In real life people often stumble over words and speak in incoherent ways. I actually like what he says in reaction to McCoy. I don't think Shatner is a bad actor at all. Sure sometimes he was over the top, but overall he was pretty decent.
I don’t mind his over the topness. In fact in an era where most actors are afraid to go over with the fear of looking bad or whatever reasons, I think Shatner’s tendency to act out the over the topness of a situation really makes his acting stand out more. Plus different people react differently to different stimuli, some react harshly and strongly to the point it seems crazy, others don’t seem to react at all. It’s all a world of difference.
Exactly, Shatner's acting style as Captain Kirk is what we remember and we love it!! They're both just dramatic guys and it's all good. I love Shatner, he's got loads of personality, that's why he got the part over the original Captain, Captain Pike.
Thank you!! And in the movies too, he's sooo great! And he's done shakespeare and stage acting before he did tv and film. He's just a dramatic charismatic guy and we love it! I think he's talented.
In the famous twilight zone episode, William Shatner’s reaction When he realizes The pilot is only pretending to believe him about the monster on the wing, is brilliant
A lot of them do, especially poor 'Leonard Nimoy' having to stay in character during 'Shatner's' over the top performances! That's what made him 'Captain Kirk' to begin with! I know people who pause when they talk & I think it's awesome! I used to tell my friend stop rehearsing for Star Trek already!
In school I learned that Shatner was a Shakespearean actor back in the day and it all made sense :D Now I always picture him doing Hamlet "To be...or...not... to be...THAT is the question!"
SO late to respond, but he definitely recorded his own version of the soliloquy and placed it on his spoken-word album, The Transformed Man, back in the day: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VBWUr0oF0Tk.html Have an almost-as-hammy context explanation at the beginning, as well as a bonus performance of "It Was A Very Good Year," more famously done by Sinatra! :)
@MrHeslopian DeForest Kelley didn't hate him. I don't think he is capable of that emotion. He was the sweetest guy in the universe. I miss him. :( R.I.P. Mr. Kelley
The man is a genius! Shatner says he does not end every word with a period. Well, OK, Bill. not. EVERY. word. Justmostofthem. How many series' has he starred in? Must be doing something right. X
Jeffrey Hunter was originally cast as the captain of the Enterprise, Capt. Pike. He appears in the pilot episode. Hunter died young, and the part was recast with Shatner, proving that, next to Ronald Regan, Shatner is the luckiest man who ever lived. After Trek was cancelled, Nimoy appeared on 3 seasons of Mission: Impossible, later appeared on Broadway in Equus and other plays, and acted in and directed some successful films (not all of them Star Trek movies).
You make it sound like because he died the part was recast. He chose to film B-movies instead of doing the 2nd _Star Trek_ pilot and was unavailable when an older, injured Capt. Pike was needed for "The Menagerie" episode. He suffered an injury filming a movie in Italy in November 1968: a severe concussion and displaced vertebra. In May 1969 (after Star Trek's 3rd season was filmed), he suffered an intracranial hemorrhage, fell and cracked his skull. Brain surgery couldn't save him. So if he had accepted _Star Trek,_ (assuming it was picked up after his second pilot) he would not have died like that.
@ubiquitousfacts If nothing else he was very entertaining, I wouldn't change a thing about his acting in TOS, rofl. His speech patterns were odd but unique and made for good times.
Dude it's epic. "He'll die, Jim... he'll die!" and when asked why, he just says "I... don't know." so how the FRAK did you deduce he would DIE if you don't know?:)
Hunter was recast not because he died but because he was married to a "stage mother" who wouldn't leave well enough alone. Plus they had to get rid of the "Number One" role. They went with Shatner who lightened up the character and it is probably why the show ended up on the air.
@MrHeslopian Haha, yeah, it always seemed to me that Shatner just got lucky with the character of Kirk -- something about the whole combination was strangely perfect, weird though his acting style was. :) And I suppose the rest of the cast deserves credit for not letting their personal feelings about him detract from the way they worked with him in character!
Yes! Let it start with you, through you! The way I live is a LIE, a forced lie on me. It is a lie that I am tired of. It has served a purpose however letting go is the indication of maturity - freedom. If one does not know how to be free that explains keeping others in this sadistic captivity, does it not? I would say to Charlie: "Take the courage to approach what you want to approach. You are afraid of yourself, not what you perceive as a wild animal."
In real life, great speakers don't glibly throw out long, complex sentences. They put in pauses. And inflections. And rhythms -- always rhythms. Shatner isn't saying it this way to win awards. He's saying it to be remembered and believed.
Actually that happens a fair amount in TOS. McCoy will come to see him in his quarters ab something, and he is quietly working on some report or something.
The urgency of his need to return to Vulcan makes the ending of the episode, "Amok Time" seem like it does not follow. I think he should have taken his wife into a tent and "mated" with her. Once he recovered the next day or so, then he could return to suffer the consequences of killing his captain (although T'Pring should be charged with something). I feel the two Vulcan women in this episode were racist. T'Pring didn't want to marry a half-human and perhaps both women didn't really believe he would be gripped by the Pon-Farr and would thus be able to refuse the challenge. When T'Pring saw he was in the throes of it, I think she got scared he would kill Stonn, so chose Kirk, someone she couldn't care less about. I also suspect T'Pau turned down a Federation Council seat because she didn't want to be around humans. Certainly she expressed little reluctance to halt the challenge (I think she was there to see it go through) and seeing one of the combatants killed (either the human or the half-human).
Imo he was wonderful in the part. Without him a lot of star trek episodes would be regarded as pretty dull and po-faced now. He gave the series sex appeal
@MrHeslopian For sure. Bill Shatner is definitely not Kirk, but he might have more than a few things in common with Denny Crane, lol. I think Abrams should bring Shatner back to Trek, but not as Kirk. He would make a kick-ass Cardassian, might even give Marc Alaimo a run for his money as the best villain in Trek (or sci-fi for that matter) history.
@MrHeslopian Yeah, but I meant *onscreen* chemistry, as characters. There have been many instances of actors not liking each other in real life but coming off perfectly together onscreen.
