Paul Wesley failed to impress Star Trek legend William Shatner

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Paul Wesley didn’t make the best impression on William Shatner, the original Captain James Kirk.

Paul Wesley’s turn on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has largely been well-received by the fanbase. He’s a good talent who has brought some nuance and charm to the role once thought to be William Shatner’s alone. Sure, Chris Pine played Kirk in the Kelvin Timeline series of films, but most people thought he was simply playing Pine as Kirk, not Kirk.

Fans loved his charisma, but it didn’t feel like Kirk. Wesley’s take on the character, however, feels more authentically Kirk.  He’s clever but kind. Robust but quiet. He’s bombastic but intelligent. He’s a very good version of Kirk.

And while Wesley and Shatner have shared the stage a time or two since Wesley got the gig as Kirk, their first meeting after Wesley got the gig was anything but favorable.

Two men named James Kirk sit on a plane…

Speaking to Micahel Rosenbaum on his “Inside of You” podcast (via SuperHeroHype), the man who brought Lex Luthor to life on Smallville spoke to Wesley about a chance encounter with Shanter after getting the role, and apparently, it wasn’t the best of meetings, with Wesley going on to say;

"They hadn’t announced that I got cast. And they said, ‘Don’t tell anyone. Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone.’ And I said, ‘Okay, cool, I won’t.’ I’m flying from Chicago to L.A. — and I get on the plane, and I had just binged every episode of [Star Trek:] The Original Series … and I look up, and I’m like … ‘Is that William Shatner?’And we’re flying, and I’m, like, trying to allude to the fact that I’m playing this role without saying it, and I honestly think he thought I was, like, some deranged [fan] … It was a disaster."

Still, Shatner took a selfie with Wesley regardless of his “deranged fandom”.

The story does have a happy ending, as Shatner famously tweeted to Wesley to keep his “ship and crew safe”, a tweet that Wesley references as well.