news ‘There was one prima donna on Star Trek’: George Takei on William Shatner, love and life as an ‘enemy alien’ | Stage

George Takei is on a mission. But this time the Star Trek actor is not boldly going where no man has gone before. Now he’s boldly going where too many men went before, to ensure

history does not forget them.Takei is about to star in the British production of the musical Allegiance, inspired by his childhood as one of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans

forced into internment camps after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. Now a youthful 85, he says it remains the defining experience of his life – one that shaped him as an

actor and an activist.It’s 31 years since he played Sulu in the last of his six Star Trek movies, yet Takei is as prominent as ever. He is outspoken, has a huge social media

following, and may be even better known these days as an author (in 2019 he published They Called Us Enemy, a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about his internment) and an

LGBTQ+/anti-racist campaigner than he is for Star Trek.We meet in the penthouse of a London hotel overlooking the city’s landmarks. Takei, who is here with his husband, Brad, is

slight, smartly dressed and bright as a sunny day – even when talking about such a bleak subject. He grew up in Los Angeles, one of three children born to a Japanese American

mother from California and a father who grew up in Japan. Takei’s father became a successful businessman, running a high-end dry-cleaning store in LA. The family were looking

forward to a happy and prosperous future. But that all changed with Pearl Harbor and the designation of Japanese Americans as “enemy aliens”.George (right) and his brother,

Henry, with their father. Photograph: HandoutIt was three weeks after George’s fifth birthday, in 1942, that the military came for the Takeis. “My father came into the bedroom

I shared with my younger brother, Henry, and dressed us hurriedly and told us to wait in the living room while they did last-minute packing. Henry and I had nothing to do, so we

gazed out of the window and saw two soldiers march up our driveway. They carried rifles with shining bayonets on them and banged on the front door. We were petrified. I can never

forget that terror of their banging.” You sense that every time he talks about it he experiences the terror anew. “My father came out of the bedroom and answered the door and

they pointed the bayonets at him. Henry and I were frozen. My father gave us each a box tied with twine to carry. He had two heavy suitcases and we followed him out on to the

driveway and stood there waiting for our mother to come out. When she finally came out, escorted, she had our baby sister in one arm, a huge duffel bag in the other and tears were