William Shatner wants Star Trek successor Chris Pine to play him in biopic

July 17th 2020, 10:05am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Here is a bit of casting that makes sense. William Shatner has had a very fulfilling Hollywood career and his role as Captain James T. Kirk has cemented him a place in pop culture that can't be denied. With a career and life like Shatner's, he seems poised for some kind of biopic about his life and the actor has an idea of who should take on the task of playing him.

During the recent virtual GalaxyCon, Shatner spoke from his home in Los Angeles with moderator Patty Hawkins and he was asked who he would want to play him in a biopic. His answer turns out to be another actor that has taken on the James T. Kirk role as well:

"I don't know. Chris Pine? Why doesn't he play me? A good looking, talented guy."

Chris Pine is already connected to Shatner via STAR TREK. In 2009, Pine took on the role of the younger version of Shatner's character of Kirk in the J.J. Abrams reboot. Pine faithfully embodied the character while also putting his own spin on the role. When the film was being made, Pine did speak on trying to live up to Shatner's legacy:

"It was daunting. Mr.Shatner had a way he moved around the deck of the Enterprise, which was almost balletic; specific poses he struck in the Captain's chair which are so identifiably Kirk. He was bold and confident and funny and I was really impressed by the complexity that he brought to that character."

So we know that Pine ended up being up to the challenge playing Kirk in two more films since the 2009 reboot so it's not far out of the realm of possibility that Pine could play Shatner himself. The choice might be too on the nose for some but it might be some creative form of casting that Hollywood might want to like into. Especially since Shatner is putting it out into the universe. I would like to add that before he picked Pine to play him, in true Shatner fashion, he said he wanted to play himself because he didn't want to die. Gotta love that signature Shatner sense of humor.

Do YOU think Chris Pine would be a good choice to play William Shatner?