Canadian-born William Shatner is an actor, recording artist and author. He is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise as the captain of the starship Enterprise. After Star Trek was cancelled, “Trekkies” began organizing conventions, and Captain Kirk became a cultural icon. Shatner also starred in several Star Trek science fiction films.

Outside of Star Trek, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in Boston Legal and played a veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker. He hosted the reality-based television series Rescue 911 from 1989 until 1996. Shatner also appeared on the reality-travel show Better Late Than Never for two seasons with Henry Winkler, George Foreman, Terry Bradshaw and Jeff Dye.

Shatner took part in Blue Origin’s second sub-orbital human spaceflight, Blue Origin NS-18, on October 13, 2021. He became the oldest person to fly into space at 90 years, 6 months and 22 days. In his recently released book, Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, Shatner reflects on the interconnectivity of all things, our fragile bond with nature and the joy that comes from exploration in this inspiring, revelatory and exhilarating collection of essays.

In an a new interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, Shatner discusses the things in life that give him the most pleasure:

Smashing Interviews Magazine: What are you trying to tell us in Boldly Go?

William Shatner: Connection. Everything is connected, from the enormity of space and exploding stars and burgeoning constellations to the most minute thing on earth. It all has beauty, and that beauty, which on earth took five billion years to evolve, is going extinct. I talk about the tragedy that that is and how we must muster every bit of energy to correct that otherwise. The dedication of the book is to Clive, my great grandson, and he will not have a place to go.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: You say, “I find it distasteful that we judge people by the worst moments in their lives.” Are you alluding to cancel culture there?

William Shatner: No. I don’t even know what cancel culture is really. You know, we make up these names, and it’s the same thing either young people have been doing in their ferment or it’s another name for another kind of rebellion. I think rebellion is good. No. I’m not alluding to anything hidden. I don’t need to hide. I’ll say it out loud.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: You’ve also said that life is a joke. What do you mean by that?

William Shatner: Well, it’s a profound joke, isn’t it? I mean, were all taking ourselves so seriously and most of us do or die and enter the legion of unknowns who have lived and died since even before we emerged from Africa. But the billions of people who’ve lived and died, and everybody, whether they were known necessarily or not, has become innocuous, and we think it’s so important. And that’s the joke.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: What are some of the things that have made you go “Wow!” during your life?

William Shatner: Love. Dogs. Horses. The stars. E=mc2. My fingers. Making people laugh. The list is endless. We should be saying “Wow” all the time.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: What kind of wild and amazing adventure is next for you?

William Shatner: Ah. Something has happened … I’m on the verge of something that may be really important or not, and that is this. I did a concert at a concert hall in the Washington Kennedy Center at the Opera House. It’s one of the big places in American culture. I performed there a little while ago. One of the songs that Robert Sharenow and I wrote was a song called “So Fragile, So Blue.” It recounted my adventure into space and my feelings. The song is a big hit. The place wouldn’t let me off the stage and all that kind of thing.

Now, it came to, what do we do with the film that I’ve got making a documentary about my performance and the album? I linked myself to a company called Legion M. These bright people at Legion M said that they could do this and that. But in addition to all that, they said, “We’d like to make a music video of “So Fragile, So Blue,” and our hope is that it becomes the anthem to save the world. Like, “We Are the World, “So Fragile, So Blue” might be a rallying cry to stop the destruction of the earth as we know it.

I suddenly realized that may be what I have to do for the rest of my life, that anthem, that piece of music that I helped create and performed. We’re editing it right now to bring all the elements of the song together and visually might be something really important, like really have an effect. What I’m seeing in my imagination is people saying, “Have you seen that music video? Turn it on. It’s free. Just look at it, and it will inspire you to do something about our earth.” That’s my hope, and that’s the possibility of the reason for my life.

Smashing Interviews Magazine: That sounds incredible.

William Shatner: I imagine it being incredible.

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About the authors:

Marc Parker is an American journalist, author, artist, a photographer and a computer scientist. He is the founder/publisher/editor-in-chief of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Marc Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook

Melissa Benefield Parker is an American journalist and author. She is the founder/publisher of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Melissa Benefield Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook