{"id":47263,"date":"2025-11-10T23:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T23:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/47263\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T23:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T23:45:08","slug":"why-star-trek-icon-william-shatner-says-to-keep-your-eye-on-the-moon-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/47263\/","title":{"rendered":"Why \u2018Star Trek\u2019 icon William Shatner says to keep your eye on the moon \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

William Shatner<\/a> is 94 years old now, and apparently all those years zipping around the Star Trek<\/a> universe at warp speed had an anti-aging effect on the actor best known as Capt. James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.<\/p>\n

How else to explain how active Shatner<\/a> remains in his 10th decade on his home planet? In recent months, Shatner\u2019s<\/a> started work on his 12th non-fiction book, \u201cWilliam Shatner and You!\u201d for which he\u2019s interviewing fans about how he\u2019s impacted their lives.<\/p>\n

Shatner and astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson<\/a> debuted a live show called \u201cThe Universe is Absurd\u201d and are now collaborating on an audiobook. Most recently, he\u2019s holding a charity auction for his annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which raises funds to support children\u2019s and veterans\u2019 charities.<\/p>\n

\"Actor<\/p>\n

Actor William Shatner, now 94, is busier than ever with books, philanthropy, and on Nov. 14, 2025 a night at the Grove of Anaheim where after a screening of the 1982 movie \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,\u201d Shatner will talk and take questions from fans. (Photo by Jason Shook)\n<\/p>\n

\"William<\/p>\n

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are seen in the 1982 movie \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.\u201d Shatner, now 94, will present a screening of that movie at the Grove of Anaheim on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025 after which he\u2019ll talk and take questions from the audience. (Photo by Paramount Pictures, courtesy of the Everett Collection)\n<\/p>\n

\"Kristie<\/p>\n

Kristie Alley and William Shatner in a scene from \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.\u201d (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)\n<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the \u201cStar Trek\u201d crew, from left, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, and Nichelle Nichols, toast the newest \u201cStar Trek\u201d film at Paramount Studios on Dec. 28, 1988. (AP Photo\/Bob Galbraith, File)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Wrath of Khan\u201d appear on the \u201cThe Merv Show\u201d on May 18, 1982. Seen left to right are William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and Bibi Besch. (AP Photo\/Nick Ut)\n<\/p>\n

\"DeForest<\/p>\n

DeForest Kelley, left, William Shatner, center, and Leonard Nimoy are seen in the 1982 movie \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.\u201d Shatner, now 94, will present a screening of that movie at the Grove of Anaheim on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025 after which he\u2019ll talk and take questions from the audience. (Photo by Paramount Pictures)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Actor William Shatner, now 94, is busier than ever with books, philanthropy, and on Nov. 14, 2025 a night at the Grove of Anaheim where after a screening of the 1982 movie \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,\u201d Shatner will talk and take questions from fans. (Photo by Jason Shook)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Now Shatner comes to Anaheim on Friday, Nov. 14, for a live show in which he\u2019ll host a screening of \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan\u201d and then talk with and take questions from the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll screen this shined-up, polished version of \u201cThe Wrath of Khan,\u201d which could be the best, or one of the best, \u2018Star Trek\u2019 films,\u201d Shatner says on a recent call from his home in Los Angeles. \u201cIt\u2019s refurbished in its sound and color and everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it ends and I come on stage,\u201d he continues. \u201cSo the audience, for their ticket, gets a beautiful film and then gets me afterwards doing the best I can to amuse and amaze you, taking questions from the audience and talking about the film or anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fun time. It\u2019s a really lovely evening in the theater, both film and live.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview edited for length and clarity, Shatner discussed the themes of \u201cKhan,\u201d his admiration for actor Ricardo Montalban<\/a>\u00a0and where he thinks the future of space travel is headed.<\/p>\n

Q: \u201cThe Wrath of Khan\u201d is a great movie. Khan\u2019s a fun nemesis, and then its got some good emotions at the end.<\/p>\n

A: I hate to hear it\u2019s got some good emotions at the end. I mean, it\u2019s a lovely film of human interaction and tragedy and fun. It\u2019s a lovely film that touches is humanity is the way I\u2019d rather put it, as opposed to you get a lot at the end.<\/p>\n

Q: Oh, I was referring to some of the plot elements at the end, not that the rest of the movie isn\u2019t great. What memories stand out from making it?<\/p>\n

A: Ricardo Montalban was wonderful in the film. I don\u2019t know the name of what he was suffering from, but it was an affliction that got worse and worse and finally caused his death. I can\u2019t think of anything more nightmarish than the nightmare of getting old. And that\u2019s irrevocable. Nothing you can do about that.<\/p>\n

But those diseases that come upon human beings that are fatal and work very quickly, so you\u2019re aware of what\u2019s going to happen. And then you begin to ponder death.<\/p>\n

In fact, I\u2019m doing a podcast with my daughter, who had stage 4 cancer and is cancer-free now. I had stage 4 cancer as a melanoma and I\u2019m cancer-free.\u00a0So the podcast will be \u201cNo Time To Die.\u201d Dying means the final insult, doesn\u2019t it? And there\u2019s no way around that.<\/p>\n

But Ricardo had a debilitating disease, and it was extraordinary to see the way he dealt with it. He was in a wheelchair by the time he made the film. We know certain actors who are suffering from those diseases that will eventually kill you. They\u2019re facing this final tragedy, and I don\u2019t know how they do it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Ricardo was facing as I knew him. It became a really close acquaintanceship with him. And part of that emotion and that sadness, I think hovers in scenes that he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

Q: \u201cThe Wrath of Khan\u201d was the first production not to involve (\u201cStar Trek\u201d creator] Gene Roddenberry.<\/p>\n

A: You\u2019re correct. They moved him upstairs, and people who were wonderful filmmakers started making the films. It was a joy to work with them. I did direct the fifth film [\u201cStar Trek V: The Final Frontier\u201d], which got a great attention and was an enormous experience for me.<\/p>\n

Being part of the \u201cStar Trek\u201d world for the years that I did the series and then the years I did the films was an enormous moment in my life. My \u201cStar Trek\u201d career has been life-altering.<\/p>\n

Q: When fans come to \u201cThe Wrath of Khan\u201d shows or any other live events you do, are there common things they want to know about?<\/p>\n

A: They might refer to specific things in the film, or they might ask me about life or what I\u2019m doing, or what I\u2019m not doing. Or they might talk about philosophy, like I suggested right now they might talk about living or dying. There\u2019s no limit on what the questions can be.<\/p>\n

If the question is something that is familiar about how were the scenes with Ricard Montalban, what was your relationship with Leonard Nimoy, I would answer that, of course.<\/p>\n

But more interestingly, for me anyway, they might ask about my life and about what I\u2019ve read. Where I\u2019m going and what I think. It\u2019s a kick for me to turn those questions around and ask the person, what do you think? Having a dialogue with that person standing in the audience with a microphone in their hands becomes an intimate, revealing conversation for both of us.<\/p>\n

So the moment I\u2019m on stage talking to an audience and getting questions and answers I don\u2019t just say, \u201cOh, on that date I did \u2026 . I try to turn the conversation into a meaningful moment between two people.<\/p>\n

Q: How often are you surprised by something that people ask you?<\/p>\n

A: Well, you know, I have in my past done more than one interview shows that were pretty successful. I found in those interviews like you\u2019re doing that everybody, some more voluble than others, have a secret that they\u2019re willing to expose if they\u2019re given the chance.<\/p>\n

So if that secret thing \u2013 that inner story that they might not reveal any time, or is aching to get out if you touch the right button \u2013 if that comes out, it\u2019s of enormous interest to me and to the audience listening to that person\u2019s story. So I try and reach that a lot.<\/p>\n

Q: Outside of the fictional things that you\u2019ve done, I know you\u2019ve had an interest in actual space as well.<\/p>\n

A: I did a question and answer on stage with Neil deGrasse Tyson [in Seattle in June], and I had to bone up on scientific things. Of course, he\u2019s a master, but I at least had to know what to ask. We recently did an audiobook, about 10 hours, based on those very things, questions and answers about science. [\u201cThe Backyard Tapes,\u201d recorded in Shatner\u2019s backyard, will be released in March 2026.]\n<\/p>\n

Q: A few years ago, you went to space on a Blue Origin rocket. What\u2019s your view of the real world\u2019s future for space exploration?<\/p>\n

A: Well, there\u2019s no limit on where you can go. Voyager is beyond our solar system, the original little mechanical thing. Every so often, they\u2019re able to bring it back [online] and it sends out a signal from way out in space. It\u2019s traveling very quickly. I don\u2019t believe it has a direction.<\/p>\n

Although there was some indication that it came alive and started sending signals. And it changed course and there was some talk that it had fallen under the guidance of something. Then that was disputed, but it\u2019s a romantic idea to think about.<\/p>\n

So mankind can go into space \u2013 but where and how long, and what\u2019s the voyage going to be and how long will it take? We went to war with Germany and Japan 85 years ago. We\u2019ve long forgotten World War II. World War II is no longer in our conscience, and it\u2019s only 75 or 85 years ago.<\/p>\n

What will human beings on a thousand-year voyage be like? Year 100, someone\u2019s got to say, \u201cWhere are we going exactly? What are we doing?\u201d They\u2019ve long since forgotten the reason for the voyage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q: What\u2019s a more likely choice?<\/p>\n

A: Voyaging out into space has got its limitations and going to Mars, all the hazardous things that can happen, I\u2019m not an aficionado. Going to the moon, putting a base on the moon and doing on the work on the moon is very viable. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any question of that in the very near future.<\/p>\n

William Shatner Live On Stage<\/p>\n

What: Screening of \u201cStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan\u201d followed by Q-and-A with William Shatner.<\/p>\n

When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 14<\/p>\n

Where: The Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim<\/p>\n

How much: $64.70 to $237.90<\/p>\n

For more: See Williamshatnertour.com<\/a> or Groveofanaheim.com\/events<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"William Shatner is 94 years old now, and apparently all those years zipping around the Star Trek universe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47264,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1399,420],"class_list":{"0":"post-47263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}