“It was the first time that I was being asked to portray a character that was fully developed.”
Star Trek’s 60th anniversary inches ever closer, and all these decades later who better embodies the face of the beloved franchise better than George Takei? Today, he’s known around the world for portraying Hikaru Sulu, but in the mid-1960s, the actor was simply delighted to land the role he so “desperately wanted. Takei said in an interview with AARP:
“I desperately wanted the role. It was the first time that I was being asked to portray a character that was fully developed. It was a human being, not a cartoon or a stereotype, a comic buffoon or a villain, Fu Manchu. This was an identifiable, sharp, intelligent, qualified member of a Starfleet team.”
Takei was a member of the starship Enterprise from day one, but Hikaru Sulu first donned a blue Starfleet uniform in Star Trek’s second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” even though it didn't air on television first. Rather, Trekkies' introduction to the show and Sulu came on September 8, 1966, came in “The Man Trap," which was the actually the sixth episode in production order.
After The Original Series was canceled in 1969, Takei would reprise his role in The Animated Series and six of the franchise’s feature films. Most recently, he voiced Captain Sulu once more for the Star Trek: Khan podcast, the must-listen audio drama released in 2025.
Today, Takei is one of the three surviving members to have appeared on TOS, along with William Shatner (James T. Kirk) and George Takei (Pavel Chekov). After all these years, though, the actor’s love of Trek has not diminished. Takei continued during the same sit-down by saying:
“My father was [the] one who taught me to be actively engaged in our society, contributing what I can, working with other people, some that I don’t agree with, but working together to find a mutually livable, positive solution. The lessons of Star Trek are ones that we need to make sure live on and prosper.”
Is Mr. Sulu one of your favorite characters, too? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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