William Shatner has spoken of “crying uncontrollably” after traveling to space with Jeff Bezos in 2021 – as he reflected on his legendary Star Trek career.
In an extensive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Shatner, 92, opened up about the emotional conversation he had with Amazon founder Bezos after they returned from space aboard Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
Shatner was 90 years old at the time of the flight, making him the oldest person to go to space.
Upon his return, Shatner was overcome with emotion as the trip made him realize the future of Earth.
“I was crying uncontrollably for reasons I didn’t know. It was my fear of what is happening to Earth. I could see how small it was,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
William Shatner spoke about “crying uncontrollably” after traveling to space with Jeff Bezos in 2021 – as he reflected on his legendary Star Trek career; Shatner pictured second from left, Bezos pictured far right
“It’s a rock with air as thin as paper. You’ve got rock and two miles of air, and that’s all we’ve got, and we’re making a mess of it. And dramatically, I saw it in that moment.
Before his rocket launched, Shatner played legendary space traveler Admiral James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
The show featured a groundbreaking interracial kiss between Shatner and co-star Nichelle Nichols.
The actor was asked if he insisted that every take be real – even though the network reportedly requested faked takes as an alternative.
“I remember saying, ‘Maybe they’ll try to change it. What can I do to try to discourage editing of the kiss itself?” I don’t really remember what I did because it’s hard to cut (from the kiss in an edit). But yeah , I remember thinking that,” he told the outlet.
Star Trek lasted three seasons before being canceled – he ended up broke, living in a truck and playing summer theater.
Reflecting on that time, he said, “I’m broke, living in a truck, sleeping in the back and trying to save this money so I can support my three kids and my (ex -)wife, who lived in Beverly Hills.
Shatner was 90 years old at the time of the flight, making him the oldest person to go to space
Before launching his rocket, Shatner starred for years as a space traveler as Admiral James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
“The only thing that came to my mind was, ‘I can always go back to Toronto and make a living as an actor.’ I never thought, “Oh, I have to become a salesman.” » Since the age of 6, it never occurred to me to do anything else.
In 1982, Shatner joined the cast of TJ Hooker – another iconic series in which he starred for four years.
“It was a great show. There were all kinds of drama. I had to direct several episodes. And some of my shots are openings. I was totally involved, engaged in the writing, engaged in the directing. You run all the time. You have to make decisions and you don’t have enough money.
His incredible career has not been without disappointments – most notably the 1989 film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which Shatner starred in and directed.
The show featured a groundbreaking interracial kiss between Shatner and co-star Nichelle Nichols.
Pictured with co-star Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock
Shatner called his inability to be emotionally “equipped” enough to handle the film his greatest regret.
“I wish I had the support and courage to do the things I thought I should do. My concept was, “Star Trek goes in search of God,” and management said, “Well, who is God?” We’re going to drive away non-believers, so no, we can’t do God. »
“And then someone said, ‘What about an alien who thinks he’s God?’ Then there was a series of my management and budget inabilities. I failed. In my mind, I failed horribly. When people ask me, “What do you regret the most?”, I regret not being emotionally equipped to handle a big film. So, in the absence of my power, the power vacuum was filled with people who didn’t make the decisions I would have made.
Shatner took full responsibility for the film’s failure.
“It’s up to me to do it. (In the finale,) I wanted the granite (rock creatures) to explode out of the mountain. The special effects guy said, “I can make you a suit that burns and blows smoke.” I said, “Great, how much is that going to cost?” They said, “$250,000 a suit.” Can you make 10 costumes?
‘He said, “Yeah.” That’s $2.5 million. You have a budget of $30 million. Are you sure you want to spend it on this? These are practical decisions. Well, wait a minute, how about a suit? And I’ll photograph him everywhere (to look like 10).’
In an editor’s note, THR writes: “The plan to use a single suit did not work well on screen and was ultimately scrapped.”