WilliamShatner.com :: Free Enterprise

Free Enterprise
Posted by: Admin on Wednesday, May 22, 2002 - 11:29 PM

	My journey on Free Enterprise was an interesting one. Mark Altman, the co-writer and Rob Burnett the director and co-writer of the movie approached me about being in their independent movie, which had the character of Shatner as an all wise, all powerful person, capable of solving all their problems?.a guru of sorts. I didn't want to play this part; I didn't find that character interesting. So, I turned it down. Time and again, these two very determined young men kept approaching me to do the part. Time and again, I turned them down. Finally, their persistence persuaded me to take another look at the script and take their offer more seriously. So I reread the script and thought up some ways to change the character around into something that I would like to play.
My journey on Free Enterprise was an interesting one. Mark Altman, the co-writer and Rob Burnett the director and co-writer of the movie approached me about being in their independent movie, which had the character of Shatner as an all wise, all powerful person, capable of solving all their problems?.a guru of sorts. I didn't want to play this part; I didn't find that character interesting. So, I turned it down. Time and again, these two very determined young men kept approaching me to do the part. Time and again, I turned them down. Finally, their persistence persuaded me to take another look at the script and take their offer more seriously. So I reread the script and thought up some ways to change the character around into something that I would like to play. I thought if my character was as screwed up, complex and full of doubts, THAT might be something worth playing! So we began a series of rewrites where we turned the Shatner character into an egotistical, self-involved person who didn't understand very much - a much more interesting character to play. The element of his drive to do a rap version of Julius Caesar also gave him a faulty, humanistic touch. The character became a lot of fun to act. I really enjoyed my time on this inventive movie. I was proud to see it become as successful as it has. I asked Mark Altman to contribute to this posting and this is what he asked me to share. Mark Altman, Co-writer of Free Enterprise said: "Working with Bill Shatner was such a joy for both Robert Burnett and myself. The irony is we wrote a film about two guys who grew up admiring William Shatner and end up making a film and becoming friends with him and that's exactly what happened in real life. Bill was a total professional and his good cheer, humor, exuberance and fearlessness in tackling the role made making the film not only a delight for us, but has made it a major touchstone for fans around the globe who have seen the film, literally, hundreds of times. We're delighted that it's become such a cult success and critically acclaimed film and brought so much joy and satisfaction to fans who appreciate the movie. I think because we didn't treat the subject with condescension, but rather as a romantic comedy about hero worship in which our main characters learn their revered idol really has feet of clay makes it both endearing and real and none of that would have been possible without the tour de force performance of Bill Shatner who took a real risk by agreeing to participate in an independent film by then two novice filmmakers who had a script, a dream and scale + 10%. But then again, risk is his business, isn't it?" I think Mark's comments are more than kind and I look forward to his and Robert's future works with much anticipation.