Seeing a famous face appear considerably younger than their actual years in a brand-new movie can be startling—Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny did all right by Harrison Ford, but even Jeff Bridges shudders at his appearance in Tron: Legacy. But 93-year-old Star Trek legend William Shatner is willing to take his chances, if it means he’ll get to return to the sci-fi franchise.
Of course, the script and context would also be a factor, not just the availability of tech that can make him look decades younger. Speaking to the Canadian Press (via the Hollywood Reporter) for his new documentary You Can Call Me Bill, Shatner said called the idea of a return to Trek “intriguing” if “almost impossible.” However, he added, “It was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it.”
Though Captain Kirk as portrayed by Shatner perished in 1994’s Star Trek Generations, the actor would be open to playing a younger version of his iconic character. This isn’t coming out of nowhere; he’s a spokesperson for technology company Otoy, creators of software that “takes years off of your face, so that in a film you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger than you are.” He even has a set-up in mind for resurrecting Kirk: “A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it … ‘We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.’ There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!’”
Just putting this out there, but there are supposedly two new Trek movies in the works right now—plus the stable of streaming shows on Paramount+. Would you want to see Shatner reprise Captain Kirk, if de-aging tech was involved?
Need more entertainment? Pedestrian Television has launched on 9Now where you can cult classic movies like Fright Night, and homegrown content like Eternal Family and Rostered On. Watch all that and more for free, 24/7 on 9Now.