William Shatner gained worldwide fame when he starred as Captain James T Kirk in the sci-fi series Star Trek. The original series had only a three-season run but after it gained a cult following among fans, Shatner returned along with the rest of the cast for seven original films.
Shatner also created history by being part of the first interracial kiss depicted on TV. The historic kiss was in 1968 between Kirk and Uhura, who was played by Nichelle Nichols. Though the sci-fi series is known for its groundbreaking social messaging, Shatner was reportedly concerned that the kiss would be left on the cutting room floor.
William Shatner Did Not Trust Star Trek Producers To Show TV’s First Interracial Kiss
Though the Star Trek episode ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’ has been debated to be the first interracial kiss on TV, it is still considered to be a major milestone in TV history. The episode sees the Enterprise being called to a planet whose citizens have telekinetic powers and follow Plato’s philosophies.
While Star Trek has long been noted for its social messaging of peace and inclusivity, the kiss between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols was reportedly a huge point of discussion behind the scenes. Shatner revealed that there were many conversations about angering audiences in America due to the depiction and tried to film different takes to work around it.
However, the legendary actor decided not to give the producers the option and reportedly went for a kiss in all the takes. He mentioned in an interview with THR that he was sure the scene would end up on the floor otherwise,
I do remember saying, ‘Maybe they’ll try and edit it. What can I do to try and discourage the editing of the kiss itself?’ I don’t remember quite what I did because it’s difficult to cut away [from the kiss in an edit]. But yeah, I remember thinking that.
The scene ultimately made it to the cut of the episode, which showed the Platonians telekinetically forcing Kirk and Uhura to kiss and history was made.
Star Trek’s Interracial Kiss Was Surprisingly Well Accepted By Fans
The debatable first interracial kiss on TV created history and influenced subsequent depictions of interracial relationships on television. While producers of Star Trek were worried about the blowback from fans, the reception was reportedly the opposite and audiences received the scene well.
According to NBC News, Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in Star Trek, mentioned that the episode got her the most fanmails, which was surprising. The producers were also shocked by the lack of backlash from the audiences as they had tried to minimize it by planning to film alternative takes where the kiss was hidden or cut away.
The kiss came at a time when racial tensions were touchy topics to talk about in mainstream TV and many shows avoided exploring the themes. However, according to William Shatner, Star Trek’s sci-fi setting reportedly gave the makers the freedom to talk about the ‘60s.
Setting Star Trek three hundred years in the future allowed (Gene Roddenberry) to focus on the social issues of the 1960s without being direct or obvious.
Though the impact of the kiss was slow, many have considered the depiction to have created a ripple effect in normalizing such scenes on television.
Star Trek is currently streaming on Paramount+.
