he had interesting qualities about him. his hobby was fencing of all things. initially, the script had me going crazy with a samurai sword, but i told the writer, that s ethnically consistent because i m of japanese ancestry. but when i was a kid, i saw the adventures of robin hood starring errol flynn, and i was enamoured of swashbucklers. and i said, why not put a fencing foil in sulu s hand? and he said, yeah, this is science fiction. why not? and that was one of my most successful episodes. i remember that episode. i mean, you were a very prominent character, and so was lieutenant uhura, the black woman played by michelle nichols, who also had a key role on the starship, also did something which many viewers around the world and listeners will remember, that is, shared a kiss with william
had me going crazy with a samurai sword, but i told the writer, that s ethnically consistent because i m of japanese ancestry. but when i was a kid, i saw the adventures of robin hood starring errol flynn, and i was enamoured of swashbucklers. and i said, why not put a fencing foil in sulu s hand? and he said, yeah, this is science fiction. why not? and that was one of my most successful episodes. i remember that episode. i mean, you were a very prominent character, and so was lieutenant uhura, the black woman played by michelle nichols, who also had a key role on the starship, also did something which many viewers around the world and listeners will remember, that is, shared a kiss with william shatner, captain kirk. now, that, again, broke barriers. indeed, it did. and ijust wonder for you as a cast, all of you as a team,
history, cultural background. but what you say is fascinating because in a sense, you re acknowledging that your casting in the role of sulu was, to use a blunt and arguably a difficult word, tokenistic. you were something of a token. it was an amazingly positive token at that time. it was notjust casting an asian face because he was a leader. he had interesting qualities about him. his hobby was fencing of all things. initially, the script had me going crazy with a samurai sword, but i told the writer, that s ethnically consistent because i m of japanese ancestry. but when i was a kid, i saw the adventures of robin hood starring errol flynn, and i was enamoured of swashbucklers. and i said, why not put a fencing foil in sulu s hand? and he said, yeah,