With the documentary, Shatner in Space, now streaming on Prime Video, I recently got to speak with William Shatner about his historic voyage aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard spaceship. During the interview, Shatner talked about how the trip happened, if he was aware of the worldwide interest in his trip, if he was scared to go, how he learned Jeff Bezos is trying to get companies that pollute into space to save the planet, what it was like in space, what he wants to tell people about the trip, and more. In addition, he talked about what it means to him to have inspired so many people that work at Blue Origin, how he prepares for interviewing people, and how when you are out in space you realize how small our planet really is.

If you haven’t seen Shatner in Space, while the documentary, at times, feels like an infomercial for Blue Origin, the other parts remind you what Shatner means to so many people on our planet. The documentary also points out how his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek impacted people like Jeff Bezos and many others to want to explore the stars. I think we can all agree that almost everyone that works at Blue Origin and NASA was inspired by Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future where mankind all worked together no matter where you were born, or the color of your skin. I know Star Trek helped shape who I am today, and every time I’ve been fortunate enough to talk to William Shatner is a day I’ll never forget.

Shatner-in-Space- William Shatner
Image via Prime Video

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Watch what he had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

William Shatner

  • Was he aware of the worldwide interest in him going to space?
  • Talks about how he got involved in the trip and how in the Amazon lobby they have props from Star Trek.
  • How he loves to stay at home nowadays.
  • What does it mean to him to have probably inspired all the people that work at Blue Origin from his work on Star Trek?
  • How Jeff Bezos wants to get companies that pollute into space to save the planet.
  • Has he watched the footage of himself in space?
  • What is he looking forward to people seeing in the documentary?
  • How a lot of footage in the documentary was shot on an iPhone.
  • How he interviewed Bezos for the documentary and got him to reveal stuff he hadn’t talked about before.
  • How he prepares for an interview.
  • Was he scared to take the trip and did he ever debate not going?
  • How the ship has an emergency room in case something goes wrong.
  • What does he want to tell people about his trip?
  • How when you are out in space you realize how small our planet really is.
  • How thin the atmosphere really is.
Shatner-in-Space William Shatner
Image via Prime Video