‘I’LL SAY “YES” TO ANYTHING’ William Shatner talks career, music, life and death
Ahead of a return visit to Australia, the original Captain Kirk talks career reinventions, country music and death
He will forever be associated with the role that turned him into a household name, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, but in the decades since calling time on that part of his career, William Shatner has proved he’s no one-trick pony. Besides other notable TV work, including the title role in T. J. Hooker, and his award-winning turn as Denny Crane in The Practice and Boston Legal, he’s penned more than 30 bestsellers and pursued a well-received recording career. Now, at 87, he’s busier than ever with his one-man Broadway show, Shatner’s World, set to return to Australia in October.
“Getting to a certain age, you think, ‘ What have I done?’” the actor reflects. “That’s the fear as you get older—the fear of: ‘ What am I doing? Why am I here? Have I made an impression on anybody?’ For the longest time I was asking myself these questions, but it’s dawning on me that perhaps I don’t need to feel that.”
Indeed, William is the last person that could be accused of resting on their laurels— his list of accomplishments goes on for days, most of which he credits to his “just say yes” ethos. “Saying yes to these opportunities that are presented each day enriches your life, whereas saying no closes off the opportunity and you end up letting life pass you by.” This mentality has seen him sign up for a whole range of projects, most recently country music album Why Not Me. Why country music? “Because somebody said, ‘ Would you like to do one?’ ” he laughs. “So why not? Whenever I look at a project, I ask myself, ‘Is it fun? Is it challenging? Or is the money so incredible I can’t turn it down?’ Then I make a call. With this album, because I really can’t sing, I had to fuse the spoken word with the music to make you think I’m singing. That was my challenge.”
Another challenge is his upcoming Shatner’s World tour. “The challenge of doing a one-man show can’t be overstated,” he concedes. “Keeping audiences of up to 4000 attentive, entertained and in their seats, all by yourself, is scary.” In the show, Shatner takes a voyage through the “highlights” of his life and tackles a subject that fills him with fear: death. “I get more and more people asking for my autograph as I get older, and I can almost hear them thinking, ‘He’s going to die momentarily and then it’ll double in price!’ What happens in death is a mystery ... that is the final frontier.”
“Getting to a certain age, you think, ‘What have I done?’ ”