William Shatner is unlike just about any other 90-year-old man on the planet. Not only does he keep busy as the host of The UnXplained on the History Channel, but he also finds time to appear at Star Trek conventions, and work on his horse-breeding business. He’s also reportedly heading up to space on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
If that wasn’t enough, he maintains a busy career as a recording artist. In the past few years, he’s tackled everything from blues and country to prog-rock on his eclectic spoken word albums. His latest one is the autobiographical LP Bill that features collaborations with Joe Walsh, Joe Jonas, Brad Paisley, Robert Randolph, and many others.
All of these projects made him a perfect candidate for Rolling Stone‘s First Time series. In this video, he talks about first meeting his lifelong friend Leonard Nimoy, stepping onto the bridge of the Enterprise for the first time, teaming up with Joe Jonas, and his introduction to the world of Star Trek conventions.
“I went onstage in front of 15,000 people not knowing what I was going to say at a Star Trek convention in the Seventies,” he said. “That was a frightening experience. It took many experiences like it to become accustomed to it. That was the second convention. At first, I was like, ‘I’m a serious actor. I don’t know that sort of thing.’ And then I heard there were 15,000 people waiting. Then I was like, ‘OK, that’s the kind of thing I do.’”