[IMG:L]They’ve made them dance, they’ve made them sing and they’ve even dropped them in the jungle (if anybody remembers that one.) Now Reality TV is putting celebrities behind the wheels of NASCAR vehicles. Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race premieres Thursday on ABC, with stars like Jewel, Tony Hawk, and Serena Williams competing on the track.
William Shatner is one of the celebrity competitors, and he got on the phones to hype up his latest bold venture into a new frontier. Wedged in between seasons of Boston Legal, Shatner adds driving to his list of adventure activities which also include flying planes and riding horses.
On a serious note, Shatner also took the publicity opportunity to address the conditions at Walter Reed Hospital. He asks that readers of this interview and viewers of Fast Cars and Superstars to contact Maurice McDaniels at the Soldier Family Assistance Center at Walter Reed, 6900 Georgia Ave – Room 3G04, Washington, D.C. 20307. Donations can go towards supplies for our troops.
Hollywood.com: Compare the driver’s seat to captain’s chair.
William Shatner: Well, centrifugal force plays a huge part in a NASCAR race and none on a spaceship.
HW: How fast did they let you go or were you able to?
WS: They had a governor on it and I think it was set at around 160, 150 miles an hour, something around there. So on a straightaway, we were able to, if you put your foot flat on the accelerator, I’m sure it got up to that. And then how much you thought the car was going to come out from under you on the curves, that conditioned how fast you’d be going overall.
HW: What’s a governor?
WS: Yes, a governor is like [Arnold] Schwarzenegger. There was a Schwarzenegger on the pedal and he pushed back every time you got to a certain point. That’s the kind of way he builds his muscles.
HW: Seriously, for those of us who don’t know NASCAR, what does it do?
WS: I presume it challenges the amount of revolutions you were able to go with the amount of gas put in or something. It regulates it in some manner.
HW: How did your management let you do this?
WS: I don’t have management. At my age, I manage.
HW: Well, how did your family feel about it?
WS: I believe the word is aghast.
HW: How did insurance allow this?
WS: The scary part was it was potentially life challenging. Why? How could they do that? That is the question. That’s the big question.
HW: Is this Battle of the Network Stars: The Next Generation?
WS: [Laughs] Well, they’re all younger than me so maybe it’s the previous generation. I don’t know.
HW: Were you getting any TJ Hooker flashbacks?
WS: Only when I clung to the hood.
HW: What would Denny Crane say if he were in the driver’s seat?
WS: “I’ll do it.”
HW: Had you done any racing before?
WS: Yes, I’ve driven several Grand Prixs before.
HW: What’s your favorite part about going fast?
WS: My favorite part of going fast is you lose the bottom half of your body. That has salutary effects, I’m told.
HW: Were you scared at all?
WS: Frightened to death.
HW: Did your age affect your ability to learn new skills or did your previous experience outweigh that?
WS: Well, you need to push your right foot down. That’s the first part and that I managed to do at my advanced age and the second part is to be frozen at the wheel. I was superior at that because of my age.
HW: Are you a competitive person by nature?
WS: I think of myself as being very meek and very mild. I have opposition to that point of view from various people who know me but I don’t think they know me very well.
HW: Did that change when you got behind the wheel?
WS: My meek and mild personality? Yes, it changed into a rabid animal. I saw moisture on my bottom lip and a variety of bodily changes. I had more hair on my hands. It was miraculous.
HW: What are you generally like on the road?
WS: Under normal circumstances, I’m driving a NASCAR. I’m hyper on the freeway.
HW: What do you drive?
WS: Well, I have a sports car that I push as often as I can to the limit. And I also drive a motorcycle.
HW: Who is your biggest competition in the race?
WS: My biggest competition? There were 11 people competing with me. There had to be eight or nine of the premiere athletes in the world. Laird Hamilton, the great surfer, Tony Hawk, that kind of thing. Their hand eye coordination by necessity had to be superior. So I had to compete in some way. I think nerve or stupidity. Yes, stupidity was my best weapon. I was able to compete against their hand eye coordination by being more stupid.
HW: How did you practice for the event?
WS: There’s a freeway here in Los Angeles, the 405. I tried going it at top speed.
HW: Was it more difficult for the stars to learn to drive or for the race car drivers to get in front of the camera?
WS: [Laughs] I think probably the race car drivers stepping in front of the camera because their heart was in their mouth watching us drive, and to swallow their heart when they got time to speak, you could choke on that.
HW: Boston Legal ended with Denny saying, “I wonder what’s going to happen next season.” Do you have any idea?
WS: No, and I don’t believe anybody knows what’s going to happen next season. Boston Legal is coming back on the fourth season. I have no idea what’s in store. None whatsoever. You probably know more about it than I.
HW: As a TV veteran with several memorable characters, is that one particularly fun to return to?
WS: It’s the most fun I’ve ever had performing. It’s the darndest thing. It’s so well-written and the people are so good and so nice, I look forward to going to work all the time.
HW: Of course there are Captain Kirk action figures, but of all the dolls in your likeness, how do you feel about the Denny Crane bobblehead?
WS: My head is chattering just like that when I’m [talking.] I just keep saying yes.
HW: As a dramatic actor, did you have any reservations about doing a reality competition?
WS: No, no. Actors, we’re doing publicity for a really terrific series of half hours. I think it’s going to be very, very interesting to watch people who, several times, several people in the show, you’ll hear them explain, “This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done.” Or the dangerous or fearful. And so I’m pleased to be doing publicity for any show, that’s part of the job. Over the years, you deal in reality quite a bit, talk shows, interviews, things like that so it comes as no surprise.
HW: Have you heard of this Star Trek prequel?
WS: Yeah, I’ve heard of it. I wish them well.
HW: Would you do a cameo in the new Star Trek?
WS: They haven’t asked me to the party so I don’t know what’s happening.
HW: Would you be comfortable doing that?
WS: I don’t know. I’d have to see what it was all about.
HW: What else is on your horizon?
WS: Well, I do have a lot of things going on. I’ve got some interesting things happening. Out of an album I made a couple of years ago, called Has Been, a ballet was choreographed and performed in Milwaukee and I filmed it. I’m about to do something with it, I’m not quite sure what, but either it’s a music video, 25 minute music video or it’s a movie about how ballet is made. I’ve got a new book coming out on young Captain Kirk and young Spock called Academy-Collision Course that’s coming out in September. I’m working on a film about grief and laughter called The Shiva Club. I’m going to host the Comedy Festival in Montreal in July.
HW: How difficult is it to work on The Shiva Club all these years after your former wife’s death?
WS: I’m progressing with it. I couldn’t do it, occupied as I am anyway, and I’ve got a really good setup. You mean grief-wise? Time takes care of a lot of things. The edge is off and my desire to show how grief and how humor and how laughter and grieving seem to be two sides of the same coin, still there. We grieve about everything all the time, whether it’s loss of a loved one or loss of a child or disappointments. Grief, whether we know it or not, is very much in our lives all the time. So that’s a subject matter as well as laughter. And grief sometimes can make laughter.
HW: How did you find time to do the reality show?
WS: Well, I flew in. They flew me in and they flew me out and I spent three days there. Always it’s just a matter of focus. You’re responsible for so many deadlines, you must be always asking how do you get so many words out in so few minutes. You ask the same question of yourself so.
HW: What is your personal involvement with Walter Reed?
WS: My wife had discovered that, to our American shame, that our boys in post operative treatment are not getting the best of facilities. They need things like electronic games and stuff. The best way to do it is by buying a Wal-Mart card and sending it to Maurice McDaniel at Walter Reed Hospital. But the boys, the soldiers, the guys who were willing to give their lives for our country, are not being- – I don’t know how to put it. You’re going to have to find the words yourself. I’m afraid of being too harsh. With just you people mentioning it this once, there’ll be an outcry and Maurice McDaniel will get his response for the Soldier Family Assistance which is to send the boys something that they can read, play with, occupy their time while they’re recovering from their wounds. And Maurice McDaniel himself will respond to everybody and make sure that what they give, especially in the form of credit cards from these large companies like Wal Mart or however it works, you can go to my website actually. We’re putting up that information in detail. My website, Shatnervision.com I didn’t want to get myself involved in it but the information is so important that even if you just say Maurice McDaniel, Soldier Family Assistance in Washington, 6900 Georgia Ave – Room 3G04, Washington, 20307. They just need all kinds of things that a person in bed would need.
