The Shat reflects on mortality
-
@George-K said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
He seemed to be genuinely bothered by the falling out between him, Doohan and Takei.
He does seem to worry about this stuff, and he's very entertaining to listen to, but based on what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
-
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
@George-K said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
What puzzles me is that this kind of insecure behaviour is very much at odds with his ability to laugh at himself in public.
-
@George-K said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
What puzzles me is that this kind of insecure behaviour is very much at odds with his ability to laugh at himself in public.
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@George-K said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
What puzzles me is that this kind of insecure behaviour is very much at odds with his ability to laugh at himself in public.
People express their personality characteristics differently on the way up than they do after they already feel like they're on top. You are getting a surface, best case scenario version of a person, if they don't feel like they need to compete with you anymore.
Education is extremely important.
-
There’s been a great deal of enmity between George and me. He’s been saying mean things about me for nearly forty years now. That’s nearly Star Trek (Two) Generations! Criticizing me publicly, in every venue imaginable! He says that I have a “big, shiny, ego!” Well, actors have big egos. If mine is shiny, it’s because I tend to it very carefully and lovingly.
Perhaps George’s needs a good polish.
To be fair, George is not the only veteran of the USS Enterprise who has hard feelings. Walter Koenig has been vocal about his disdain for me, James Doohan was not a fan, and Nichelle Nichols told me—while I was interviewing her for my book Star Trek Memories—that she detested me. Set phasers to Awkward!
All this animosity! I guess I could blame myself, but the things I really blame . . . are the Star Trek conventions.
There, I said it.
Now, the conventions have been good to me over the years, I enjoy going to them. I smile politely when a fellow comes up to me and asks for my autograph in the native Klingon tongue.”
But in the early days, I didn’t attend them. Wouldn’t go near them. Star Trek was a job I did for three years, it ended, I moved on. I fear my fellow cast members did not, and were hopelessly stuck in Stardate 2999.9 and operating on the Prime Directive of “Hate Bill.”
The supporting cast, some of whom I wouldn’t see for days or even weeks at a time during our initial filming schedule due to the size of their roles, would later attend the conventions and be greeted with cheers. Fans would tell them that their characters should have been given more to do! Had their own series!
Now, had they been the stars of Star Trek, they would have been there every day on set. Like I was. And Leonard. And DeForest Kelley. And maybe they would have gotten their own shows.”
......
“But there is one thing I will not apologize for. There is a hierarchy in show business, which I did not invent. The stars get the preferential treatment. That’s how it is. The people who are paid less, based on billing, get less attention. The main character in Star Trek was James T. Kirk. He narrated the show. He was . . . captain of the ship upon which the stars were trekked! And traditionally, the stars of shows and films get more lines, more close-ups, and a slightly larger dressing room.
My costars, however, seem to have crossed into a mirror universe due to a transporter malfunction, and they have flipped this hierarchy. Once, while posing for a publicity photo for one of the Star Trek movies, the photographer dared put me/Kirk front and center. And I very clearly heard Jimmy Doohan exclaim, “Why is he always up front? I’m tired of being in the back!”
Keep in mind, Jimmy didn’t have a Scottish accent in real life, so remarks like that sounded much less charming.
I have also been accused of “counting” lines. I won’t dignify this with an explanation, but if you count the lines of any “given Star Trek script (not that I have), you can clearly see that Kirk has more lines than Scotty. Or so I have been told. Because Kirk is the main character. Not ego. Fact.
That’s what I’ve been up against. And no one has held it against me more than George Takei.
George buys into the stolen close-ups/lines stuff, and he also claims I kept his character from getting his own Federation starship in the movies. I remember a conversation we had quite clearly, as it was right before we shot one of the films.
GEORGE: Bill, they’re giving me my own starship.
WS: Why would you want that? All the action’s on the Enterprise.
GEORGE: But . . . it will be my starship. -
As was said about academic politics, maybe the disagreements are so vicious because the stakes are so low.
-
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@George-K said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
@Doctor-Phibes said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
what a number of other people have said, he seemed to frequently act in a really bizarre way towards others.
Indeed. Nichelle Nichols was one to complain about how he always hogged the scene.
His response? "Well, I am the star, you know."
What puzzles me is that this kind of insecure behaviour is very much at odds with his ability to laugh at himself in public.
People express their personality characteristics differently on the way up than they do after they already feel like they're on top. You are getting a surface, best case scenario version of a person, if they don't feel like they need to compete with you anymore.
@Horace said in The Shat reflects on mortality:
People express their personality characteristics differently on the way up than they do after they already feel like they're on top.
As some famous celeb once said, "Be nice to the people you meet on your way up, for you will surely meet them again on your way down."
-
He blames the disdain on jealousy, however I don't remember anybody having a bad word for Leonard Nimoy or DeForest Kelley.
The kid who played Wesley in TNG said that Shatner was a real jerk to him, and this was long after he was very famous.
If you're surrounded by people who think you're an a-hole, maybe it's not them that have the problem.
-
I recall a documentary some years ago in which Shatner interviews Kate Mulgrew about her role as a Star Trek captain. Can’t remember the details but you could sense that Mulgrew had little patience for Shatner and his style. I thought she made Shatner look foolish.
I do however think he is perfect fit in his current role as host of The Unexplained. He is actually quite funny.
