William Shatner Has Never Watched Star Trek

Star Trek: The Original Series lead William Shatner has never watched an episode of Star Trek. That's what he told People in a recent interview promoting his new film Senior Moment. Discussing his role as Captain James T. Kirk that helped launch his career, he said that he finds it difficult to observe his past work. "I have never watched Star Trek," he said. "There are many episodes I don't know, there are some movies I don't know." The one exception to that last part is the movie he had to watch because he directed it, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. "I directed one of the movies — No. 5 — I had to watch that one," Shatner said. "But it's all painful because I don't like the way I look and what I do."

Shatner, who turned 90 years old on Monday, might be uncomfortable watching his Star Trek performances but he's always been game to spend time with fans. He'll hold a two-day belated 90th birthday celebration with some of those fans at the Star Trek: The Original Series Set Tours location in Ticonderoga, New York later this year. He also remains proud of his time in Star Trek, as he expressed while accepted the Emmy's Governors Award on behalf of the franchise in 2018.

"Thank you so much. 52 years. What a gift. We're grateful," Shatner said. "Star Trek has endured because it represents an idea – one that's greater than the sum of our parts….we watch and we reach to see the best version of ourselves…. Star Trek is a phenomenon… I accept this award with honor."

Shatner is also unlikely to return to the Star Trek universe. In 2019, ComicBook.com asked him about resurrected Kirk for a revival series similar to Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Picard. Shatner wasn't too keen on the idea.

"That word, 'resurrect.' That's a key word," Shatner says. "Resurrect. You'd have to resurrect me, Shatner, in order to do the daily. I don't know what Patrick is doing doing that. Doing a series is debilitating for a young guy, for a 25-year-old, which I was doing when I was 25 years old. It's a physical wrecker, it's a mental wrecker, and it's a homewrecker 'cause you're working 14, 18 hours a day. And in the last series I did, Boston Legal, I had, in rush hour, a two-hour commute. So add that. So no, I would not be interested in doing a series, per se."

You can watch Shatner's performance in Star Trek: The Original Series on Paramount+.