William Shatner has seemingly put paid to ongoing rumours that he would be making a cameo appearance in the forthcoming Star Trek Beyond in an interview with the UK's SFX magazine.
The internet had been awash with rumours ever since Beyond went into production, and Shatner himself had told fans at last April's MEFCC that he had been approached about a cameo alongside the new crop of stars including Chris Pine, Simon Pegg and Karl Urban.
Now, however, Shatner claims that no such approach ever took place: "There was never a conversation," he told SFX. The former Captain James T Kirk admitted that "it would have been interesting" to see how they might have handled the inclusion of his character and the "difference in appearance," but reaffirmed that such discussions "never came up," adding: "I'm sure they must have thought of it one time or another but I never had a substantial conversation about replaying the role."
We wouldn't take this as an absolute truth, however. Shatner's confirmation last April, couple with the inclusion of the qualifying "substantial" conversation seem to leave some room for doubt. And didn't a certain Daniel Craig insist he wouldn't be taking a cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, only to turn up a few months later being Jedi mind tricked into releasing Rey from her cell? Not to mention Star Trek's very own Pegg, who was of course "just visiting" the Star Wars set in Abu Dhabi, and definitely not running around in a giant rubber alien costume.
Actors, it seems, have form for this sort of deception...
cnewbould@thenational.ae
