Original-Cin Q&A: Captain Kirk himself, nonagenarian William Shatner talks Senior Moment (the movie and the condition)
At 90 years young, Canada’s own William Shatner shows no signs of slowing down. His series The UnXplained on the History channel has been renewed for another season. He has another album coming out. And his latest movie Senior Moment has him driving fast cars and getting the girl!
Our Bonnie Laufer talked with William Shatner via Zoom to talk about the new film, life and longevity.
Senior Moment is available on VOD on Tuesday, April 6th. Read our review here.
Former Klingon Christopher Lloyd and William Shatner take a road trip in Senior Moment
ORIGINAL-CIN: It’s really a thrill getting the opportunity to chat with you today. You've actually made my day.
WILLIAM SHATNER: Well, I thank you for saying that. But I’ve got to say that, aside from me getting to talk to you right now, so far my day hasn’t been off to such a great start!
O-C: I’m sorry to hear that!
SHATNER: My wife brought me some eggs, and they spilled on the floor along with my tea. And then I had the worst senior moment. How old are you?
O-C: How old am I? How do I look?
SHATNER: I’d say…. 27.
O-C: Now you’ve REALLY made my day and you are officially my new best friend.
SHATNER: I'm so glad that I’m making your day. (Laughs) So with all that happening to me, I had a senior moment. You know what it was?
O-C: No, tell me.
SHATNER: What's the name of the movie again? I had a panic moment, I forgot the name of the movie I'm publicizing. D’uh - Senior Moment. That definitely applies to me! (Laughs)
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
O-C: I’ve got to say I had so much fun watching YOU have so much fun in this film.
SHATNER: I did have a lot of fun. First of all, I like fast cars. I drive fast cars a lot. In fact, not only do I drive fast cars a lot, I drive ordinary cars fast. And according to my wife and family, too fast. I just love it.
O-C; Not only do you get to drive some pretty fantastic cars in Senior Moment, but you get to spend a lot of time in a car with your co-star Christopher Lloyd. I hope the two of you are planning on making some buddy movies together! I believe you worked together before didn't you?
SHATNER: We did, very briefly. He was a villain a long time ago in the film that I was making. (Lloyd played the Klingon Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock).
It was quite a few years ago. We have both changed a lot since the last time we saw each other. If we hadn't seen each other since the last time we were together and we met all these years later, I don’t think that we would recognize each other. He’s gotten so old!! (Laughs).
O-C: One of the things about getting older is having your driver’s license taken away. I think for a senior that is probably one of the worst moments in life.
SHATNER: Absolutely! I live in Los Angeles and for me it would be a nightmare if I couldn't drive. You're in Toronto where you have pretty good public transit. But here it’s almost impossible to get around if you don’t have a car.
So yes, if your driver's license is taken away that’s your means of transportation, but not only that the driver's license is representative of your freedom. It's an anomaly in this case with this guy that I am playing, because it represents his youth. So his freedom is connected to his car, his ability to get around, his ability to wave hello to people
As far as he is concerned, everything is gone. So the movie is a struggle to get his license back and to form a kind of different life than what he was living before. It was all about his age, but I think acknowledging your age is the wrong thing to do actually.
O-C: Well, come on! I’m glad you brought that up. Let's just look at you turning 90! Not only are you in great shape, you have a great attitude to life. You don't look a day over 60. What is your secret?
SHATNER: Well, the secret is that I'm only 60! I was born in Montreal and they're renowned for making mistakes on birth certificates so think that's what it is. (Laughs)
I can't believe it to be honest. Before I was 90, I used to think of people who were 90 as old and dried up – as if the slightest gust of wind would blow you like tumbleweed all over the street. I thought, when I turn 90 I’d end up in a gutter, with people thinking that I was homeless and I’d have to say, ‘I'm not homeless I'm 90!’
O-C: You are a wonderful example, and I only hope I can be like you when i grow up!
SHATNER: (Laughs) Happy to give you some pointers! But you’re only 27 … so you have a long way to go!
O-C: It’s nice to see that in this movie, you get the girl. How about that love scene with Jean Smart? Come on, does it get any better?
SHATNER: Oh, no. She's a beautiful woman. I’ll tell you a secret. She's 90 too! (Laughs) Just kidding! I kissed her in the movie, so that was a bonus.
O-C: What did your wife think about that?
SHATNER: She doesn't talk about it. She focuses on the other aspects of this movie!
O-C: It’s so great to see how busy you are! Still acting, you released an album last year (The Blues, a spoken-word rendition of classic blues songs).
SHATNER: I have another one coming out this year. I've got another album that has been picked up by a very large label and I will release it around the summer. It’s a really different album, something I have not done before.
Plus, my show The UnXplained, which is on the History Channel, has been picked up for another season. So, yeah, everything is going along swimmingly.
O-C: Some of my fondest memories growing up involved sitting in my living room with my father watching Star Trek. And then the years later it was T.J. Hooker. You were always one of his favorites and my dad always said, ‘That William Shatner, he’s such a mensch because he's Canadian.”
SHATNER: So, true. I think being Canadian has a lot to do with who I am.
O-C: I have to say, we all love and appreciate the fact that you’ve played an iconic character like Captain Kirk, and you've embraced it. You've never said, ‘I’m never talking about that guy or that show again, it was so long ago.’ You even went to a sci-fi convention last year just before the pandemic.
SHATNER: Well, thank you. I am continually in a state of gratitude for everything that's happened. And let’s face it, Star Trek was a big moment.
I had been in other things before Star Trek. But Star Trek gave me that “celebrity” and the reason you and I are talking today. So I've never forgotten that. It was a wonderful show, it was monumental and really grand. Why shouldn't I acknowledge it? And as I said it has given me so many opportunities over the years, I am forever grateful.
O-C: Being so busy these days, I hope that you have made time to be with family and enjoy life!
SHATNER: Absolutely! And I have to say the pandemic has really connected us. I have quite a large family that is spread around the Los Angeles area. Really everybody in the family lives here, except my sisters who are still in Montreal.
I have a family of 15 and we meet every Sunday on Zoom. We have family meetings like we used to have family dinners. It reminds me of years ago, the way my family used to go for Chinese food in Montreal on Decarie Street. It really makes me happy.