Star Trek’s Walter Koenig talks pulling back from the con circuit, and why Trump’s America is having “a particularly heinous moment”
Walter Koenig speaking at the 2013 Phoenix Comicon at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. "Walter Koenig" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Walter Koenig has given a new interview in which he describes stepping back from the Star Trek convention circuit, and why he says “the state of the world is dreadful.”
Ahead of his appearance at this weekend’s C2E2, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, Koenig spoke to Salon.com. They jumped right in at the deep end, as Salon asked Koenig, “How are you reconciling ‘Star Trek’s’ hopeful vision of the future with where we have ended up in the United States and around the world?”
Koenig minced no words in his view of things: “‘Star Trek’ and the state of the world? On one end it is an atomic pit where an explosion has just occurred. The state of the world is dreadful. It depresses me to no end. ‘Star Trek’ is a welcome respite from the infamy of the Trump administration and all the problems we are living with. [...] I think this is a particularly heinous moment in American history with Donald Trump.”
Later in the interview, conversation turned to Chekov and how Koenig has squared being known so well for just the one role. “How do I feel about it now?” he asked. “It’s taken a toll on me. [...] The acclaim, the acknowledgment for ‘Star Trek’ is disproportionate to what I have accomplished. It’s way more than what I’ve contributed. That does embarrass me. It does make me feel uncomfortable.”
Koenig then went on to explain that he has decided to cut back on convention appearances. “I’m not going to do as many appearances,” he said. “This is the first year that I’m actually dropping the number of conventions that I’m going to do almost by half and try to ease out of this.” That’s not a criticism of fans, though; earlier in the interview (when talking about how conventions have changed over the years), Koenig said, “The ‘Star Trek’ crowd is the easiest crowd I ever worked with.”
The full Salon interview is lengthy but definitely worth a read. And if you happen to be in the Chicago area this weekend, you can see Walter Koenig live in person at C2E2, Friday through Sunday, at McCormick Place.
