Veteran Hollywood star George Takei turned 85 this yr and marked nearly seven many years within the trade. But do not anticipate him to take his foot off the accelerator any time quickly.
Speaking to 9Honey Celebrity to promote his new animation Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, the beloved Star Trek alum stated retirement was not on the horizon in the intervening time.
“What do I do?” he tells laughs whereas selling his movie in Sydney. “I mean, even when we have enforced retirement like a quarantine, I used that time to keep on doing what I keep on doing. And I intend to keep on doing what I’m doing. Pandemic or not.”
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While in lockdown throughout the pandemic, the Japanese-American actor used his time to write two books. One is a graphic memoir primarily based on Takei’s childhood expertise within the wake of Pearl Harbour, the place he and 120,000 of his folks had been put in jail camps following the devastating bombings.
“I don’t believe in wasting time,” says Takei, who’s finest recognized for portraying Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu within the Star Trek franchise. “I wrote two books. I’ve got a book out right now, which is a bestseller called They Called Us Enemy and it’s based on my childhood.”
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“I have a manga version of my autobiography, not just about my childhood and the internment camps, but my growing up and the career that I had,” he provides. “It’s not all Star Trek, but Star Trek is a major part of it. That book will be coming out in 2024. So I made good use of my pandemic quarantine.”
Pandemic or not, Takei positive does utilise his time effectively. This yr alone, he accomplished 4 initiatives for the massive and small display, considered one of which is the feelgood film Paws of Fury: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank.
The movie is a few down-on-his-luck canine named Hank (voiced by Michael Cera) who finds himself in a peasant village stuffed with cats that want his safety from the evil high cat and warlord Ika Chu (voiced by Ricky Gervais).
Hank undergoes some coaching with washed-up samurai grasp Jimbo (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) and shortly sufficient each cats and canine be taught to co-exist within the village.
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But the warlord desires to create disharmony among the many city so the cats can transfer away from his kingdom, so he appears to be like to his sidekick, Ohga (voiced by Takei) to wreak havoc. The solely drawback is Ohga could also be large and burly, however he’s an enormous softie.
“It’s a land of all cats – farmer cats, fishermen cats and peasant cat. And I work for the lord of the land, Ika Chu. He’s a teeny tiny cat, a wee cat, but with an ego as big as Mount Fuji,” Takei explains.
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“But there’s a village of poverty-stricken peasants that’s in the view of his terrace, and he wants to get rid of it. And me, as his right-hand man, has the job of getting rid of that. And you know how cats and dogs get along? And therein lies the problem.”
Thankfully, the movie’s final message of acceptance and togetherness is what shines by, Takei says.
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“It’s opposites and diversity coming together,” he says. “Cats and dogs can get along. The dog is the saviour and the little, egocentric lord cat becomes an understanding one, and then I get to flex my muscles to make everyone happy again.”
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With a profession spanning greater than six many years, Takei isn’t any stranger to voiceover work – it was his stomping floor as an aspiring actor when he was in his late teenagers.
“My whole career has been not just movies and theatre, but also voiceover work. We did Star Trek as an animated series as well,” he concludes. “It’s been a continuous rise.”
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank is in cinemas now.
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