bad actors are USELESS. What the hell are they supposed to say to that? Of course Bill is going to give you a bunch of wisecracks... what else could he do?

And none of you asked ANYTHING about his personal life!?! I didn't see a single personal question there, aside from "what do you think of this", and "what do you think of that".

Christ.. at least ask when he lost is virginity or something.

Ok... I've flamed, take it.

Re:Wow --

[MaxwellStreet]

There's something to be said for brevity.

Anyway, considering that a lot of the questions that were proposed in the original "request for questions" tended to be the ones that everyone always asks; and that he has nothing to gain by divulging copious stuff to Slashdot; and that in general there were a lot of people asking questions designed to bring up (potentially) embarassing stuff from his past - I can't see why he'd go into a lot of detail for us.

I for one really appreciated the brief, but sincere, answers about his wife's foundation; and his policy on regret. Simple, clear thoughts. Nothing wrong with that.

Re:His singing career?

[llamaluvr]

I thought his Mr. Tamborine Man was even better.

"Mister Tamborine Man! MISTER TAMBORINE MAN!!!!!!!"

Re:His singing career?

[gosand]

I'm amazed no-one asked about his singing career.

Would it have mattered? He would have just given a short, uninformative answer anyway.

Honestly, this was the most boring interview on /. ever. I am no fan of Star Trek, but jeez Bill, why agree to an interview if you are just going to give these types of answers?

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[JesusPGT]

I thought he did a rather good job of answering the questions. Quick, short, and to the point. Some people don't need two or more paragraphs to reply to what is in essence, a simple question (or questions, whatever; you know what I mean.)

Re:Short Replies

[kcurtis]

I think this may reflect the fact that he's less full of himself than the questions wanted him to be.

The questions wanted him to have deep thoughts about parodies, interracial kisses, etc. He just doesn't seem to be the type of guy who gives a rats ass about these topics, so his answers were short and sweet. Not like he really dodged them.

Also, it does show a pretty funny sense of humor, at his own expense.

All in all, it reinforces my image of him as a pretty straightforward guy who lives his life, and isn't a Trekkie himself.

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[sfled]

We all get the same 24 hours per day. Some people use 'em to accomplish alot, some use 'em to micromanage a few things. Shatner's done many things, and gave to slashdotters what he obviously felt was our requisite amount of time. Wait 'til he sees the spike in traffic at Nerine's Fund [williamshatner.com], tho! :-)

This is just the way Shatner is.

[calm_rising]

I saw Bill on Letterman last year... he behaved exactly the same way. Letterman tried to get him to talk about his reputation as a bad actor, and basically he joked about it and didn't seem to care. Personally, I believe that sees this whole thing as the best joke ever. Who cares whether he's a good actor; he has a permanent career as the ex-captain Kirk, a lot of great stories, and a heck of a lot of fun. He can ham it up whenever he wants and get tons of attention from a huge community of fans. I think he knew exactly what he was doing when he recorded "The Transformed Man," when he did the SNL skit, and whatever else. He was very funny on Letterman. He's got a great sense of humor, and love it or hate it, he has a history of answering probing questions by joking around. This is not special behavior reserved for slashdot. He's just having a great time, and the whining, criticism and complaining from his "fans" are all part of the joke.

Re:Was it just me...

[Xzzy]

> He seemed to treat this whole thing as a joke.

he's been like that for years. I don't consider myself a shatner fan and I don't put effort into following him around, but he IS a pretty big name so stories with him in it do pop up quite often.

I wouldn't say he treats everything as a joke, but rather he's got an odd mix of humility and arrogance that makes everything he says come out like it did in the above interview.

qualities the world could use more of, people who don't take themselves too seriously but also feel free to be honest about their place and station in life.

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[zoward]

Given how big a name he is and how many projects he's balancing at any given time, I'm amazed he gave this interview at all. Thanks Bill!

Answered as asked

[Oculus Habent]

Many of the questions didn't warrant long answers. He could have gone into long personal detail about the favorite parody, but he wasn't asked "why?"...

Perhaps Mr. Shatner didn't feel like relating his life story for #7, and what more would you have him say to #9?

The answers were much like answers on any typical television interview, they were to the point.

The interview would have beet better, perhaps, if it was longer, but that is a Slashdot limitation, probably out of respect for the interviewees. It was a glimpse, just a glimpse, though, at a man.

I for one enjoyed it.

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[cetan]

I thought that the questions were rather lame actually. This was a bad interview all around...

Re:You decide for yourself.

[DrewCapu]

Maybe I'm reading Wil's question wrong, or maybe everyone else (including Bill Shatner) is.

But I thought Wil's usage of "cool" in that question was to find out if the two of them were in good relation, as opposed to "cool" being hip, rad, happenin', "in orbit" or whatever terminology (antiquated or not) you feel like using.

Bill to Wil: "I look forward to some personal time with you. "

I look forward to another Interview where /. asks exactly what happened during that personal time.

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[spottedkangaroo]

I think the real problem is that all of those questions could have easilly been answered with a quick web search. Not one of them was interesting, and I imagine the only reason he bothered to answer them at all was the he agreed to the interview.

Re:These are awefully short answers...

[vrone]

I asked Question #6 about Galaxy Quest. I was hoping for a little more along the lines of "Yes, fans are always asking you to reconcile technological inconsistancies" or "No, we never did electronics store grand openings (by Grabthar's Hammer, what a savings!)" or "No, I never watch reruns while downing vodka and saying my own lines with myself," etc.

Instead, we got "As for accuracy, not at all." There must have been some parts that were close; at least I imagined they would be. Oh well.. at least he did the interview. :)

Which was funnier?

[Wateshay]

I'm not sure which I find funnier. Shatner's hillariously dry wit when answering these questions, or the fact that 90% of /. seems to be completely missing the point and taking great offense at them.

Re:Was it just me...

[Xandar01]

He sounded like he couldn't care less, some like he's heard all these questions before. We should know the answers by now.
That might be true if I were a Trekkie in the sense that I was obsessed with the man, however I am not. I, like most other /.ers, enjoy Trek but do have a life that does not involve learning "Bill's" canned answers for common questions.

Is there any way we can mod this interview as a troll?

You guys are SO charitable

[MacAndrew]

You guys are SO nice! Calling his answer "brief" is tactful. How about terse, concise, laconic, dismissive, flippant, hasty, or good old rude? (I have more suggestions, more profane.)

I could have written the replies for him -- and been more interesting. He phoned this in.

Review the Q&A and it's obvious he simply ducked most of the questions or gave his equivalent of "no comment." Only on the topic of Nerine Shatner did he seem engaged.

This confirms everything I have heard about him being a sophomoric self-centered jerk. It's disrespectful -- the editors probably spent ten times to time preparing the Q's as he did ansering them.

Yeah, I know the whole bit about how he shouldn't be chained to a role from 25 years ago, and how he really isn't blowhard James T. Kirk, but he doesn't have to give interviews, book signings, [bigwaste.com], and the like except to promote himself -- and make money. He's milked the Trek thing for every penny while complaining all the while how oppressed he is. Contrasted with actors like Patrick Stewart, by all accounts a 24/7 class act, or Avery Brooks, who wants no part of the Trek typecasting and so doesn't do the interviews, book signings, and the like. I respect either choice and not Shatner's.

I think the statute of limitations for respecting him for his past work has expired.

Seriously? #9

[MacAndrew]

That's one of the only questions he ANSWERED.

The open-ended questions could have been better, but this was an invitation for him to be reflective -- not cross-examined. I guess no one did the research to find out that "Bill can't reflect."

Thoughts

[Badgerman]

Seeing the "Biography" of Shatner. It's really quite informative - and it helps put the interview in context. There is a lot to the man, he's a true original.

Two quotes stand out:

These are excellent words to live by:

Regret is the worst of human emotions. There is no going back with regret. There is no future with regret. Regret is not something I live with. If there is something I wished I hadn't done, I don't do it anymore or I forgive myself and try better.

My life is my statement and I try to be true to myself and thusly to other people. Whatever my failings are, they are human and I try to perfect it each day.


And this statement, of course, should make sense to most straight men:
I think the whole interracial kiss thing has been overrated. Nichelle Nichols was a beautiful woman and her lips were full. I merely sought to make an impression.

Keep going, Bill ;)

Re:Which was funnier?

[nuggz]

Stupid people.

Stupid people are funny, and funnier when they try to prove they aren't stupid.

Actually I was watching MIB 2, and they remarked how in MIB, Tommy Lee Jones didn't know he was funny throughout the taping of the movie. I for one found him to be the funnier half of the team.

Re:French approximation :-)

[los furtive]

You don't go to McGill to learn french. And most Anglophones in Montreal probably have just as bad spelling. And if he dictated this and somebody else typed it, then it's not even his fault.

Re:This is just the way Shatner is.

[Thagg]

We worked on the movie Showtime, and I think it was among the better of Shatner's performances. He was playing himself, trying to show Robert Deniro and Eddie Murphy how to be TV cops, like he was in TJ Hooker. He's just halarious, showing how to dive onto the hood of a car, stuff like that. When he tells Rene Russo that DeNiro is "the worst actor he's ever seen", well, it was the high point in the movie.

thad

Re:No offense but these were some boring questions

[cioxx]

You know what bothers me the most?

The fact that none of the questions remotely touched off on OSS, Linux, or stuff that matters to geeks the most.

I wanted to know what Shatner thought about linux, et al. Even my question [slashdot.org] went unnoticed.

What a waste of opportunity. Great. Now I will know what that interracial kiss was all about. I CAN DIE A HAPPY MAN!

Re:Shocking insight!

[cheese_wallet]

"I think Deforest Kelley the Irrascible Grumpy Old Man would be much cooler than William Shatner, the washed-out, bitter actor."

He's also dead, which I think was the parent poster's point.

Re:His singing career?

[NetFu]

I think it's called:

CYA -- Cover Your Ass.

The less he says, the less likely he is to be lambasted for it for years in the future. A lot of his answers were conservative, but at the same time seemed to be just having fun.

I AM a long-time trekkie and a fan of the original series and Shatner's character Captain Kirk, but IMHO William Shatner has to be one of the most over-analyzed actors in human history. I mean, what did he REALLY do besides Star Trek and TJ Hooker (and how many people will still remember TJ Hooker in 10 more years if they even remember now)?

The truth is that Shatner is a pretty average guy in the fact that most people could probably act as well as him, he just had a big break called "Star Trek". Maybe that's why so many people grill him. I don't think he merits an interview anywhere, but that's probably why he seems to tell so many people to "get a life" -- in other words, why does anyone care about him or his life?

Re:You guys are SO charitable

[bcboy]

piffle. The questions were embarrassingly bad. Questions about his reputation as a poor actor? Two questions about parodies of Star Trek? These questions did not attempt to engage him at all, with one or two exceptions (when he actually gave longer responses). Instead they merely trolled for a titillating display of angst or anger.

I'm impressed at how good natured his responses were, given the questions.

What did you expect?

[sirgoran]

When you stop and think, for a man that lives under a microscope and has most everything he does, says, where he goes, etc. printed and reported about him, I'm impressed that he was willing to answer the questions in the first place.
What did you expect he to say?
I'd be willing to bet that if he gave longer answers, folks would be complaining that he was gloating, bragging, or just being a windbag.

What I got from the answers is that he likes to keep things short and to the point. Personally I like that, but that's just me.

Take a moment to just be glad that he took the time to answer at all.

Just my two cents. Now excuse me while I go and "Get myself a life."
(Now where did I put that remote...)

That was beautiful

[pmancini]

"Regret is the worst of human emotions. There is no going back with regret. There is no future with regret. Regret is not something I live with. If there is something I wished I hadn't done, I don't do it anymore or I forgive myself and try better.

"My life is my statement and I try to be true to myself and thusly to other people. Whatever my failings are, they are human and I try to perfect it each day."

Wow, my respect for Mr. Shatner just tripled. So well said. Such great words to live by. I thought overall his responses were a bit short (but the questions were pretty awful to begin with), however there was a great sense of humor and insight that I wasn't expecting. My hat is off for him. --P

Re:Short Replies

[Bruce Perens]

I would have hoped for some insight into the way he thinks and feels rather than a series of flip answers.

I sometimes enjoy Star Trek and other TV science fiction, although I don't get time to watch much of it. I've learned not to be very interested in actor appearances, because they aren't the fascinating characters they portray, they're just actors. I think I'd have more fun talking with the writers.

Bruce

ugghhh

[kasper37]

worst, interview, ever....

Just be thankful he answered

[thunker]

There are too many complaints about his answers. Let us remember that although Slashdot calls these interviews they are not. These are questionaires. An interview, at least in front of a camera, can capture much more than answers. Interviews puts them on the spot. Can capture emotions to help determine if their answers are true.