Star Trek actor George Takei just slammed Shatner for traveling to space at age 90. George Takei is famous for playing the USS Enterprise's helmsman Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek: The Original Series. He would go on to reprise the role in three additional television series, six films, and six video games across the Star Trek franchise before being succeeded in the role by John Cho in the J.J. Abrams reboot universe.
William Shatner played Captain James T. Kirk opposite Takei for many years. Recently he became the first Star Trek actor to travel to space when he joined the second flight of the Blue Origin rocket New Shepard, reportedly for the filming of a documentary. Although he was "terrified" beforehand, he came back profoundly awed. Now that the flight is concluded, Shatner is the oldest person to have ever visited space, at 90 years old.
Per Page Six, at the opening of the Broadway play "Thoughts of a Colored Man," George Takei snarked about Shatner's decision to travel to space at his age. "He's boldly going where other people have gone before," Takei quipped. He called Shatner a "guinea pig," saying he'll be valuable for testing the wear and tear that space causes on the human body. He'll "be a good specimen to study, although he's not the fittest specimen of 90 years old." Read the full quote below:
He's boldly going where other people have gone before.
He's a guinea pig, 90 years old and it's important to find out what happens.
So 90 years old is going to show a great deal more on the wear and tear on the human body, so he'll be a good specimen to study. Although he's not the fittest specimen of 90 years old, so he'll be a specimen that's unfit!
William Shatner and George Takei have been feuding for decades, with tensions only escalating since their respective exits from the Star Trek universe. Takei insists that Shatner is self-absorbed and has been from day one, since they were filming The Original Series in the mid-'60s. They have repeatedly made snarky comments at one another, with Shatner at one point insisting that Takei's wedding in 2008 was a publicity stunt, though Takei said Shatner was mad because he wasn't invited.
The Star Trek actors sniping at one another is mostly expected at this point. However, it's a shame that the two can't get along, because it seems this may have prevented Takei from participating in either of the upcoming Trek-related documentaries. He wasn't present in the trailer for The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek, which featured many returning stars including Brent Spiner and Walter Koenig. Shatner wasn't present either, probably because he is already filming that rumored competing documentary. Considering how unlikely it is that Takei will be working on Shatner's project with him, he may just be distancing himself from the franchise entirely, which is certainly a disappointment to Trekkies across the world.
Source: Page Six