From beyond Mars, where an asteroid bearing his name travels through space, to travel in cities all around the globe, George Takei's association with Star Trek has taken him to many surprising places.

As reported at Metroweekly, George Takei has boldly gone where he might not have otherwise gone before his association with Star Trek.

"Star Trek has given me the opportunity, if not trekking the galaxy, to at least trek this planet," explained Takei. "I've been able to go to places where I never thought I'd be, or to places I never wanted to be. I've made wonderful discoveries like Montana. I'm an architecture buff and some of the architecture of Helena, Montana, was absolutely fascinating."

Takei has even had an asteroid named after him. "7307 Takei" floats in space in the vast expanse between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid, which is five miles in diameter, was given Takei's name in 2007.

Star Trek was known for its travel into unexpected and uncharted places. Takei, who came out in 2005, praised Gene Roddenberry for his openness. "He was an extraordinary man, a real visionary," said Takei. "He used to tell the Star Trek cast frequently that the Starship Enterprise was a metaphor for Starship Earth. And the strength of the starship was its diversity, the crew coming together and working in concert." Discussing why a gay character had not made it onto Star Trek in spite of efforts to add one, Takei said, "Gene was truly an enlightened person, and he said, 'It's silly, this homophobia and all this legislation and prejudice against equality.' But he felt that in order to make the statements that he had been making on Star Trek, it was important for Star Trek to be on, and network television is the most conservative medium of communication. If he pushes the envelope too far, the envelope gets burned up."

Blood and Fire, a script penned by David Gerrold and intended for Star Trek: The Next Generation, would have introduced a gay couple to Star Trek. The script became a book instead, and will shortly be seen on the screen as an episode courtesy of Star Trek: New Voyages.

Takei will not be in Star Trek XI, but he had this to say about Sulu's character, who will be played by John Cho. "It's a younger Sulu. As a matter of fact, he has some bravura heroics in this movie coming out. We know that Sulu's passion is fencing and there's a lot of fencing going on."

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