William Shatner battled his real-life arachnophobia in Kingdom of the Spiders
Despite his crippling fear of spiders, Shatner faced off against real tarantulas in this cult classic sci-fi horror. Find out why he took the role and how he survived the fear!
The 1977 Sci-Fi Horror Film Kingdom of the Spiders
In 1977, William Shatner starred in the sci-fi-horror film Kingdom of the Spiders. In the movie, the country town of Camp Verde, Arizona, is besieged by a swarm of aggressive tarantulas. The spiders have seen their food sources disappear because of human interference, with pesticides ruining natural resources. As Dr. Robert "Rack" Hansen, Shatner battles the hordes of venomous eight-legged predators to keep his family and community from certain death.
William Shatner's Real-Life Arachnophobia
While Rack Hansen must bravely face the tarantula swarm, in real life, former Star Trek star William Shatner wasn't nearly as courageous. In an August 1977 interview with the Montreal, Quebec Gazette, Shatner spoke at length about his feelings for his furry freakish costars.
"I just can't stand the thought of those thousands of tiny legs running all over my body," said Shatner. "When it comes to spiders of any kind, I'm the out-and-out coward. They're disgusting things!"
The Challenges of Working with Tarantulas
As the production wore on, and Shatner worked more closely with the arachnid actors, he learned more than he cared to about tarantulan biology, and found that it wasn't just their legs that would be making his skin crawl.
"When they fall on you, they have the tendency to shed their hairs as a form of protection, which leaves you itching all over and can cause a bad rash. Apparently, tarantula hairs for the main basis of itching powder."
Luckily, though, the nuisance would stop short of a threat, as each of the onscreen tarantulas had been successfully defanged before being added to the scenery.
Why Did Shatner Take the Role in Kingdom of the Spiders?
So, with such a serious case of arachnophobia, why would Shatner sign up for a movie called Kingdom of the Spiders?
"I'm an actor, and I'm being paid," he said. "Sometimes the work is pleasant, sometimes it isn't. This most definitely falls into the latter category."
William Shatner's Acting Career and Training
Shatner was a famously well-trained actor, starting his career at just eight years old, before joining the Children's Professional School in Montreal just two years later. He went on to perform with the Canadian National Repertoire Theatre in Ottawa before becoming a familiar voice on Canadian radio.
Preparing for Tough Roles: Shatner's Unconventional Methods
Surely all that experience would've given him some lessons in getting ready for such a tough production process, right?
"How do I prepare for it? I don't! I'm damn well terrified and I don't mind admitting it. But, then, I've got to appear terrified in a particular scene, so it'll have the touch of authenticity.
"I remember in another movie I had to be submerged up to my neck in a freezing watery mud hole on a cold winter night. Another time I had actually to wander around in a blinding sandstorm."
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