William Shatner explains why he’s done with Star Trek
Fans keep asking for more captain-centric shows like Star Trek: Picard. Kate Mulgrew has been asked about it a bunch, but with her returning for Star Trek: Prodigy, it doesn’t make much sense. The comics recently brought back Benjamin Sisko, played in Deep Space Nine by Avery Brooks, and fans have long wanted to see him return as Sisko.
Then there’s Scott Bakula’s Jonathan Archer but there doesn’t seem to be much desire from the fanbase to see his return in an Archer series, but I’d quite enjoy it. The other icon of the captain’s chair is James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner, is a name some fans would like to see make one last return to the franchise.
Shatner last played Kirk in 1994’s Star Trek Generations, the film that closed out the original series run of films and opened up the Next Generation series of films. Shatner has never returned to the role.
William Shatner would never return to do a Star Trek series
Shatner, who just turned 92 years old this week, revealed in a 2020 interview with Rolling Stone that he would never do a Star Trek series like Picard, simply due to the time it takes to do the work. He’s apparently much more content riding his horses. Shatner was quoted by Rolling Stone as saying;
"I filmed a commercial yesterday and it took 12 hours. I got home and fell into bed. I got up this morning to do these interviews and I’m exhausted. I don’t know what Patrick is going to do to film the way a series takes it out of you. A series is 14 hours a day and then on the weekend you’re doing publicity. It’s all your time. I’m having a good time and I have time to ride my horses and pay attention to my family, so I’d never do another series like that."
While it seems more likely than ever before that Shatner won’t do a Kirk series, it’s even more likely than ever before that he never returns to the franchise. Recently he spoke about realizing his time is running out and he’s clearly not that interested in doing anything more with James Kirk.