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The Many Iterations of William Shatner
pickens writes "The NY Times weekend magazine has a long profile, well worth reading, of self-described 'working actor' William Shatner. He began acting at age 6 and at one point in the late 1950s was mentioned in the same breath as his contemporaries Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford — until, without explanation, his career faded before it bloomed. Shatner, now 79, pulls no punches in his memories of the Star Trek years. 'I never thought it'd become a big deal, just 13 episodes and out,' says Shatner. 'I didn't think I was hard to get along with. There were a few disaffected actors who came in once a week. I had nothing to do with them. Friendly! I was working seven days a week, learning 10 pages of dialogue a day. They had one line!' Which was the beginning of the William Shatner character. 'They said I was this William Shatner character, and I figured I had to be it. Pompous, takes himself seriously, hardheaded.' Shatner said that that character evolved slowly, until one day he realized he couldn’t change it. 'So I played it. But I didn’t see it. That character doesn’t seem like me to me. I know the real William Shatner.'"
"If one has a very high standard of living,one sometimes has to do a very low standard of movie" - Michael Caine, but I think relevant there as well. Shatner, like Caine, describes himself as a working actor not a precious artist.
Cheers,
Ian
His best role was as himself, hosting Saturday Night Live, years ago when it was funny. I remember a skit set at a sci-fi convention, and all the convention goers insisted on asking him questions about the science and logic of specific episodes. He blew up at them, telling them to get a grip. Best line: "You... have you ever *kissed* a girl?"
The CB App. What's your 20?
Shatner was definately talented.
Not sure if he lacked "big screen" presence, just had a couple bad breaks on the big screen, or if he got typecast by Star Trek.
He seemed to break free of the typecasting at the end. Denny Crane is not Kirk.
And as the other person said, Shatner had both a large ego and a unique ability to puncture that ego himself.
Not sure about the bad blood between him and the other stars. Could just be the nature of the game (He and Nimoy were bigger stars and got different treatment).
I thought Galaxy Quest was an excellent send up of the whole trek phenomenon.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I like Shatner, he might come across a little larger than life sometimes but there's a lot who are a whole load worse in the acting industry. And I'm not even much of a fan of the original Star Trek (do I lose my slashdot membership for saying this?) I'd certainly put him in the same class as Caine, in as far that both can easily mock themselves with a wry grin.
Well, I'm not so sure that William Shatner always seems to speak his mind. It seems to me that William Shatner the person always seems to speak the mind of 'William Shatner' the public persona, while being very clear that the two aren't necessarily the same. I find that slightly terrifying, like the clown from the Stephen King novel.
Actors are sometimes persons prone to insecurity and self-loathing. Perhaps the nature of the job attracts such people. Anyhow, one likes to see an interview with a favorite actor in which the actor seems like a *real person*. Of course that "real person" may be (probably is) a work of art. That's what actors do. When you get an entertainer who is so clueless you see the person behind the persona, it's disturbing.
Shatner is in a class of his own. He's completely up front about playing a persona ... but who is it who's being up front about that? It's just another persona. Underneath the blatant egotism and insecurity you get a peek of the guy who's laughing at the whole circus, but what would you see if you look behind *that* guy? You peel back the outer layers of the onion, and you get ... more onion.
What's fascinating, fun, and frightening aren't the *iterations* of William Shatner, but the *recursions*.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
and regardless of negative traits assigned to him I see him as what I would want in most actors. Yes he stuck with the Kirk role a long time but he did good clean breaks from it. Kirk was an iconic character and any actor with that as part of his resume will always be shadowed by the character's traits which may not necessarily be the actors. Yeah, read all the "Bad blood" between him and Takei, the "feud" with Nimoy, but honestly, which of all them did as much as he did? He didn't stop. Of course I do like Koneig from TOS too. At least Shatner wasn't afraid to make jokes about his role, let alone slip little asides into other shows which automatically connected you back to Kirk without being outlandish (his phone on BL was pretty good and subtle)
73 years, I wonder what it is like to do something you love for so long, hell I would be happy with half that in a career I enjoyed.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
In an Michael Caine movie, you can be pretty sure it will at least have a bit of good acting. But there's no guarantee about anything else in the film; it may be crap, so the fact he's in it is not, in itself, much incentive to go see it. In contrast, an actor with a good track record is a big draw, and that is reflected in the actor's paycheck. Both quantity and quality are valid strategies for turning a buck, but are you saying the strategy of quantity is actually more respectable?
It seems to me that William Shatner the person always seems to speak the mind of 'William Shatner' the public persona, while being very clear that the two aren't necessarily the same.
We are who we pretend to be. Our interactions with others define the kind of person we are. The "real you" that no one ever sees is an idealized fantasy...
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
There was a story a while back about William Shatner going out trick-or-treating with a kid (can't remember if it was his or not) on Halloween. He wore, not one, but TWO William Shatner masks. When he'd go up to a house, he'd whip off the first mask... to reveal another William Shatner mask. He'd then pause a moment and whip off the second one... to reveal William Shatner himself. I think that one story completely solidifies your Recursion Theory of Shatner.
modern choral music...
"But probably neither you nor I nor anybody else in this Slashdot thread has ever had an interaction with Shatner."
I worked with the bastard in 1979, it was during the time of his "TJ Hooker" series where he played the 'tough on drugs' cop. The man is a total and absolute ass. I was a techie in a summer stock theatre in Michigan when the Broadway show he was in came to town. The luxury condo that the theatre had, which that same summer hosted actual actors like Van Johnson and Dottie Lamor, wasn't good enough so we had to rent him a the most expensive suite in the most expensive hotel in town, rent him an 18 foot sailboat that he could pilot alone for the entire week (which he never used), and have 12 bottles of Perrier water in the refrigerator at all times. He was arrogant, rude, and condescending to everyone below his lofty status. None of us could stand the asshole.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin