William Shatner has lived long and prospered. At an age when most humans spend their days tethered to the past, the 95-year-old actor, director, writer, equestrian, and singer remains very much present, with American Saddlebred horses to ride, a heavy metal album to tout, and live shows to stage.
Shatner sat with TV Guide Magazine some 60 years after his flight began on the Enterprise — and five years after becoming the first 90-year-old to rocket into space — and reflected on life and death, the continuing allure of Star Trek, and life’s little pleasures (like, say, the right pillow) for the Star Trek: The Captains Special Issue. Watch the video above!
What do you think is most responsible for the incredible longevity of Star Trek, which is now turning 60?
William Shatner: Kiddingly, I used to say, well, it’s me. You know, I’ve been around and it turns out, of course, it isn’t me, but it doesn’t seem to be any individual either. It seems to be the general concept that, 400 years from now, not only will we humans still be around on Earth, but we’ll be thriving, and the possibilities are there.
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Five years ago, you went into space. You’ve written eloquently about the “overview effect” you felt, where astronauts report the emotions of looking at our fragile little planet, but also about how it made you think of, as you put it, “our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement.” How do you regard that experience now?
I regard it in the same light. I was able to figure out why I was bawling on national television. And then it took me a little while to realize how profoundly I was [considering the] mysterious, beautiful puzzle that we human beings, with our limited minds, are trying to find out. What is the mystery of nature? What is the gift of looking around and seeing a leaf on a tree and seeing the magic behind a leaf on a tree? Everything is so profoundly mysterious. It’s right out of science fiction! It’s right out of Star Trek. But all of a sudden, it’s reality.
We have 79 original episodes of Star Trek and very few of them had humor. But the Star Trek movies seemed to tap into everything that was warm and witty in crew relationships. How did that transition happen?
What they found out as the show got into syndication was that people’s interest was activated by the humor. So they began to write more for the amusement. And there were amusing elements in Star Trek.
Among other things, you’ve been working on a heavy metal album.
There’s a popular [Guns N’ Roses] song called “Patience.” So we wrote a song called “Impatience.” And it’s like, “I’m not waiting around for anybody! I’m not waiting around!” [I found out] that heavy metal does have guitar solos in it. I didn’t know! I thought heavy metal was “Bing, bang, crash, boom.” And it isn’t only that; so I’m learning.
We all seem to be glued to our phones, and that just seems to be such a Trek-y thing. What future development are you looking forward to seeing?
I used to say beaming up is impossible. We’ve got all these trillions of molecules that are in our body. You can’t transport each one of them from there to there. And then a few years ago, they did transport one molecule from one electrical post to another. Well…how far away is using your cellphone to transport yourself?
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After Star Trek, you found brand-new success in the police series T.J. Hooker, and then you created the world of TekWar, which has some similarities.
I was doing T.J. Hooker and I thought, I love a good mystery and I love the way the police and forensics solve crime. And I’m glued to them. So I wrote, with help, 10 books called TekWar in which a policeman who is in a deep freeze is released to help the bad guy find the other bad guy. So a policeman comes out of jail to resurrect his good name and to find his family. And now TekWar is being bandied about to be an animated series as we speak.
How does it feel to be the poster child for the idea that doing what you love keeps you young?
Well, you know [Laughs], my daughter and I are doing a podcast called No Time to Die. We both had, at the same time, a diagnosis of stage four cancer three years ago, and through the magic of medicine, we’re both cancer-free. And as a result of being told it’s possible you could die in a few months, it sharpened our attention to each other and my whole family. And also, what do you want to do with the remaining years? I’m always asking questions, because the older I get, the more fearful I will be to die with a question on my mind, like, “What about…,” and I don’t have a chance to look it up on ChatGPT! [Laughs] What’s the meaning of life?! Damn; the meaning of life is — and boom! I’m dead! [Laughs] It’s the fear of not knowing what you could have learned. I get excited by comprehending and apprehending information.
Is there a particular rule for you in terms of the roles you’re drawn to or the other work you do?
So much depends on how I feel physically. This morning, I got a great night’s sleep. I found a new pillow!
That’s no small thing!
It has a liver shape and it’s got wings on it, and you rest in the middle of it and it supports your neck. And all of a sudden, I’m getting a great night’s sleep. So this morning, I got up and I did some business things. Then I went riding my horse.
How does the 95-year-old William Shatner view himself?
It took two years of treatment to become cancer-free. [At the time] it didn’t occur to me that I was gonna die. But at 95, I’m sensing the leaves are getting a little yellow and falling off the tree. [Laughs] But OK, chlorophyll will renew them! And that’s my attitude even as we speak.
Is there anything that would get you to play James T. Kirk again?
It’s easy to say money, but you know, the longer I played Kirk, I was allowed to put various shades of character in there. I think Captain Kirk — as the captain of the deadly instrument of war, as well as a ship of peace — could reside in somebody like me very well. I mean, I still have the aggression and the instinct for battle, and I’ve gotten myself into very dangerous things. But there is a planing, a smoothing of all those heights and peaks of attitude and activity that comes with age, as [opposed to] aggression, which is sort of a youthful characteristic. Even at 95, I think Captain Kirk would be a really good captain of a spaceship capable of war and peace.
TV Guide Magazine’s Star Trek: The Captains Special Issue is available for order online now at StarTrek.TVGM2026.com, and for purchase on newsstands nationwide.