Everyone loves George Takei. Well, almost everyone. Maybe not William Shatner. Or same-sex marriage opponents. Whatever. Most people who like Star Trek or solid Facebook jokes love George Takei. And thanks to a new documentary, they'll get to know (and love) him even more.
To Be Takei—which hits theaters and VOD Friday—chronicles the actor's life at a very unique juncture: a time when he was fairly newly married to his partner Brad (though they'd been together for more than two decades), becoming a social media celebrity, continuing to speak publicly about his time at a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, and working on a musical about his life. (All while doing his usual rounds of public appearances at comic book shops and conventions.)
If that sounds like a lot of heavy material to absorb in a documentary, it is. But what's amazing—although not entirely surprising—is that it's very funny.
"What intrigued me about George is how he faced many obstacles, continues to face many obstacles—real obstacles that affect a lot of people—and then he's relentlessly positive," says director Jennifer Kroot, who spent nearly three years with the Takeis for her documentary. "Sometimes he's a lecturer and sometimes he's on Howard Stern making jokes. To have the balance that I think reflects the balance in George was a struggle for me. I'm confident that it has both sides."
Considering how much is packed into Kroot's documentary, it might have even more sides than that. Using interviews with not only the Takei family but also cultural figures like Dan Savage and his old Star Trek co-stars (yes, even Shatner), To Be Takei goes deeper into Mr. Sulu's life than anything before it. Here are just a few of the interesting tidbits therein.
Very early on in Kroot's documentary we see Takei drive past a billboard for William Shatner's ill-fated TV show $#*! My Dad Says on which Captain Kirk has tape over his mouth. "As well there should be," Takei says when he sees it. The former costars have been trading barbs for years (Takei somewhat famously roasted Shat with a speech that ended in "fuck you and the horse you rode in on!") and although Shatner appears in the documentary, it's not to say the hatchet has been buried. "I don’t have a relationship with George Takei," he says in the doc. "I haven't seen him in many years." Speaking with WIRED, Takei says the documentary won't likely lead to a thawing of the relationship. "This isn't going to change it," he says. "Bill is an immovable rock."
In addition to Shatner, Kroot also spoke to other crewmembers of the Enterprise. Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), and Walter Koenig (Chekov) all have nice things to say about Takei, particularly about his bravery in coming out of the closet in 2005. "I thought, 'Good for him!'" Nimoy says in the doc. And in the former helmsman's telling, his costars were supportive even when the original Star Trek series was airing. "I'll give you an example," he tells WIRED. "[One day], extras had already come in and gotten dressed and were hanging around the set, and Walter and I were sipping coffee and talking and suddenly Walter started going [nods head]. I turned around to look and there was this gorgeous hunk of a guy. A face to break your heart. My heart stopped and then I turned around to look back at Walter and he goes [gives knowing grin]. He was helping me out. He didn't want me to miss anything."
Generations of Trekkies have recast the relationship between Captain Kirk and Spock through fan art and slashfic to be more than a little homoerotic. And, in case you were wondering, Spock himself is well aware of it. "I have seen a little bit of it, yeah," he laughs in the doc, while getting mock-indignant over a piece of fanfiction the producers located. "I love when he got intense, like, 'Where did you find that?!'" Takei says. (Shatner merely states that he was "astonished" when he was told about the slashfic.)
Most people know about Takei's activism these days because of his role in the fight for marriage equality, but he's been involved with politics since the 1960s. He even ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. (He lost.) It's an engagement with public life that spawned from his time at the internment camp, but that has incorporated many causes. "I've been speaking [about internment] from the time I was in my twenties, but not on the homosexuality issue," he says. "I've [always] been an activist. I was involved with the Civil Rights movement. I marched with Dr. King, I did a civil rights musical, then during the Vietnam War I was in the peace movement with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. ... I've been speaking publicly throughout my life."
You know the episode: it's the one where Sulu takes off his shirt and runs around with a fencing foil after contracting a weird space infection. It's always been Takei's favorite. He's shared that fact before, but what you may not know is that not everyone on set was quite so stoked on his swordsmanship. "George was scaring the hell out of everybody," Nichols laughs in the documentary.
In what's easily the most awkward moment of To Be Takei, the actor runs into fellow Trek alum Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) at a convention. After an initial hug, Takei drops the hammer: "you have gained weight, you need to work on that." Wheaton, visibly hurt, retorts, "Well I, you know, work out a little bit. Really? ... What the hell? You're like, what, an athlete under there?" Takei responds flatly, "Well, you gotta maintain." So, uh, shut up, Wesley? (After the encounter, Brad Takei takes his husband to task telling him, "George, you know, you really embarrassed Wil.")
If there's one message that fans will walk away with after watching To Be Takei, it's that the film's subject is still going strong, even at 77 years old. "Life doesn't end at this point and another one begins, it just merges and transitions and elements of our prior [life] remain and you find a new life," he tells WIRED. "I'm no longer an aspiring young actor. I'm also no longer That Star Trek Guy. It's a continuum. That's, I think, the way to live life. The word retirement is offensive. What? Do you retire from life?" We're guessing the answer is "no."
