George Takei will forever be known as the man who scarred people with the mental image of Betty White shaving her crotch.
Ok, maybe not. However for those most familiar with Takei’s role as Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek, or his current portrayal of Kaito Nakamura on Heroes, his show-stealing turn at Comedy Central’s roast of William Shatner was an eye opening experience. There was legitimate negative history between the two prior to the event, surprising fans that Takei appeared.
"Leonard [Nimoy] said no, and Deforest [Whittaker] wasn’t available, so he didn’t have too much choice. My favorite part was being up there and telling off old forgetful and egocentric, his nibs. Over forty years and he couldn’t get the pronunciation of my name right, I could not get it in his noggin. So I thought I would put it on his noggin, I said ‘Bill, it’s Takei, like toupee.’ I have noticed ever since, when he has to say my name his eyes roll up and he pronounces it correctly."
Takei was in town recently for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, and sat down with GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine for a 45-minute chat about his life and being Gay in Hollywood.
Takei publicly came out in 2005, prompted by the political landscape in California, which was on the verge of being the second state to legalize same sex marriages. While he and his partner of 21 years Brad Altman had not hid their sexuality, it was the first time he spoke of it to media.
"I am active in the political and civic arena and community, and we are involved in a lot of non-profits, financially. Brad and I’s names are together on dinner programs and as contributors to events, they are carved in granite on donor walls. What I had not done was talk to the press. An extraordinary historic event happened in California, both houses of our legislature passed the same sex marriage bill. All that was required for that bill to become law was the signature of our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. When he ran for office he made all these political statements about having worked with Gays and Lesbians and being comfortable with them. So I thought for sure that he would sign it. He played to the most reactionary conservative wing of the Republican Party and he vetoed it. I felt that I needed to speak out on that, and for me to do so, my voice needed to be credible, so I talked to the press about my being gay. But I came out when I got serious with Brad, 21 years ago."
"My life isn’t just determined by my sexual orientation. I am an American and I want my country [the United States] to live by the ideals for which we stand. Some of the homophobia in our government is stupid and ultimately self-defeating. We have a wartime manpower shortage and they are accepting men and women with criminal records into the military. But good soldiers with outstanding military records that are found out to be gay are fired. We live in a time of national security, and very crucial to that is military intelligence officers who are fluent in Arab. But when they are found to be gay or lesbian, they are fired. These are very specialized and vitally important people, and yet we are letting them go. Our national security is jeopardized by Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That has to go. As an American I want out country to be strong and good and live by what we are supposed to stand by. It’s not just from a gay perspective it is from a rational perspective of what we are supposed to be doing in this current socio-political climate."
Takei says that he has no interest in marrying in Canada as many other American’s have.
"No, because I am a Californian and I want it to be real, not a marquee marriage. When I am back home we have tax inequality and other inequalities and it’s not meaningful. It is good for the ego, sentiment and emotion but I am for making it real where our life is. That is why we keep putting pressure. We gave Arnold a second opportunity and he vetoed it again. In the latest polls in California, 51% support gay marriage. Him being a politician he can read the way the wind’s blowing and we are willing to give him another chance."
He commented that today’s climate makes it easier for people to come out.
"In many ways it was young people that prompted me to talk to the press, because I remember when I was a teenager it was the most terrifying thing to have anything about homosexuality discussed. I was a young actor wanting to build a career and I knew that in order to build that career you had to be accepted by the masses. I was very cautious. Time Magazine had an issue in 2005 with a young teenage boy on the cover and three or four articles on young gays. Essentially the point being made was that, to them, it was not a big deal. For a magazine to focus on young people feeling that Bobby may be gay but he is a great football player, or Mary may be a lesbian but she is smart - I saw that society is changing. I said in that first interview that I did, that coming out suggests opening a door and stepping through. It is a long walk through a corridor which at first is very narrow and dark, but it starts to widen and some windows let light in."
It would have been impossible for Takei to have been out in 1966 when Star Trek debuted. As much as society has progressed, that criticism is still aimed at Hollywood, where actors are encouraged to remain closeted and only those that are already established and in the later part of their careers, such as Takei, Sir Ian McKellen or Ellen Degeneres come out.
"It is all an individual decision, first and foremost. This is a very insecure business, when you go out for a role there are 20 other actors trying out. Many producers are gay but won’t cast gays because they are taking a big gamble with millions of dollars; they want to ensure the success of that. He doesn’t want to have someone who will make a negative impact on the box office. If you are a young actor, you are going to try and protect your castability as much as possible. If there are people that are willing to take that chance, are gutsy enough to say ‘I am gay and talented and meet the requirements of the part’, that is testing the system. I think the very fact that questions like this are coming up is a healthy thing, but ultimately the decision has to be individual. The fact that there are people out and being successful encourages people to feel more open about it. We are actors, we act a part. I am a Japanese American but I can be a Samurai in ancient Japan or a Vietnamese Peasant. We act, it is the illusion that we create, and if we can make that illusion believable for the audience, that is the bottom line. I hope there are enough people that are strong and confident enough to take that risk with their career. We can all contribute to creating that kind of world where we are cast on our merits."
With a focus on the individualism of such a decision, Takei is critical of people like Perez Hilton who outed Neil Patrick Harris, and Isaiah Washington whose anti-gay comments lead to TR Knight coming out.
"They violated a person’s privacy. Isaiah Washington didn’t give TR Knight his opportunity to make that choice, and I think that was very unethical. It affected him more than TR - it showed him to be a petty, insecure, hateful person. It reflects more on the speaker."
When basketball player Tim Hardaway made homophobic comments, Takei responded with a hilarious PSA on Jimmy Kimmel, titled "I like sweaty basketball players."
"The best way to defang someone who is a jerk is to make fun and show them how ridiculous he can be. I certainly wouldn’t want to have sex with him, but if he is that fearful I will challenge him. I was expecting some kind of comment from him, but I shut him up."
Coming out is another landmark in the life journey of Takei, who was the first non-stereotypical Asian character on TV when Star Trek debuted in 1966.
"There were other Asians on TV but they played characters that weren’t particularly attractive, obsequious servants or the villain. I thought it was a breakthrough for an Asian American actor to play a role like Sulu. I owe so much to Gene Roddenberry for his vision. He told us that the Starship Enterprise was a metaphor for the Starship earth. He saw human society moving to that point where we recognize that we all live on a common shared planet. He said the diversity of this planet was its strength, if we can get that diversity to come together and work in concert as a team, each contributing his or her unique talents to figure out a way to deal with that common challenge. I was to represent Asia, but as a full member of the leadership team."
Takei’s talents have been on display to a whole new generation with his role on Heroes.
"I got an e-mail from a Star Trek fan who said there is a new show that has a Japanese kid who is a Star Trek fan. I started watching it, and I got hooked on it. One day my agent called and said the people at Heroes want me. I said I would love to be on it and asked what role. They told me Hiro’s father, so I asked to see a script. The script was in English, so I called my agent and said ‘I thought it was supposed to be in Japanese’ and they wanted me to translate it, they wanted me to do double-duty. I went to the studio and read for them."
Takei keeps busy with conventions, appearances on the Howard Stern Show, and guest voice-overs and appearances, including his upcoming role narrating the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Sci-Fi Spectacular January 23rd and 24th, 2009. Takei seems to have it all, a successful career, and a man who loves him.
"I love Brad, I want to grow old with him... I have grown old with him. He was a great marathoner; he trained me for my first marathon. He had jet-black hair, thin as a rail, tightly muscled. I have a Dutch painter friend and I got him to paint him in his prime nude, we have that painting in the bedroom."
Reaching 21 years in a relationship is a huge milestone both in Hollywood and in the gay community. We asked George if he had any secret to relationship success.
"It’s not a secret, it’s who you are and the commitment you make. You have to respect yourself first of all, and what kind of life you want. I am not going to tell you how to live your life, it’s got to come from you. It is not just same sex; opposite sex people have problems with that commitment. People today don’t know themselves or what they want, and after the marriage breaks up they go into a funk. In another age, even if you were fighting throughout your fifty-year marriage you stayed married. Now because we have more freedom, they go through marriage after marriage and are unhappy. It’s not for me to tell you guys how it’s done, you have to find it in yourself."
George Takei’s full video interview includes comments about John Cho as Sulu in the new Star Trek, growing up in a wartime internment camp, cool Star Trek trivia and much more! Check it out in the online version of GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine!
Related Articles
Contributor Jason Clevett |
Locale Calgary |
Person George Takei |
Topic Calgary Expo | Celebrity Video Interview |Celebrity Interview | Comic Expo | Star Trek |
