Actors have long suffered hours in a makeup chair, painful footwear or even claustrophobia-inducing outfits. But that’s not why William Shatner hated his rather simple Star Trek uniform. No, he hated it because of how tight it was.

At San Diego Comic-Con, while promoting the book The Autobiography of James T. Kirk by David Goodman, Kirk, I mean, Shatner said, “It was a little embarrassing after lunch to have that tight green thing on you ... you keep tugging that thing down. The more drape, the better, I always felt.”

When the Shat refers to “that tight green thing,” Star Trek fans may think Shatner was referring to the wraparound tunic that he occasionally wore (for example, “The Trouble With Tribbles” or "The Enemy Within"). However, he was likely referring to his standard uniform: According to Wikipedia, "[t]he gold shirts were actually green but appeared gold under the lights used on the set. In later series, the gold color was 'canonized' in dialog."

Cinema Blend theorizes another reason Shatner didn't like his uniform: "Besides the practical inconveniences, there was clearly an element of embarrassment from walking around the studio lot wearing something that one might guess to be the Easter Bunny’s karate gi. This is especially true considering that it was a time when westerns still dominated and science fiction was generally ostracized."

It sort of worked out for us fans. During his time on Star Trek, Shatner appeared with a ripped shirt seven times and shirtless a whopping 12 times.

For more Shatner goodness, check out his appearance at SDCC.

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Via BoingBoing.