LOS ANGELES 鈥� As Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan marks its 35th anniversary with a return to U.S. theatres for special screenings next week, star William Shatner is celebrating more than his long history as Captain Kirk.
At 86, the stalwart entertainer is busier than ever, starring in a reality series, competing as an equestrian, travelling with his one-man, writing books (his latest is on aging), making movies (including one he wrote) and launching a Twitter campaign to encourage charity and kindness that he calls the Ubuntu Project, referencing the South African concept of common humanity.
Khan 鈥� which Fathom Events plans to screen at 600 theatres across the United States on Sunday and Wednesday 鈥� stands out because 鈥渁ll my friends were in it,鈥� says Shatner, who talked with the Associated Press about that film and his other creative endeavours.
AP: How much does Wrath of Khan stand out in your career?
Shatner: Well, it was a lovely film. I enjoyed doing it. All my friends were in it. It鈥檚 been a long time. The actors, many of them are now no longer with us, and yet the film stands.
AP: Are you surprised the film still has such life?
Shatner: It鈥檚 stupefying, really, that people still want to see it. And it鈥檚 very popular.
AP: You released a book earlier this year about horses. How much time do you spend riding?
Shatner: I鈥檝e just come back from world championship horse show, where I competed. My wife did, too. We鈥檙e going away next week to another type of horse show in Las Vegas. Now, I鈥檓 just finishing up a book on aging. That will be out next year.
AP: You seem to see the sunny side of your fans on Twitter. How do you manage that?
Shatner: I鈥檒l give you one example: A man from a small town, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, tweets that his son who鈥檚 autistic will only eat pasta from a carton that has Star Wars stuff on it, but they鈥檝e run out of the cartons in Nanaimo and can anybody help him. I retweeted that saying: 鈥淟et鈥檚 help this man,鈥� and he received thousands of cartons from elsewhere of the food. Plus the Kraft company called and said to the young man: 鈥淲e want your help in designing a new carton.鈥� That singular thing, who knows what effect that will have on an autistic kid? And the kindness of everybody to react to that man will change everybody鈥檚 character for their lifetime. Multiply that by many, many instances of people seeking help and getting help from being on Twitter. I鈥檓 calling it the Ubuntu Project and I want you to feel your humanity by giving something 鈥� it could be innocuous, it may be nothing to give $10, but you鈥檙e exercising your ubuntu.
AP: You鈥檝e embraced comedic roles later in your career. How intentional was that shift?
Shatner: When I started out in theatre in sa国际传媒 鈥� I had about five years as a professional actor before I came down to the States 鈥� I did only light comedy. Then I got into serious roles, and my ability to play comedy was shunned to the side there for a while, but I鈥檝e always thought that the character I鈥檓 playing should have a sense of humour about something. Deadly serious is deadly in my opinion.
AP: You also showed a funnier side in Better Late Than Never, the reality series you did last year with Henry Winkler, George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw.
Shatner: I just came back from six weeks of doing next season. It鈥檒l be on in January, I think. We went to Europe. We had a lot of fun. A lot of funny things happened.
AP: You鈥檙e starting another film soon.
Shatner: It鈥檚 called Relic. I wrote the story and a friend of mine wrote the screenplay and we鈥檙e going to make it in November.
