Interview: George Takei Talks Psych and New Star Trek

I recently had a chance to briefly chat with Star Trek legend and Heroes star George Takei at a science fiction convention, where he was kind enough to take a moment to answer my questions. However, I was a bad Trekkie, because I just wanted to talk about his role on the last season of the USA Network's comedy series, Psych, where he played a hilariously megalomaniac, obsessive-compulsive version of himself, appearing at a science-fiction convention where the show's intrepid heroes are attempting to solve a crime. He told a similar story at his guest panel, but he added a couple of interesting tidbits when I got a chance to chat with him personally.

Andrea La-Rosa: So how did the producers of Psych pitch that role to you? Were you the first person they asked? Did they write the role with you in mind?

George Takei: Yes, they specifically pitched the role to me. Apparently they're big Trekkies!

AL: It really takes a great sense of humor to spoof yourself in that manner.

GT: Oh, no, no, no. You see, I was playing a character who just so happened to be named "George Takei," but I wasn't playing myself! I actually based him on one of my... former co-stars.

AL: [laughs] Really! I can't imagine who!

GT: Arrogant... self-absorbed... pompous... not ringing a bell? Are you sure?

AL: Hmmm. I WONDER.

GT: But there was one thing of myself in the character "George Takei." I do loooove blueberries!

George could not have been funnier and more congenial in person. At the panel, he had a few more things to say about his work on Psych, namely that stars James Roday and Dule Hill were the polar opposites of their onscreen characters. James, said George, was a "real actor," because as soon as the cameras stop rolling, he's a very introspective, serious, subdued man who is very focused on his work. Where Shawn communicates with a lot of gestures and is very extroverted and chatty, James is quiet and thoughtful.

George had been a big fan of The West Wing, so he had been most looking forward to working with Dule Hill, who had played an enigmatic presidential assistant on that show for several years. However, he was surprised to find that Dule is actually a "very laid back song-and-dance guy" who can sing and dance proficiently, and who entertained them between takes. Apparently, Dule can tapdance... and frequently does, apropos of nothing! George described him as gregarious and outgoing, and nothing like the worrywort he plays on Psych. I guess we know who the driving force behind the Psych-Outs are now!

On a much more serious note, George also talked at length about the process of having come out last year as gay. He clarified that the only people he came out to last year was the press - he and his partner of nearly 20 years have been out for a very long time. He doesn't consider last year's revelation to the press as his "coming out;" he only made that part of his life accessible to the media at that time. He says it's been life changing, and in an entirely positive way.

Finally, George talked a little about the increasingly infamous eleventh Trek film that Paramount has greenlit, the one spearheaded and being written by Lost and Alias creator JJ Abrams. In a revelation that caused gasps from the audience, George said that the current lead contender for the "young James Tiberius Kirk" role was none other than film actor Matt Damon. Thankfully, George assured us all that Ben Affleck is not being considered for the part of Spock.

Look for George Takei in his newly expanded role as the mysterious and possibly super-powered Nakamura patriarch on the second season of Heroes, set to premiere in the fall of 2007.