George Takei says Star Trek cast didn't get along with 'cantankerous' 'prima donna' William Shatner
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George Takei and William Shatner's decades-long feud continues with more biting words.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Takei responded to Shatner's recent remarks about him by calling his former Star Trek costar a "cantankerous old man." Takei starred opposite Shatner as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu in the 1966 Star Trek series and other TV and film variations that followed, and while he said the camaraderie onboard the Starship Enterprise was often reflected on set, he also alluded to a certain "prima donna" that was the exception.
Later, he addressed Shatner more directly, saying no one in the cast got along with the lead star. "I know he came to London to promote his book and talked about me wanting publicity by using his name," Takei 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 acknowledged, "Although I just did. He's just a cantankerous old man and I'm going to leave him to his devices. I'm not going to play his game." As for whether Shatner was a "cantankerous younger man," Takei said, "He was self-involved. He enjoyed being the center of attention. He wanted everyone to kowtow to him."
Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images; David Livingston/Getty Images George Takei; William Shatner
Shatner made headlines earlier this month when he called Takei a "bitter" person who "has never stopped blackening my name." Speaking to The Times, he also addressed remarks from his other costars, saying, "I began to understand that they were doing it for publicity. Sixty years after some incident they are still on that track. Don't you think that's a little weird? It's like a sickness."
He continued, "These people are bitter and embittered. I have run out of patience with them. Why give credence to people consumed by envy and hate?"
The comments came after Takei mocked Shatner's trip to space aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, calling him an unfit guinea pig. "He's a guinea pig, 90 years old, and it's important to find out what happens," Takei said. "So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more on the 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."
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