By GustavoLeao / 11:45, 23 May 2005 / General Star Trek

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Trek Brasilis just posted an exclusive interview with STAR TREK actor George Takei. We're happy to bring you this exclusive English version of the interview, a special to TrekWeb.

By Salvador Nogueira

TB: The original STAR TREK is now being released over here in Brazil on DVD. When you think of that series, do you see it as a product of the sixties or an atemporal set of relevant stories which still have (and maybe will always have) a lot of contemporary feel to it?

TAKEI: It is now 40 years since the time that we filmed the second pilot that sold STAR TREK and it still seems, to me, so very timely. Back in the '60s the issues confronting society were war and peace, corruption and integrity, prejudice and idealism, and strength in diversity coming together. Those issues seem ripped from the headlines today, don't you think? STAR TREK is as relevant as the current events on the front pages of our newspapers today.

So, it was something visionary, in your view?

Gene Roddenberry, the late creator of STAR TREK was a true visionary. So much of what was science fiction and speculative technology have come to be reality in the span of forty years. That amazing sci-fi device that we called the "console," we recognize today as our very commonplace computer. That "Oh, wow" device that we wore on our hip and tore off to talk to anyone, anyplace is today the very real nuisance we call our cell phones. Today, we have robots roaming the surface of Mars. Today, we have a spacecraft in space with a crew made up of people from all the continents of this planet; in fact, Russians and Americans working side by side -- just like on STAR TREK. We call it the International Space Station.

What was the general perception of other sci-fi shows, such as the direct competitor, LOST IN SPACE, within the STAR TREK team?

STAR TREK was true science fiction. LOST IN SPACE was fairy tale in space. There was absolutely no comparison.

You've been there since the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." What was the general feeling in the sets, before STAR TREK got a greenlight from NBC? There were some bonds already forming during that time among the cast.

We all recognized STAR TREK as very venturesome television. We knew it was pioneering. We also felt it was intelligent, quality writing. And that meant it was very risky. We knew the first pilot was rejected. So we crossed our fingers and hoped.

After filming the pilot, none of us stayed in touch with each other. The commencement of filming brought us together again. However, before that happened, I happened to be cast in a television show together with Bill Shatner. I think the program title was ALCOA TELEVISION THEATER. We discussed our hopes for the STAR TREK series then and predicted that we would be working together on it. As it turned out, that did happen.

Sulu actually gets some very good screen time during the first season. We see him fencing, caring for his plants, shooting an old-style gun, and in the pilot we see him actually as a physicist! What do you think of Sulu's development during the first season and the series in general? Do you feel the character got adequate attention? What did you want to see that you didn't?

When there are seven regular cast members, it is very difficult for all of us to get our full time in the sun -- particularly when there is such a domineering star as Bill Shatner. Nevertheless, we all lobbied for more for each our characters to do. None of us felt that our characters got adequate attention, but that is the way it works in series television. I would like to have seen something of Sulu's private life and family relationships. Of course, I wanted to see Sulu promoted. As it finally turned out in STAR TREK VI, I did get a Captaincy for Sulu. I think that film is the best of the lot.

And how much of George Takei is in Hikaru Sulu?

Sulu is different from me and very much like me. I like fencing. So does Sulu. I don't like guns. Sulu does. I am fascinated by space travel. So is Sulu. And, most relevantly, we look like each other.

What is your favorite episode, and what is Sulu's favorite episode?

My favorite television episode is "Naked Time," and my favorite film is, as I've stated, STAR TREK VI THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. Sulu shares my judgment.

How do you see the recent cancellation of ENTERPRISE. Are you sad about it? Is it the end of STAR TREK?

I have written about the cancellation of ENTERPRISE in my January web log on my web site. I thought of how the actors on the show must be feeling now. I know the sadness and the feeling of disappointment they must be experiencing. I suffered those same emotions so long ago. I remembered how we hoped against hope that we would be picked up. I remembered the anticipation and anxiety. I remembered the disappointment and hurt. Those actors on STAR TREK ENTERPRISE were now going to be between engagements, "at leisure" -- they were unemployed! Then I thought of the fans that had trekked along with us now for generations. Some had been with us from the very beginning in September of 1966, from THE ORIGINAL SERIES on through four spin-offs series. They, the fans, are the ones who really created the phenomenon of STAR TREK. They are the real pillars of the series. I know how hurt they must be feeling. But I also know the history of STAR TREK. Back in 1969, we thought we were done with STAR TREK. The series, the journey, had ended -- except for the reruns. Little did I know then. I think I've learned something from history since. As Spock once said, "There are always possibilities." As it turned out, there were.

In this month's column, I talk about the new publication of my autobiography, TO THE STARS, in Japanese translation, and of my casting in the play EQUUS which I will be doing this fall. I invite all my Brazilian friends to visit Los Angeles and see me on stage. EQUUS opens on October 26 and runs through November. I leave this weekend for Japan and a book signing tour.

The original report (in Portuguse) can be found here.

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