William Shatner, 91, Reveals Why He Loves To Use The F-Word

The legendary Hollywood star William Shatner is speaking out this week to reveal why he loves to use the f-word. 

‘It’s A Juicy Word’

Fox News reported that after giving the keynote speech at the South by Southwest festival, Shatner talked about how fond he is of using the four letter curse word.

“Shut the f— up. I understand f— is ugly to you. But it’s a juicy word,” Shatner said. 

Shatner then turned to the sign language interpreter and joked, “Shut the f— up,” before asking him to teach the f-word in sign language to the crowd, which made them laugh.

Shatner was at the festival to promote his new documentary You Can Call Me Bill, which profiles his decades-long career in Hollywood. During his time at the festival, he opened up about how he got into acting after attending summer camp.

“There was boxing, but then we’d put on a play. And I made the audience cry, and I thought, ‘Look at that, I made them cry,'” he recalled. “My father, who had come by, said, ‘My boy Bill, you made the audience cry.’ Now my father is giving me love. I liked this. I think I will do it again.”

Related: William Shatner, 91, Admits That He ‘Doesn’t Have Long Left To Live’

Shatner’s Early Acting Days

Before getting his big break in “Star Trek” in the 1960s, Shatner worked in the theater as an understudy for Christopher Plummer.

“He was playing Henry V, so Chris Plummer, who had become an acquaintance, was playing King Henry,” Shatner remembered. “So, the director said, ‘You have to understudy the role.’ It was repertory theater, so we rehearsed a play before we opened for a month or so.” 

“In the first week of opening the Shakespeare play, Chris Plummer got ill, and they came to me and said, ‘Can you go on?’ I said yes. I didn’t know the names of the actors. I did not know where to walk. But what I did know was the actor’s muse had been on my shoulder, and the actor’s muse said to me, ‘Learn the words,'” he continued. 

Though “Star Trek” ultimately lasted only three seasons, Shatner denied that it was a “failure.”

“Failure? Not quite a failure. … It was a good show,” he said. “It had some wonderful stories to it. Great ideas given to us by many great science-fiction writers like Isaac Asimov. Some of the ideas were marvelous.” 

Related: William Shatner, 91, Eviscerates Former ‘Star Trek’ Co-Stars For Attacking Him – ‘They Are Full Of Envy And Hate’

Captain Kirk Performs Stand-Up

In a surprise revelation, Shatner let the crowd know that he once performed stand-up in character as his “Star Trek” character Captain Kirk. 

“Oh Lordy lord … Well, I thought it was very funny I was asked to do stand-up comedy,” Shatner revealed. “There is nothing more pure and innovative, and it requires genius. I thought it would be really funny to be Captain Kirk who wants to be a stand-up comic, but he doesn’t know how to do it.”

Unfortunately for Shatner, however, he didn’t quite get the reaction that he was looking for.

“And there was silence,” he stated. “Oh s—, this isn’t going well. It was probably the worst thing that ever happened to me. When I came off the stage, I slunk off, and the manager looked at me and that was it.”

Shatner is a true living legend, and there will never be another one like him. He may use crude language at times, but in the end, his use of the f-word only makes us love him even more!