Why Bill Shatner speaks the way he does

[Grant]

How wild could it be when he named no names, but a specific poster replies?
Anyone who says nostalgia does not effect their opinion of TOS is a newbie to the series.
"I've been a fan of TOS for forty years but any nostalgia I have for the show has zero bearing on my opinion of it's quality."
Not logical.

 

[Tallguy]

Two actors I've seen do a fairly Shatner style delivery are Marlon Brando and Christopher Plumber. They get acclaim for it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

"Never go against the Federation...."

 

[Grant]

You can have a swing that looks like Mickey Mantle but not be able to hit 600 home runs. Style is not the same as skill.
But for me, since I watch the series in production order is I see his performance go from natural and honest to hammy and overblown at an increasing rate.
People have their style of speaking down by their 30s, Kirk's seems to change for no reason as the series goes along. I don't know why he made that choice, but it didn't help the character, the series or his career. Yes I know he always worked steady, but I saw Adam West over the years being given the chance to put his stilted Batman style behind him and he failed every time. Getting jobs doesn't mean you are giving your best performance.
Shatner wasted his skill to a certain extent.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I suspect that the reason why The Shat was 'naturalistic' early in TREK and quickly spiraled into camp is because he was new. That's really it, in a nutshell. After he knew his job was secure and he got the lay of the land, as it were, he stopped acting for his bosses and started acting for himself. The Shat likes being hammy, corny ... and cheesy. Being overthetop in front of a camera in perpetual motion is The Shat's idea of filmmaking.

 

[retroenzo]

William Shatner's performance in The Enemy Within always seems to be held up as an example of his over-acting. Well, yes, the anti-Kirk was definitely a wild and crazy over the top man, and it required a wild and crazy over the top performance from Shatner. I always say to look at the weakened Kirk in that episode. The "good" Kirk. He gets off the transporter feeling weakened ("bit light-headed" I think he says), and you really see the struggle he has to make any decisions because he's missing that part of his personality.

I completely agree with @Christopher's take on Scott Bakula though. Early Enterprise Archer was quite stilted. One instance from Broken Bow after they regain the warp trail: "Your instincts were right. Those fragments weren't from one Suliban ship." Makes me cringe every time I hear it!

Avery Brooks' angry acting used to make me laugh. Every word would be spat out. Compare it to how he acts when he's calm and it's completely different. He did get better when he got the beard though.

I quite like Picard but yes he did seem stilted at times (NO! NOOOOOO!)

In fact, the only captain I can think of that seemed completely natural in the part has been Kate Mulgrew. Her acting was completely on point all the way through (unless you can prove me wrong).

Actually, Chris Pine seems quite natural too, but I do feel sometimes he's trying to impersonate Shatner.

 

[Tallguy]

Did he ever do that in the movies?

It is my intention.... To be on that ship... Follow that meeting. Reporttomeinonehour.

William Shatner's performance in The Enemy Within always seems to be held up as an example of his over-acting. Well, yes, the anti-Kirk was definitely a wild and crazy over the top man, and it required a wild and crazy over the top performance from Shatner. I always say to look at the weakened Kirk in that episode. The "good" Kirk. He gets off the transporter feeling weakened ("bit light-headed" I think he says), and you really see the struggle he has to make any decisions because he's missing that part of his personality.

Most of his performance as "bad" Kirk is not good. His performance as "good" Kirk is amazing.

Oh? Want to see 1st season SHATNER? Watch the "I give, she takes" speech from The Naked Time.

 

[Grant]

Yeah, in the first season his only really bad work IMO, was when Kirk was not himself, "evil Kirk", drugged, etc.
And I forgot about that line delivery from TMP.

 

[Grant]

I suspect that the reason why The Shat was 'naturalistic' early in TREK and quickly spiraled into camp is because he was new. That's really it, in a nutshell. After he knew his job was secure and he got the lay of the land, as it were, he stopped acting for his bosses and started acting for himself. The Shat likes being hammy, corny ... and cheesy. Being overthetop in front of a camera in perpetual motion is The Shat's idea of filmmaking.

Thanks for writing this. You saved me time and said it better than I would. I was just about to type this same thing!
From 1955-1965 he was a hired gun with no clout. He came in knew his lines, looked handsome and gave good solid performances. After TOS season one, for the first time he had some power and clout and could do it his way. He truly thought that style was better -- more flashly, more memorable-- which it is, in a bad way IMO.
I just love the Kirk of season one and most of early season two.
Can't take that from him.

 

[UnknownSample]

How wild could it be when he named no names, but a specific poster replies?

My post was quoted and replied to. I was talking about the criticism being off the mark, because it was based on an over-reaching assumption.

Anyone who says nostalgia does not affect their opinion of TOS is a newbie to the series.
"I've been a fan of TOS for forty years but any nostalgia I have for the show has zero bearing on my opinion of its quality."
Not logical.

I guess. Maybe. But did anyone express that opinion? No.
----------------------
A lot of factors affect our judgment somewhat. Yours included. If acting today seems so superior to some, they aren't necessarily objective either. Many, many people have an excessive bias toward anything new over anything old.
-------------------
Now, maybe that isn't true of you, or the person I was answering. I realize that. Just as "nostalgia" doesn't automatically have to be to blame for anyone like me valuing older culture.

 

[Tallguy]

If it was mentioned upthread I apologize. But everyone interested in Shatner's acting should listen to Nick Meyer's original commentary for Wrath of Khan (one of Shatner's best performances). He talks about how Shatner got better take after take because he got tired and became more natural. I've never watched Shatner the same way again.

 

[Eric Cheung]

This might be a good time to take a look at Maurice LaMarche's talk like William Shatner instructional video:

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But a couple of things related to the general conversation:

I interned on a documentary film where I transcribed audio and video dialogue. I got to see how people actually talk, detached from the actual conversation, and noticed how people generally stumble and pause, but not usually like Shatner. They do tend to wait for the other to finish talking more than they listen, because the train of thought would generally continue from whatever that person said before the other person started talking.

As someone who's done a lot of performing over the past couple of decades, I've only just done Shakespeare starting with the current play I'm doing playing Ferdinand in Love's Labour's Lost (in Space). One of the first pieces of direction I got was that the verse should be delivered in an alternating pentameter style. It seemed a bit unnatural at first, and to me, a bit like Shatner. I felt like I finally had some potential insight into why he delivers his lines the way he does.

 

[Tallguy]

I felt like I finally had some potential insight into why he delivers his lines the way he does.

That might give some insight as to why Shatner and Plumber have similar deliveries. (Watch The Sound of Music. When Capt. Von Trapp is grilling his kids about where they were sounds almost like Kirk playing Fizzbin.)

Kevin Pollack used to be amazing as Shatner. Unfortunately he has since come to make Shatner his Piano Man. (He's done it so long and it's his most popular impression and he doesn't really seem into it anymore.) Pollack's two best impressions now are Cary Grant, Alan Arkin(!) with a runner up for Jack Nicholson (because he actually sounds like Nicholson rather than a Nicholson caricature - which is what his Shatner has become).

And LaMarche using his real voice IS Captain Burns from Rescue Bots.

 

[Ssosmcin]

^^ Yup. Too much Paradise. I'm guessing he meant to put 'This Side of Paradise' in the 3rd sentence.

Whoops, yes. This Side of Paradise. Thanks.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Nobody (I don't think)-- questions that pre Star Trek Shatner could act. That is in fact how he got the role. But as he became the star and settled into the role he leaned more and more toward the odd affectations that critics mock. He didn't, in my memory, use that style in the 7 Trek movies. Although his performance in TFF was kind of poor for other reasons..

Agreed, as the series went on and he became more difficult for journeyman directors to control, his work became lazier. He's fall back on his tics and tricks. Any actor does that, but Shatner's tricks and tics were very stylistic and unique.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Two actors I've seen do a fairly Shatner style delivery are Marlon Brando and Christopher Plumber. They get acclaim for it.

My favorite Shatner impersonation was done by John Belushi on SNL, with Dan Akroyd as Mr. Spock.

 

[RandyS]

I pause a lot b/c I just turned 50 and can't think of the next word...

Hey! I'm gonna be 50 in another three and a half years, don't scare me like that!

My mind......still.......works.......great.......

Wait....what was I saying now??

 

[Spock's Barber]

Hey! I'm gonna be 50 in another three and a half years, don't scare me like that!

My mind......still.......works.......great.......

Uh, oh! You've displayed the first symptom of the Shatner Syndrome! The second symptom is when your real hair turns into a shaggy toupee.

 

[RandyS]

Uh, oh! You've displayed the first symptom of the Shatner Syndrome! The second symptom is when your real hair turns into a shaggy toupee.

Well, considering that I'm looking more and more like Patrick Stewart these days, a shaggy toupee sounds pretty good.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I wonder what Bill Shatner would say if you tweeted him, asking about hairpieces and how to shop around for them ...