2

William Shatner's acting style is legendary. Exaggerated, and randomly pausing or emphasising words for no apparent reason.

I've heard it said that his style is because he was trained in stage acting. He needed to be seen and heard by people at the back of the theater. I've never seen anyone else doing it though.

Is it some known technique or style, or is it just Shatner?

Napoleon Wilson
  • 58,981
  • 64
  • 338
  • 660
user
  • 2,527
  • 12
  • 25

1 Answers1

6

According to Shatner:

We recount an interview with late author Richard Mason “People kept getting up and leaving, so in one performance I said ‘Sit down …’ and then I said ‘… Suzie’, and the guy getting up sat down … I tell the story of forcing people to sit down, talking in a staccato fashion, to make sure nobody got up and left. Then I say, ‘And you wonder why I talk like this,’

This is an excerpt from a story on the play, "The World of Suzie Wong" which Shatner starred in when he was 27. The link is here but requires a subscription. However (small "hack" tip), if you view the page's source code, you can see the full text of the article.

Johnny Bones
  • 59,837
  • 23
  • 176
  • 288
  • 1
    Actually you can view it directly on a Mac using Safari with AdGuard [freeware, app store]. Just goes straight in; no ads, paywall or anything. – Tetsujin Oct 26 '21 at 19:21
  • Not sure I buy that explanation from Shatner, but thanks for the answer. – user Oct 27 '21 at 12:01
  • Shatner has had many impressions, but no one has ever identified another he copied it from. If you... won't accept the... answer... from the man... himself, what kind of answer ARE you ... expecting? – CGCampbell Oct 27 '21 at 14:59