Posted in: Documentary, Movies, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: george takei, star trek

Beam Me Up, Sulu: George Takei on Khan, "Allegiance," Politics & More

Beam Me Up, Sulu star George Takei on if we'll see more Sulu/Star Trek adventures, his run on the musical Allegiance, politics, and more.

George Takei continues to embrace his role as an elder statesman in the Star Trek franchise 60 years after The Original Series first premiered on NBC in 1966, and he's still as engaged as ever with his appearances on the animated series Lower Decks and more recently, lent his voice as Captain Hikaru Sulu for the audio drama Star Trek: Khan with the events taking place after 1991's The Undiscovered Country. Eternally grateful for everything creator Gene Roddenberry has done for his life and career, Takei took it upon himself to repay the franchise's loyal fans, going above and beyond for superfan Stan Woo and his student short film, Yorktown, which resurfaced after being thought lost for many decades. Chronicling that journey are directors Timour Gregory and Sasha Schneider in the Tribeca and Giant Films documentary, Beam Me Up, Sulu, which follows Woo's journey as they speak to the surviving cast, crew, and hodgepodge of Star Trek alum and active stars to celebrate those who helped make their success possible, like Takei. The Hit-Monkey star spoke to Bleeding Cool about where the future lies for his character following his recent appearances, helping bring his life's story to life, inspiring the Jay Kuo musical Allegiance, planning his future, and reflecting on his brief run for political office amidst his lifelong activism.

Beam Me Up, Sulu: George Takei on "Developing and Growing" Sulu, Allegiance, and More

BC: You recently returned as Sulu for the audio drama, Khan, and I was wondering how that experience was and if we could look forward to any future Sulu adventures?

You mentioned Khan.

Yeah, Khan, you were recently in the audio drama and got to revisit that role. I was wondering what you liked about working on that, and if we could look forward to future Sulu adventures. I also saw your appearance on Lower Decks. I really enjoyed that as well.

Kahn was an Asian. India, that's part of Asia. So that's another Asian character, but he was a negative character, someone who was in a hate frenzy. So again, we can be diverse, but we can also be evil as well, and I can't follow your question.

I'm just saying that I enjoyed your work on Khan and on Lower Decks, and I was wondering what it was like for you to work on the audio drama. Also, wondering if we could discuss any new Sulu adventures on the way in the future?

More Sulu adventures? Well, if you know my character's history, he goes on to be the captain of his own ship. If you saw Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, you don't stay frozen in one position as one actor. We're organic creatures, and by the sixth feature motion picture, Sulu is a captain who saves Kirk from being blown to smithereens by the Klingons.

Life goes on, and we are people who keep growing or not growing with the passage of time, and I'd like to think we, in the 21st century, live longer than people in the mid-20th century lived. We're living longer and are more active longer. I'm 88 now, and in two months, I'll be 89. I've got engagements already for when I turn 90, so we're going to keep on developing and growing. Eventually, as all things happen in life, we die, but I'd like to think that soon he won't remain a helmsman all his life, and he became the captain of the Excelsior in Star Trek VI, and if he lives longer, he'll grow and advance, and then he'll pass on.

You had an amazing run on Allegiance and it is one of the best plays out there and I was always wondered, since so much of the Star Trek world have extensive backgrounds in theatre, was anyone that you could do, like maybe a cast member are still here or no longer with us that you ever want to do a play with on the stage? If there's any play you can do, what would it be? Who would it be?

Well, we developed Allegiance as a musical. We wanted to be engaging as a story, and musicals reach a broader audience, so we did it here in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and London as well. The Brits are curious about American history, where we failed, and we did it in London, I believe, in 2015, and so we had a good run there. The Brits are curious about American history. The Japanese bought the rights, and they translated it into Japanese. They produced it in Tokyo in 2012, and we wanted to go see it, but it was in the middle of the COVID plague, and we couldn't get into Japan, however much we pleaded that our musical was being done there in Tokyo. Later, it was done in Nagoya and then Osaka, but I never saw the Japanese version of it. Only in the United States, and we did it in London.

Well, George, I want to thank you for your time. I can't speak enough about how much of an inspiration you are to everyone in the world, and especially in the times we live in right now. We could use more people like you and your influence, and I'm curious whether you have ever considered a career in politics after coming out. I certainly would have voted for you. I think you have done some wonderful things now, and I think it would have been so much greater. I would have voted for you for president.

Well, I have a checkered life. I have run for public office. It was back in the… I can't remember the year now, but I ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, and I enjoyed campaigning. I enjoy talking with people and doing public service, and trying to make the council district I live in a better place, with more street lighting. These are the details of public service. If the votes that I had at 9 o'clock continued, I would have been a city councilman, and I probably would not have acted ever again. I'm glad that I didn't win, but I came very close to being a city council member in Los Angeles. I'm a civically engaged person, and I have political opinions, and also I feel that in a democracy, we all have our responsibilities for the communities, city, and the state, but I'll never run for president. Thanks.

Tribeca Films and Giant Films' Beam Me Up, Sulu, which also features appearances from Christina Chong, Alexander Siddig, Ian Alexander, and Garrett Wang, is available on digital.

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