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William Shatner reveals he’s never seen Star Trek as he doesn’t like the way he looks in it

Actor added that he’d only ever seen one of the Star Trek movies

Adam White
Monday 29 March 2021 09:50 BST
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William Shatner has revealed he’s never watched Star Trek as he doesn’t like the way he looks in it.

Shatner found international fame in 1966 as Captain James T Kirk in Gene Rodenberry’s seminal Star Trek TV series, which ran until 1969. A decade later, Shatner began reprising the role in a series of Star Trek spin-off movies.

The 90-year-old has now revealed, however, that he has barely seen any of his Captain Kirk performances.

“I have never watched Star Trek,” Shatner told People Magazine. “There are many episodes I don’t know, there are some movies I don’t know.”

Shatner added that he had only seen one Star Trek project – 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which he directed.

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“I directed one of the movies – number five – I had to watch that one,” he said. “But it’s all painful because I don’t like the way I look and what I do.”

Shatner, who next stars in the comedy film Senior Moment, also said that he disliked getting older.

“I mean, my God, who wants to be 90?” the actor joked. “I don’t want to be 90, but I’m 90. It’s a bit embarrassing.”

William Shatner as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk (CBS/Paramount)

Last year, Shatner’s Star Trek co-star George Takei alleged that a rivalry between Shatner and Spock actor Leonard Nimoy was sparked by Shatner’s jealousy over the volume of Nimoy’s fan letters.

Shatner subsequently hit out at Takei’s comments, tweeting that the actor needed “a new hobby” and had made up the claims.

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“We barely saw George,” Shatner wrote. “He was in once a week at most – how would he know anything? The only person with jealousy is George.”

In the UK, the original Star Trek series can be streamed now on Netflix.

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