OCTOBER 7, 2022 - In William Shatner’s new book Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder which just released a few days ago, the 91-year-old actor, director, writer, series creator and astronaut, has released a series of essays on his life and experiences. 

One topic is an ongoing feud with his costars that has now lasted for decades. In an interview with USA Today, he reflected on the situation and summarized it simply, stating: “I think they are the problem, not me.” 

They have certainly made their opinions known over the years. 

James Doohan, who played Montgomery Scott, had been quoted as saying; "I like Captain Kirk, but I sure don't like Bill. He's so insecure that all he can think about is himself."

Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Checkov has said; "To be sure, every shot was set up so that he'd be in the foreground. He just automatically blocked it that way, and as I said before, the directors just went along with it." Koenig added, "But he was civil. Never got the sense that he wanted to be any of the supporting actors' pal.”

Perhaps the most notable feud has been with George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu who over the years has made many allegations about Shatner’s interactions with the supporting actors., saying, "It's difficult working with someone who is not a team player. The rest of the cast all understand what makes a scene work—it's everybody contributing to it. But Bill is a wonderful actor, and he knows it, and he likes to have the camera on him all the time."

But, most upsetting possibly to Shatner was Takei’s comments on his recent trip into space, where he said that Shatner was Jeff Bezos’ Guinea pig. You can read that here at pagesix.com.

To which Shatner responded with, "Why would George Takei put that in public?  After I came down from space—had this experience, talked about global warming—he would say, 'Oh, they probably used him because he was the oldest guy that would go up.' He was so mean-spirited. Again, there is no reason. And I don't give a cup of tea what his opinion is. But that's a guy who's not well."

Was Star Trek a space western, or a space soap opera?  

To see more of Shatner’s responses not only on what we’ve touched on here, but also on his friendship with Leonard Nimoy, (Mr. Spock), and what their relationship was up to his death in 2015, Trek on over to bestlifeonline.com.

William Shatner’s new book is available for sale on Amazon.