Shatner discusses ‘Khan’ and new projects

By Sandy Cohen

AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES

As “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” marks its 35th anniversary, star William Shatner is celebrating more than his long history as Captain Kirk.

At 86, the stalwart entertainer is busier than ever, starring in a reality series, competing as an equestrian, writing books, making movies and launching a Twitter campaign to encourage charity and kindness that he calls the Ubuntu Project.

Shatner talked with The Associated Press about “Khan” and his other creative endeavors.

Q. How much does “Wrath of Khan” stand out in your career?

A. Well, it was a lovely film. I enjoyed doing it. All my friends were in it. It’s been a long time. The actors, many of them are now no longer with us, and yet the film stands.

Q. You released a book earlier this year about horses. How much time do you spend riding?

A. I’ve just come back from a world championship horse show, where I competed. My wife did, too. We’re going away next week to another type of horse show in Las Vegas. ... Now I’m just finishing up a book on aging. ... That will be out next year, next spring or winter.

Q. You seem to see the sunny side of your fans on Twitter. How do you manage that?

A. I’ll give you one example: A man from a small town, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, tweets that his son who’s autistic will only eat pasta from a carton that has Star Wars stuff on it, but they’ve run out of the cartons in Nanaimo and can anybody help him. I retweeted that saying, “Let’s help this man,” and he received thousands of cartons from elsewhere of the food. Plus, the Kraft company called and said to the young man, “We want your help in designing a new carton.” That singular thing, who knows what affect that will have on an autistic kid? And the kindness of everybody to react to that man will change everybody’s character for their lifetime. Multiply that by many, many instances of people seeking help and getting help from being on Twitter. ... I’m calling it the Ubuntu Project, and I want you to feel your humanity by giving something – it could be innocuous. It may be nothing to give $10, but you’re exercising your ubuntu.

Q. You showed a funnier side in “Better Late Than Never,” the reality series you did last year with Henry Winkler, George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw.

A. I just came back from six weeks of doing next season. It’ll be on in January, I think.

Q. You’re starting another film soon.

A. It’s called “Relic.” I wrote the story, and a friend of mine wrote the screenplay, and we’re going to make it in November.