William Shatner has cultivated a career that has spanned 50 years as a professional actor, director, producer, screenwriter and author. He is one of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, and has also established himself as a major Hollywood philanthropist.

Most recently he has been lauded by television critics and viewers alike for his recurring role as eccentric law firm partner Denny Crane on Boston Legal, the David E. Kelley-created legal drama. A part that he’s now won two Emmy’s in a row for.

As most people know, in 1966, Shatner originated his most famous role of Captain James T. Kirk in the television series Star Trek, which rocketed into fame only after the show was cancelled and re-launched in syndication. The series spawned a feature film franchise, and Shatner reprised the role of Captain Kirk in seven of the Star Trek movies. He has since appeared in other movies and TV shows. About the only thing he lacks is spare time. He can be deadly serious one moment, and laugh at himself, or just about anything, the next. He’s William Shatner who is known to millions of people as Captain James T. Kirk.

Actually, it’s the other way around. Captain Kirk is William Shatner. So is Boston Legal’s Denny Crane. They are both memorable parts and share the same degree of intensity and purpose, qualities that have pushed Shatner to the forefront of his profession, and kept him in demand even to this day.

D&E: You’ve said there was a lot of your personality in Captain Kirk. How much of you is in Denny Crane?

William Shatner: Well, same thing [laughing]. That’s the difference the years make [laughing]. An actor really invests every part he plays with part of himself. It’s the old adage that you can’t think of anything you haven’t imagined. That’s why human beings are so limited in their view of the universe. We only have our senses to acquaint us with the possibilities. So, how to play a character? We are limited by what’s inside us. On series television people come and go: usually a new writer and director every week. The only people who don’t come and go are the producer, the cinematographer, and the actor. So on Star Trek with Gene riding herd on the way that we might have acted, and the cinematographer on the way we might have looked, the actor's responsibility was in the area of making the character as real as possible, asking for changes when things didn’t work. I think there’s a great deal of my own personality in the character, if only because day after day, week after week, year after year, the fatigue factor is such that you can only try to be as honest about yourself as possible. Fatigue wipes away any subterfuge that you might be able to use as an actor in character roles, or trying to delineate something that might not be entirely you. By the second week you’re so tired, that it can only be you in the role.

D&E: What was it like winning the Emmy for the second time in a row?

Shatner: It’s a great deal to be nominated. I mean, to be nominated is really everything. Except the tension of wondering whether you’re going to be nominated is replaced with the anxiety of “Will I win, could I win, is it possible?” These great people that are in opposition, will they? They’re so much better. A lot of anxiety is there.

D&E: “Denny Crane.” Did I do that ok? “Denny Crane?”

Shatner: Stole my line, did you?

D&E: When you think about it, It’s appropriate for the character, who’s a very complex man to have to say his own name a lot.

Shatner: It’s very complex. He’s this loveable buffoon who at times almost seems unbelievable, but you make him believable and really bring a lot of heart to this kind of nutsy guy. It has to be a character you love playing. Because how nutty and how out of it is he? Because you can't play that all the time and make it work. And the writing is so well done that it doesn’t get overdone on trying to take it over the top. So it is a complex character. I’m having wonderful fun trying to solve and play the different levels. And the writers are having equally as much fun. So we’re all working together in a kind of artistic enterprise.

D&E: “Enterprise.” Inserted a pun there, didn’t you? And what’s the vibe on the set like each day?

Shatner: The vibe? The vibe is like in the key of C. It’s incredible. James Spader is great to work off of. We make a good team and I think they like to write to that dynamic for the show.

D&E: You seem to have a healthy ego. How important is that in your industry?

Shatner: You know, to step in front of one person and tell them a joke and hope they’re going to laugh requires a certain amount of ego. But imagine stepping in front of thousands of people to tell them a joke and not know whether it’s going to bomb or not, it requires quite a bit of ego. Also bravery...courage, in case it bombs and you’ve got to get out of town fast, or at least get off the stage.

D&E: You’ve been a part of Hollywood for so long, is it tough to work with all those egos in Hollywood?

Shatner: When you talk about egos, that doesn't mean the overbearing ego that dominates. That is one kind of ego. The kind of ego we’re talking about is the kind that says, “I can make you laugh whether you want to or not. Just give me a little time.” The person who wants to dominate by behaving badly or ignorantly, I don't deal with that. For an actor who says, “I'm not coming out of my dressing room or showing up on time for work,” there are one of two things you can do. Accept it, because they are important enough that the ego we are talking about matters. Or you say to them, “Work or you’re fired.” If you have the ability to do that, you deal with that kind of ego with strength.

D&E: Do you think your career has taken off again because you seem to be taking yourself less seriously than in the earlier years?

Shatner: [Laughing] I wish it were as easy as that! Don’t take yourself seriously and you will be successful! I don’t know whether I took myself very seriously to begin with. I was probably just more frightened. I needed to do something to support my family. No, I don’t think having a sense of humor about myself is the reason I am more popular than I have been. It’s true, there are a couple of items like my CD “Has Been” and Boston Legal which have gotten great reviews and are popular, but I’ve always been at work doing something. So, I don’t see it as taking off, I just see it as “Hey, Pittsburgh is interested in talking to me.”

D&E: When did you get your first personal taste of really being a media celebrity? Was it at a Star Trek convention in the early 1970s after Star Trek became popular with the reruns on TV?

Shatner: Yes, probably, and the conventions that I went to in the early years were filled with passionate fans who would assume the persona of their various heroes. Mostly they were just people having fun. There is a fringe element out there that thinks that I am the captain of a spaceship, and they’re difficult to deal with sometimes, and they make their presence felt far in excess of their numbers, but I take that with a grain of salt knowing that the vast majority of the fans are just having a good time. But that fringe element does make you think twice about the power of celebrity.

D&E: And while your privacy has been so greatly reduced, you have to recall that this is basically the result of your practicing your craft so well.

Shatner: Oh, yeah, well that’s what I keep trying to do, and I have to be reminded that it’s a trade-off, the recognition factor and the virtues of being recognized.

D&E: Do you prefer to take the parts of heroes or villains, and do you feel that you’ve been typecast as a result of Star Trek?

Shatner: Well, I don’t know...I don’t think in terms of heavies and heros. A “heavy” is a hero, and a hero should be a ‘heavy.” I mean there should be a mix. To make a fully-fledged character isn’t to be one-sided. The worst heavy should be shown with as valid a life as possible. Heroes are generally the leading men, and generally a story is written around the leading man or the leading woman. So, for me to be typecast into playing the main part in a story isn’t bad typecasting. But there weren’t any other “spaceship” castings. I don’t know how to answer that typecasting question, because I never heard people say, “Don’t hire him,” I only heard the people say, “Would you like to do this?” So I guess the typecasting thing has been inferred before, but I don't know how.

D&E: The Price-Line commercials have made you seem more accessible, but what enticed you to do them?

Shatner: Originally, this small company came to me and said they wanted to do some radio commercials. I thought, well, radio commercials aren’t likely to be heard very much and they are paying me an adequate sum of money. Then, one day they said, “We want to do television, but we don’t have any money.” I said, “Well, ok...I'll take stock.” They turned out to be very successful. The reason why I did it? I don't know. It was an interesting company and they sounded sincere about what they were doing.

D&E: When did you first get interested in the equestrian life?

Shatner: Near where I lived as a boy there was a rental stable. I used to go out there and muck out stalls to be able to rent a horse and ride. Maybe that’s where I fell in love with horses and didn’t know until much later in life. I have won world championships.

D&E: Which is more satisfying, when your horses win or you get an award like the Emmy?

Shatner: I’ve got to tell you, to win a world championship in a highly competitive field, marked with young, athletic people who live on horses, and to be able to win, more than once, is as satisfying as winning the Emmy. It's equally competitive.

D&E: Do you have any regrets concerning any decisions you made earlier in your career?

Shatner: No, I don’t regret anything at this point. That may change on the next phone call, but at the moment I don’t regret anything.

D&E: To what do you attribute your boundless energy and your continued ability to retain your youth?

Shatner: I don’t know. I think perhaps it’s genetic. I was built for the long run, not for the short dash, I guess. [laughter]

Boston Legal airs Tuesday night at 10pm on ABC!