Not exactly eons ago, but "way back when" — when he was a young actor in summer stock theater — William Shatner had a chance to really soak up the atmosphere of the Garden State.

"I spent a lot of time in New Jersey," Shatner says, elaborating on his recollection of the state — one "much maligned," he says, "because of its eastern components." Delivering this line, he sounds precisely like Captain Kirk reflecting upon an alien planet. Shatner also remembers "that funny lake" — something Native American-sounding, he says — he's unsure if he means Lake Hopatcong.

William Shatner’s

‘Shatner’s World’

The veteran actor brings his one-man show to New Jersey.



Where: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown.

When: 8 p.m. Fri., Jan. 9.

How much: $59 to $150; call (973) 539-8008 or visit mayoarts.org

Bestowing these pearls and others, the 83-year-old icon of screen, stage and starships took some time before the arrival of stardate 2015 to talk to NJ Advance Media ahead of his return to that much maligned state. On Friday he'll be playing himself in "Shatner's World: We Just Live In It," his one-man show, at Morristown's Mayo Performing Arts Center.

"Onstage, alone, attempting to entertain these people in the audience" — that's how Shatner parses his role in the project. Having opened "Shatner's World" on Broadway in 2012, the Hollywood veteran, who first brought 'Shatner's World' to Jersey that same year, says it's a show that "takes a lot of courage, experience, rehearsal — but the main factor there is being sure enough of yourself to go in front of that many people."

William Shatner, unsure of himself?

Rocket man

Much to the contrary, speaking to us from what he calls "a cloud" — not the cloud — but really his home in Los Angeles, the man who helped pilot a Trekkie empire sounds driven. Shatner has launched a Kickstarter campaign for "Catch Me Up" (all systems go: his $50,000 goal was met just last week) to fund a book and website focusing on the reinvention of those 50 and older. One of the book's promises: a schooling on "how to leverage the new technology around us today to do anything you want, at warp speed."

And, almost 50 years since he first beamed into American living rooms with "Star Trek" in 1966, he's leveraging this interview — reminding us on several occasions during the course of a half-hour — that he will, indeed, be in Morristown, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, on Jan. 9.

And why not? Shatner is a performer, but also an author of his own brand (he helmed the autobiography "Up Till Now" in 2008 and "Shatner Rules: Your Key to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large," in 2011.)

Shatner — the Shatnerverse — is many things. Captain James T. Kirk, explorer of worlds. Lawman T.J. Hooker. Lawyer Denny Crane ("Boston Legal" and "The Practice"). Spoken word artist. TV host ("Rescue 911"). Spokesman (Priceline.com). An actor, but also a horse breeder and philanthropist. And, well, William Shatner — a man of myth and metamorphosis who lives to speak his William Shatner truth.

The actor, who grew up in Montreal, lives in California with his fourth wife, Elizabeth, a horse show judge and artist. She joined him on one of his recent endeavors, home renovation, in "The Shatner Project," a stint on reality TV this past October, on the DIY Network. It's a process Shatner refers to as "the dust, the noise, the confusion, the chaos, the mishaps."

Known for his staccato delivery of lyrics — lest we forget, Shatner is responsible for a blazing rendition of Elton John's "Rocket Man" at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards and a foot-thumping 2004 cover of Pulp's "Common People" — the actor promises to deliver at least one song in his show this week.

Takei and the new 'Star Trek' films

Following Shatner as much as his role in TV history is his legendary non-friendship with George Takei, 77, who played Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" TV series.

In 2013, Takei told Conan O'Brien that Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, while a welcome sight in the 2009 J.J. Abrams movie "Star Trek" and 2013 sequel "Star Trek Into Darkness," looked "very ancient and grizzled" in the current iterations. He added: "I mean, can you imagine Bill Shatner running down those corridors like Chris Pine did? That's not a pretty sight."

When asked for a response to Takei's statements, Shatner at first demurs.

William Shatner celebrates the 40th anniversary of 'Star Trek' in 2006. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

"I better stay away from that," he says. Shatner thinks more of the original personalities can be worked into the modern-day films. "I think that there is room for the multi-generation of 'Star Trek'," he says.

While he considers Nimoy, also 83, to be "an old, old friend," Shatner — when he eventually speaks on the matter — is brusque when it comes to Takei.

"I haven't seen him in decades or heard of him," Shatner says of his old co-star. "He's a stranger to me."

An expanding nerd population

In "Shatner's World," the storied actor details how various segments of his career began, including the one that birthed Denny Crane, the "Boston Legal" character he calls a "bumbling expert," one given to enunciating his own name for any reason at all.

Soon Shatner will reenter the science fiction universe as a guest star on the fifth season of the Syfy series "Haven," a show based on Stephen King's "The Colorado Kid," set in a Maine village beset by supernatural woes.

The actor's relationship with the sci-fi community has shaped his other efforts, too. If Shatner's presence had become synonymous with Gene Roddenberry's U.S.S. Enterprise, tribbles and the denizens of other space sagas, so had it with any number of bespectacled fans. In a 1986 "Saturday Night Live" skit that riffed his role as king of Trekkies, Shatner famously told a gaggle of infatuated "Trekkers" to "get a life."

"Everybody needs to be told to get a life," he now says. But the TV moment also inspired Shatner to write a book (followed by a TV documentary) called "Get a Life!" in which he tried to assess who, exactly, was coming to these "Star Trek" conventions. "I came to the conclusion that they were coming to see each other," he says. But isn't the title "nerd" itself now somewhat trendy?

"Being a nerd is always cool, especially among nerds," Shatner says. The cool, he says, is relative. "The number of nerds in the world is increasing due to our technology."

Social media and Twitter beef

In his mission to help equip the 50-and-older set with modern tools, Shatner advocates becoming better attuned to the digital world. He calls the language of that world, social media, "a double-edged sword." For example, Shatner says, children are often completed immersed in their phones at dinner. "They've tuned out of the family conversation," he says. "Every meal they have to be admonished."

"That is a dangerous thing for people who will grow up and not know how to speak face to face," Shatner says. "That's the dark side of technology ... the advantages are the ability to excite people about new things that are happening," he says. "You can use it to be intimate."

Shatner sets an example with his Twitter presence, 2.03 million followers strong. "It's all me," he says. "I govern what I'm Twittering."

"It's a wonderful communication between the fans and me," he says. "It's that communication that I'll be there in Morristown" (there it is again).

If you block @MasterCard it will be removed from your followers list. It's really bad netiquette for @Twitter to have done that. — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 30, 2014

And he "Twitters" with a discriminating eye — a recent MasterCard promotion that popped up among his "following" list — making it appear, he says, as if he was endorsing the company — irked him so much that he posted a pointed response.

"I am going to reevaluate the time I spend on Twitter going forward," he tweeted last week.

In 2013, Shatner tweeted Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who replied from space. Sure, he's played the captain of a starship, but would Shatner himself ever venture beyond Earth, if given the chance?

Yes, he says, with one stipulation:

"Only if I could fly the ship."

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup. Find NJ.com Entertainment on Facebook.