Takei Talks Schwarzenegger, Shatner and Stern

In a new interview, George Takei (Sulu) revealed that he is in talks to become a regular on The Howard Stern Show and called William Shatner (Kirk) "a very difficult actor to work with."

Speaking to Whitney Matheson of the Pop Candy blog at USA Today, Takei said that he had "a great, crazy time the first week" on Stern's satellite radio show, where he had expected to record lines as an announcer and hit it off with the crew. "My partner is addicted to Howard Stern," added Takei. "They do want me back on an irregular basis, maybe once a month visiting them. So the agents are now in conversation."

The actor reiterated his anger and frustration that California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had vetoed the state's same-sex marriage bill, which led him to speak publicly about his sexual orientation, which he had been open about with family and friends for many years. During his first day on The Howard Stern Show, Takei believed that he was debating with the governor, only to learn that it was a Schwarzenegger imitator. "Two days later, there was a call from 'Arnold Schwarzenegger,' and I went through the same song and dance...what that did was it gave me the opportunity to discuss the issue to his 3.3 million listeners."

Since then, revealed Takei, he has received e-mails from people who identified themselves as straight male conservatives, telling him that he made sense and they would support gay marriage bills in their own states. He laughed that he was unfazed when Stern asked him for details about his early sexual experiences, though he joked that his trust in humanity - "in particular, the guys of Howard Stern" - had been destroyed.

Takei said that his Star Trek colleagues Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) had come to see his recent production of Equus, but when asked whether he still had the issues with Shatner that he wrote about in his autobiography, Takei stated, "We all had difficulties with Bill. You know, he's a fascinating actor to watch, but he's a very difficult actor to work with." He called the rest of his colleages from the show "very, very dear friends" and remembered James Doohan as "my favorite drinking partner."

In addition to his planned upcoming appearance in the fan series Star Trek: New Voyages (story), Takei said that he had just filmed a guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle and another on Freddie. "The character I play [on Malcolm] is named George Takei, but it is not me!" he said.

The full interview is at USA Today.

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