Star Trek: 10 Biggest Takeaways From 'William Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill'

A person has truly achieved legendary status when they have their own adjective. By now, however, Shatner is no doubt the least Shatnerian amongst those who would (with love) be Shatnerian. The actor has been parodied, his trademark staccato picked apart, by many over the years to the extent that, as we see in You Can Call Me Bill, he has taken to parodying the parodies of himself.

Shatner doesn't see it, his 'Shatnerian-isms,' that is, as he notes (knowingly) in You Can Call Me Bill, nonetheless taking it all in his carefully punctuated stride. It is that playful use of irony that remains one of Shatner's most Shatnerian things. Irony is a skill which Shatner has gotten down to a fine art. It's also one which, if you know where to look, hides a good deal of the self-deprecation and self-critique necessary for caricature. Shatner is eminently aware of his own Shatner-ness, perceived or real. Just don't take him quite so… Shatner-ly.

For any actor, before pastiche comes the mask, a point You Can Call Me Bill does well to highlight. Shatner has worn quite a few in his varied career, but, as he adds, we all wear them too. Humour might well just be another mask, but it's one Shatner appreciates, and one he thinks he brought to the balance for the role of Kirk in particular.

Finally, in the hyperbolic of 'Shatnerian,' You Can Call Me Bill knows that, in spite of a desire to get to the "honest truth," it can never present us with the 'real' William Shatner — that the 'authentic self' is at minimum the 'authentic selves' of the masks we wear. All You Can Call Me… can do is give us its version(s) of Bill.