A few months ago, when William Shatner boldly went where few men of have gone (Space) before, he returned home via a way that man goes all the time (on a plane). On that latter trip, he sat next to someone whose life would change shortly afterward and the two of them have a connection that only one other person can claim.
What the hell am I saying? Yesterday, Paramount+ announced that Paul Wesley is going to play Captain Kirk in the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After the announcement, Welsey shared a photo of himself with the Shat and shared the story behind it.
I am deeply humbled and still a little startled to have been given the honor of playing the inimitable James T Kirk. Ever since I was a kid, I have been awed by the imaginative world Gene Roddenberry created.
Recently, I boarded a flight to LA to discover that the man in the empty seat beside me was the one and only William Shatner, having himself just returned from space. I could barely put two words together but ultimately I managed to say hello and we chatted.
I’m not one who usually believes in fate but this was more than a coincidence.
And of course I had to get a picture.
So thanks Mr. Shatner for the good company. And for seating us together, my thanks to the great bird in the sky. Can’t wait for all of you to see our Captain Kirk on your screens.
As soon as the original James Tiberias Kirk heard about the casting, he had a message for his new friend, “Keep my ship and crew safe, Captain! 😉 Congratulations!”
I can’t wait to see these two become fast buddies (especially if Wesley offers him some of the Bourbon that he created with Ian Somerhalder) like Zachary Quinto was with the late Leonard Nimoy.
To see Wesley as Kirk, then
