William Shatner’s Honest Response About His Role As ‘Star Trek’s’ Captain Kirk

William Shatner’s most famous role is arguably Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek series. Shatner has played many characters in various productions, however, the iconic Captain Kirk stands out as his most influential one despite not actively working on the franchise in a long time.

Shatner spoke about his legendary role while promoting a screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and a special Q&A event. The 92-year-old got candid about the most significant role of his career, and his response was not exactly what one would expect.

Shatner had a thriving career before ‘Star Trek’

Shatner noted that his career “started long before ‘Star Trek,’” and has had many chances to do his best as an actor. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful…I’ve had a multitude of things to do and say and perform, been given a lot of opportunity,” he said.

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Although he did not say whether playing captain of the USS Enterprise tops his list— or what character does — it is no news that Kirk holds a special place in Shatner’s heart. He previously admitted to sharing many similarities with the character, who he considers a mirror image of himself. “You might say that Kirk in many instances, comes close to myself of all the roles I’ve played,” he said.

Shatner’s success before ‘Star Trek’

Shatner appeared in other series that could be considered most significant to him, including T.J. Hooker (1982–1986) and Boston Legal (2004-2008), where he played Denny Crane. He also became a director on T.J. Hooker, where he co-starred alongside Heather Locklear, Adrian Zmed, and James Darren.

His biggest directorial assignment came in 1989 when he directed and co-wrote Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which has the series’ biggest opening gross of all time. Unknown to most, the film legend is also a singer and released his debut album, The Transformed Man, in 1968. He released more albums since then, including his tenth one, BILL, in 2021.