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William Shatner is described as a cultural icon and has spent nearly seven decades as an actor doing almost everything imaginable in that field. With at least 58 films to his name, 110 television stints, nine video games, three commercials and even some music, the 88-year-old Canada-born actor is easily a stratospheric household name.
But what he is most known for, and the main reason he was in South Africa at the second Comic Con Africa this past weekend, is his role as Captain James T Kirk from Star Trek.
I’ve not been a fan – if I’m honest – and I have not been too inclined to give Star Trek a watch. An obvious question then, for me, was to ask the old man – and I say this with the utmost respect because I do appreciate the value he has had on the media industry – what would you say to someone to convince them to watch Star Trek?
“Well, there is a series of them on television, several of which are so good, such good entertainment, that you want to pleasure yourself by watching them,” Shatner says boldly in the voice that would be recognised far, far away in another galaxy.
“And I think you’ll get a thrill, an entertaining thrill. So, do yourself a favour and watch the really great Star Trek.”
In our 13-minute interview, in which he spent nearly eight minutes talking about animals, how he loves the bush and why he thinks “South Africa is a perfect example of how we must organise ourselves so that human beings can live and animals can live in the same area”, I got the sense that he could speak for hours without prompting. And to prove just that, Shatner got on to the main stage at Comic Con all by himself and answered question after question – albeit sometimes going off at tangents – without any MC or person to help him navigate the process.
Read: This is what happens when you interview madala William Shatner
At one point in the interview I considered just letting him speak until our time was up so that I could take full benefit of that rich, sometimes raspy, walnut voice that has become his calling card.
But then I would not have found out about how he has partnered a company called Ziva Dynamic, which has captured his image and voice and can reproduce it to say or do anything. But only after he dies, especially since he must be “careful, legally, about my face and voice”.
With modern technology, the legacy of Shatner will live on and maybe one day he won’t mistake Swahili as one of South Africa’s official languages.
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