You know what’s actually kind of amazing about this tirade? After the engineer reads the lines, Shatner spits them back almost EXACTLY the same way...down to the last syllable...
Totally agree. It was practically spot on....and hardly a tirade. Shatner knew exactly where this was going: the douchebag company rep had no idea what he was doing, but wanted to play director, and Shatner wasn't having it.
Shatners first reading was bored. Second reading was in a haste and from the third reading on, he was just mocking the director for not being happy with a bored or hasted performance. How is that being _"razor sharp"_ or _"ass handing"_ in any way? It was as passive agressive as it could be and everyone who heard this would do everything to prevent working with him ever again.
No, Shatner handled the guy like a pompous ass who could not take criticism. If Quincy Jones tells his singer in the studio to add more feeling to a line, do you think the singer is right to demand that Quincy sing the line so he can imitate it exactly? Then you are illogical. You missed the whole point of this and defended the one in the wrong, Shatner. Your judgment stinks if you think Shatner was in the right here. The producer just didn't know how to respond properly to keep Shatner's ego in check.
I love this. Passive aggressive done to perfection. He did the first read perfectly well. The guy had a few chances. I’m cracking up when Shatner takes the direction.
@@guitarman704 Exactly. Cant believe people are praising this behaviour, he's acting like a child - all because someone had the audacity to suggest changes.
It's like a carbon copy isn't it? Suits the slimey lizard producer damn well. I mean, William Shatner is no deus ex thespian marvel but while one might criticize some of his missteps for overacting in his live roles here and there, his narrating skill is spotless. I'm not even a fan of the guy or ST in general, but his Rescue 911 narrating was one of the best I've heard.
Right? He paused in the same places, emphasized the same words. He even got that little iambic goofiness at the end. It goes to show that there is a definite art to this in a way. It’s not all just sounding good.
@@clurkroberts2650 - Yes the first read was cold. That's why OP was talking about the _third_ take, where Shatner imitates the director's cadence perfectly. Second take was much better and the director should have left it at that.
@Brett Stanton We score higher in every category on quality of life than America does. But not only that but we have a much better reputation around the world; number one preferred passport. Americans have been traveling around the world trying to disguise themselves as Canadians since at least the 50s. Very often they get busted and are exposed for actually being American. Canadian men are voted number one for sought out husband's by women not from here. At least 80% of all Canadians thank God every day that they are not American but we would never be rude enough to state that in public. America number one in what category?
HERE is The TRUE Savior YaH The Heavenly FATHER HIMSELF was Who they Crucified/Pierced for our sins and “HERE IS THE PROOF” From the Ancient Semitic: "Yad He Vav He" is what Moshe (Moses) wrote, when Moses asked YaH His Name (Exodus 3) Ancient Semitic Direct Translation Yad - "Behold The Hand" He - "Behold the Breath" Vav - "Behold The NAIL"
Shatner passive-agressively reverse psychologied the shit out of that guy and made him rethink the choices he made so much, he started to stutter lmfaoo
@@TronGodManDam perhaps that person dug himself into a hole. the fact that you point out the hole, does not make you responsible for the man in the hole ( or his stutter )
I would love to hear a follow-up with that director guy. I think he either became a better man . . . . or went home and took a bath with a plugged-in toaster.
+Dominic O'Flynn LOL you are making no sense whatsoever. Shatner was being a professional, unlike the other guy. Twisting the knife??? you're a fucking idiot!
+CT Mason I have to agree, Shatner was dealing with a Jerk. In this business the Jerk would have been eaten alive by most actors. He was lucky to have a very experienced actor who understood not to react badly.
Bill didn't have the whole context of the program. A director is there to give you that. Imagine that subdued read on a higher energy music bed. He'd sound like a goof, and he'd still blame the director. All the guy asked was for the read to be a bit brighter, then the Shats turned into a complete turd. Just because he was calm, doesn't mean he wasn't being a crybaby diva.
I was in TEARS when Shatner imitated the director. These guys think that just because he's older, he's slower. Shatner is STILL sharp as a tack at 83. The director messed with him and got taken to school. Classic.
Shatner is one of a kind, that's why people love the guy. It doesn't matter if he's not some great actor that totally transforms himself into a different character, ppl learned to appreciate him for who he was and didn't expect otherwise from him. He also never took himself too seriously. He was trolling before trolling became a thing. Gotta love him. 👍👏👏
I'm cracking up 😂 All the director needed to say was "That was great! Let's do one more, and you can punch up the excitement even more if you want to, but that was excellent!"
Now I understand why I’ve heard directors use the language, “ Great , great. Now could we try one w a little more energy, just as an option?” I could not do that job well.
this part really doesn’t make any sense to me. the retort is a response to “i should have kept my mouth shut.” and shatner’s reply is “no, if you’re mouth was open…” which is in total agreement with the previous line: the producer’s mouth was, in fact open, and the producer wishes it were shut. and shatner is effectively saying, “no-it WAS shut, because you’d be getting high if it weren’t.” but shatner is also trying to say it wasn’t? i don’t think this one holds water. i think shatner’s replies in the first half were measured and clever, and then he started to lose his temper in the second half when the producer tried walking things back.
indeed. He took that crap right back to that Director. They picked Shatner to do it because they like his style, then they want to change his style. He did good.
@@juliaangelina1984 Many young people are learning and growing as they do their jobs. As younger people develop, they discover a million things they don't know, on every level...technical, professional, including lessons about how to deal with people and egos. Many older people look back at the mentors, teachers and older colleagues they had when they were younger, starting out, and realize how wise and generous these people were to recognize this stage of youth, and sheperd it along, allowing the next generation to practice, try things, figure it out, just as someone gave them the same opportunity and room to figure it out... remembering they were once at the beginning of learning too. I think that might be how a healthy society passes the baton from one generation to the next. Then, there will be a few who tried to make young learners feel as small as possible,...but I don't think those people are admirable.
@@sdewes8884 good points. But I think Shatner gave him a pretty good learning experience, too. It's not secret big stars are a little full of themselves, it's not surprising he reacted the way he did.
As a voice over guy, I've worked with "Producers" who couldn't sell dollar bills for fifty cents, yet have told me word for word how to to voice a :15 sec spot. Good for Bill on this, wish i had the guts to do what he did.
Same here. I once voiced a :30 for a ski resort's Christmas festival. The three ladies from the ski resort and the Chamber of Commerce were all smiles after the take, but I knew I was in trouble when the agency guy was sitting there, holding his head in his hands. Slowly, he raised his head, deeply inhaled, and said "OK...OK...I see where you're going with it...and, yeah, yeah...I wanna help you get there...so...could you brown it up for me? Y'know...just...brown it up a little."
I acted in a radio drama once and the majority of the recording session was the director and the sound guy furiously trying to wrestle control away from each other.
That's bull shit. He was completely unprofessional. Now i get taking the piss out of the guy. But after that, he should have calmed the fuck down and tried to do what he was being PAID TO DO. The producers only fault here was in not being able to articulate exactly what he thought was wrong with the first performance. If you think this is the way to behave, you must not want to work very much.
@@Trev359 remember to tell your doctor how to diagnose you, your mechanic how to fix your car, and a sea turtle how to swim. Only arrogance here is in your lame comment 😅🍺
Okay, let's agree the poor director or producer guy was not great at trying to get a little more excitement from his talent. But let's face it the worst reading from William Shatner is awesome. He's just got that talent. So Shatner needed to show the guy how it goes. He did that, but then went just a little too far after the guy apologized very profusely. I mean the poor guy was really screwed at this point. He had him (probably literally) on his knees. He could have let the guy off the hook a little sooner. I wish we could have heard the entire thing!
Every A--hole has their "Opinion". But how many of you are Professionals working as a SAG-AFTRA actor? How many of you have a VO Career? If you don't, you don't know what you are talking about. The way Shatner acted was TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! HE WAS TOTALLY WRONG! Mocking the engineer who was trying to direct him, showed he was a loser. IT IS THE ACTORS JOB TO INTERPRET THAT DIRECTION, not mock it. The blame is ultimately on the Producer, he should have been there to take control of the situation, and not let a rich and famous actor bully a studio engineer.
I disagree. The second take was the better one in my opinion - it was a little more lively and pulled me in more. There was a seed of accuracy in the director's note, which is probably why Shatner did the second take with less protest. If it had died there, he might even look back and say, "Yeah, guy was right."
@@roguishpaladin - agree that the 2nd was better. the correct response from the director after take 2? "thank-you Mr. Shatner, let's move on". ... his imitation of the director was spot on in take 3. his point was made WELL before the end of his "tell me what you want" rant/non-rant. I can hear George Takei laughing in the distant background.
Bill Shatner loses it in the studio?... FAR FROM IT.... he's just given an executive his first lesson...."NEVER teach grandma to suck eggs".... A great lesson by William Shatner ... Thanks Bill - love ya!
Yeah, I was kind of disappointed. I was expecting him to go full Bill O'Reilly on the guy or at least go off on an Orson Wellsian rant. Passive-aggressive and nasty, yes; losing it, no.
Before I became a professional voice actor, I studied and trained with professionals in the voice-over industry and they all said the exact same thing; “The director never knows what they want.” And I never quite understood that until I started actually working in the professional industry. This video is a PERFECT example.
Thats not entirely true. Directors basically know what they want, some just don't know how to express it to the talent. As a film student in college I enlisted a theater major/actor to record some narration - and I got exactly what I wanted without much difficulty. Either the actor was very perceptive, or I knew how to articulate my ideas, or maybe both.
It does happen where the director doesn't know what they want, however letting the voice actor take charge of the entire production doesn't always help either. I mean just look at the travesty that is Jojo eng dub where it feels like the voice actors took complete control and freedom. Then you look at The Lion King remake and you see what it looks like when voice actors aren't allowed to put themselves into the role due to over direction. There always needs to be a proper back and forth, however Shatner here was being very condescending and needs to learn to take criticisms, no matter how old you are. This is why Takei always calls him an egomaniac, since the beginning.
@@aliensoup2420 As a film student??? HAHAHA or, maybe you have zero real world experience. This woman you shot down has over 75 professional voice production credits to her name. And you? Some advice: If you don't know how to express what you want to the talent you hired then you are not a good director
@@donlitos I didn't shoot her down. I offered an alternate perspective. And I do have experience on set with actors and directors - some names - so I've seen what can happen, good and bad. And I worked a day with W. Shatner as he functioned in the capacity of director - pleasant experience.
He's sharper than many give him credit for. I love how he doesn't take the industry seriously, he just has fun with them. That's all he was doing with Kirk, but at times he could bring a lot of depth when it called for it. He really did repeat it like the guy did it.
oh stop. yes he was good. He was also a ham . You want proof? google "Shatner Rocket Man "..Watch his SERIOUS thespian take on the song. Shatner came out of the oven over cooked on that one..Rock.ET man....
He nearly pushed the producer into a nervous breakdown, id say that was more than having fun with him, that was a shithole of a human being craping on someone, who was just trying to do his job, just because he could. Fuck Bill Shatner, lost any respect for you looking forward to your Eulogy, the sooner the better.
Well said. Bravo. That's him. He's got that uniquely Canadian ability to not take it all seriously like the rest of them do and yet ironically it's all the rest of them who take it too seriously who accuse him of having a big ego but they don't get it do they? An absolutely,, you can go deep and really bring it on. Love the guy and the actor
A very Happy 90th Birthday William Shatner. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec. March 22, 1931 Born in Canada, But a U.S. treasure. Your legacy is worldwide. Thanks Tiberius..
When Shatner had the guy do the reading the way he wanted it, and Shatner repeated what he heard, I was completely on Shatner's side. It's the fact that Shatner kept going on with insisting the guy give an example reading despite the producer admitting he was wrong that shows Shatner lost his cool. Just because a guy isn't shouting doesn't mean he's got his emotions in check. Shatner took the whole ordeal as some sort of personal insult and wanted to humiliate the producer to "show him who's boss." As far as I'm concerned, that's considered "losing it."
This is the interpretation I side with. In the first instance, Shatner was in the right and the director was being incompetent. Once he imitated his direction and the director got the message, that would have been the right lesson moment. But… We weren't there. Sure, Shatner lost the high ground, but he's being paid. I don't think he cared much about things like that on somebody else's dime. Why should he? Would you?
I agree that Bill became mean about it and took it personally. Which he is merited to do. He also wanted to humiliate the producer. But he did not lose it.
syodrome You don’t consider wrongfully taking something personal to the point where you feel the need to humiliate someone else to protect your own ego losing it? He lost control of his emotions and took it too far because he felt personally attacked by some kid.
@@torturelounge It depends on how we define "lose it" and I prefer the conventional definition which is that of losing control of one's emotions. This is what the "it" refers to. Being rude, sarcastic, mean, or an egoist has nothing to do with losing it. If you define it as losing the moral high ground or losing respectability, we could consider that you might be right. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the definition is as follows: to stop being able to control your emotions and suddenly start to shout, cry, or laugh. So, I would still regard it accurate to say that "he didn't lose it." Here's the link to the definition: dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lose-it
The director realised pretty quick how stupid that was. You don't correct someone who has been doing that voice on stage and screen for the last 50 years!
+The Creepiest Of Pasta Exactly. You may ask for an opinion or ask if they would hear your opinion. That is how you deal with this caliber of an actor.
+The Creepiest Of Pasta Regardless Whether it is 1 or 50 years; a directors job is to direct someone to go into the direction they want. It's their JOB.
ODSII Ya exactly. A director needs to be celebrity blind to function. Theres no stars on a set or in a studio. That just keeps the job from being done right.
Here’s the REAL: Shatner was paid to do a job, that director was there to guide Shatner through the way the director wanted it done. The director is not a professional speaker so that is why a celeb pro actor is there to do exactly what that director wants; there are contracts signed before that clearly state these things. Shatner knew exactly what the director wanted but because he was having a bad day and the audacity of that director to tell WILLIAM SHATNER how to do his job, he decided to mock and waste valuable recording time to fluff his ego. Everyone is expendable, including Bill.
Howard explained (after the Orson clip before this) that his Dad said that it is a racket basically, the first take was always the best, but the engineers/junior director would do 900 takes to get more billable hours.
This was laugh out loud hilarious. It's also a lesson in the value of emotional intelligence and being able to handle people, something the producer was ignorant of. If the producer had started this whole thing with PRAISING Shatner for this first take ("really, really great"), and then saying something like, "now let's give the company an alternative to choose from that's a little more up tempo", Shatner probably would not have been insulted and been happy to comply.
To be fair, the producer did sound a little more excited when he said the word "amazed". Also, it's fair that they wanted him to sound more excited and then when Shatner did the second take, he did not sound more excited.
William Shatner has a recognizable voice that was immortalized through Star Trek. It's unbelievable an engineer would tell him how to speak the way the engineer wanted. Hilarious when Shatner mimicked him and said he should've _kept his mouth open he should've popped some pills in them_ LOL, funny as heck. He is soooo Capt J Kirk, and Capt J Kirk is Shatner.
Most actors feel insulted when directors do what are called "line readings," showing the actor how it should be said by saying the lines. Smart directors let the actor go -- after all, they are professional actors -- and if something is needed, try to describe creatively what they are looking for. A common trick if a reading isn't bright or excited enough is to ask the actor to do it faster. That's a direction that is easily followed without making the actor uncomfortable, and it often results in the added energy needed. This guy should not be directing Shatner. I should, lol.
I feel bad for the engineer here. All he did was ask for a little more enthusiasm. I'm not saying Shatner did the line read poorly but the guy's just trying to ensure the job was done right and Shatner was kind of immediately offended on the first go and then was very beholden to trying and get some revenge out of this guy who began to back down and apologize. Shatner even explained the reasoning that he knows the guy is just doing what he thought the company wants, but still pursued him even when he was capitulating to Shatner.
@@LandersWorkshop Yeah, you're right. I agree. He kept milking it for too long. He'd already made his point, he _knew_ the guy was aware he'd fucked up, and he kept doing it, anyway, like he relished the opportunity.
The 1st take is about the same as all of the Shatner work he's done in recent history. If I had that script and hired Shatner to read it, it's exactly as I would expect to hear. A better way to handle it would be to allow Shatner to be creative and give him guidelines for 3 takes. Maybe one regular, one excited, and one over the top and let Shatner perform as he sees fit. But I would have been happy with one take. On a personal note, I was enlightened a bit when I worked with Shatner at an event years back. He's 100% about business and comes in to do the job, wants to get paid, and leaves quickly. He's not there to be fawned over to chit chat and makes that very clear. He turns on the charm as soon as he's performing and switches back to business mode as soon as it's over.
Shat is absolutely correct here. And he didn't lose anything. He was calm, cool and collected. Very professional. He insisted on doing it the way the client wants him to.
@@cultfilmfreakreviews Then why did he hire William Shatner? That's just the way he narrates. The director had the opportunity to show him how to do it, and Shatner did it that way.
I would have done the same. I know William can seem punchy but he was in the right to ask for the delivery nonetheless. He is not in the process of "losing it". He is in complete control.
William shatner was perfectly calm, professional, and I only wish I had that kind of control when those little twerps like that annoy me! Shatners voice is so distinctive, he does need much guidance!
Tom Baker of Doctor Who fame had an identical meltdown when recording a radio commercial. Must be something about all that warping around in time and space that makes you cranky. But in all honesty, I think both actors were justified.
Many people think it's cool or hip to berate Shatner for some oddball reason, maybe it helps their insecurities. Bill's who he is and has been this way since the 1950s and you new-comers to the party seem shocked that Shatner is not a kiss-ass. He's a fun guy and yes, he's not a Joe Biden or a Justin Bieber - he's Bill Shatner for God's Sake!
Nurse Grace Marlene Hirzel Yes, it's his name. He refers to himself this way throughout his autobiographies and relates anecdotes in which all sorts of people including newly-met acquaintances call him Bill. William and Bill are interchangeable. Can you ladies please point out the rulebook or contract in which you can only say "Bill Shatner" if he's your beer buddy? I must have missed it lol :P
Shatner is 90 today and still amazing. "I really liked the first one." How often has this happened to Pro VO Talent in directed sessions by Agency or Clients? This is so true. "I hear you Clem Fandango".
They hired shatner for his unique way of speaking and the notoriety of his voice. Unless he flubbed a line, there is no reason to do a redo. Especially since it was a introductory narrative.
"You know what you want!"..."No I don't!" ROFL He got that guy running with his tail between his legs WITHOUT losing it at all. Good on Shatner - and I thought there was nothing wrong with his first delivery anyway. The director sounded like\ he was selling second hand cars.
The acting chops on him to accurately mimic the director on the first try. Guy shouldn't have said anything. Shatner had like 60 years of acting experience at this point.
What happened: The voice director wanted to "justify" his existence so he thought he'd bark out edits to Shatner as if he was some voice master and to have bragging rights to say "I corrected/improved Shatner's delivery". The pretentiousness of the request was not lost on Shatner which is why he laughed, but was willing to oblige anyway and do a second take. When the guy still wanted to play "editor/corrector" as to what was "missing" after the second take, Shatner had enough and just turned the tables making the guy actually perform the kind of take he wanted Shatner to do, and the guy failed miserably. The guy then realized he was in over his head and had NO BUSINESS calling for retakes and tried to back down but Shatner wouldn't allow him to so he was trapped looking inexperienced and under qualified.
@@inputfunny If you can't see the reasons why- you just explained why you're most likely not a director nor in the commercial industry. Apparently you can't even get the forehead banging simplicity of WHY the "director" was apologizing to Shatner.
@@inputfunny Like I said- the director apologized- and yet that went completely over your head. You have no idea about how the industry works, but do keep talking to show more of your ignorance.
