TIME Does Shatner

This week, Time magazine’s 10-question interview is with William Shatner, and below are the parts of it that deal with Star Trek. Interesting that he says the old Kirk and the young Kirk are supposed to talk to each other in the new film. I wonder if he means that literally.

Lost producer J.J. Abrams is working on a Star Trek movie for 2008 about a young Kirk and Spock, and there are rumors you will make an appearance.

Shatner : I did have a talk with J.J., and he outlined what he wanted to do. Getting a character who is supposed to be dead to talk to his younger self is a storytelling problem. But if you want to guarantee the audience will come in droves, one of the things you might do is include some members of the old cast.

You are so indelibly linked to Captain Kirk, how do you pass on the torch to a younger actor?

Shatner : Well, you light a match … No, I really have nothing to offer. I can’t say to some young actor, “Play it this way,” because he’s going to play it his way. But I will say, he’s got to be young and good-looking and rich. And charming.

Some people say Star Trek is past its prime, and it’s time to move on. Would you agree?

Shatner : There was something about Star Trek that sustained it all those years. But with so many entities of Star Trek out there all at once, the audience began to leave it. Now there’s a huge experiment going on: Will the audience pick up their love affair? We don’t know. And as talented as J.J. is, this is the real test for him. He’s got to give a known quantity the Abrams twist and yet maintain the Star Trek game.