In William Shatner's long career of more than 50 years - and counting, with no end in sight - the Montreal-born actor has done Shakespeare and Broadway, too many films and TV series to keep track of, has written books and comics, and dabbled in music.
And, of course, to many he will always be Capt. James T. Kirk of "Star Trek."
Now, the 78-year-old actor says he's at the stage in his career where he's finally getting a chance to really explore the "strange ideas" that fill his head.
"As I look at what I'm doing now, that I'm sort of freed of the bonds of a weekly television show which I'd been in the last five years, I see that there's all kinds of strange ideas for shows and things, some of which I'm selling," Shatner said in a recent telephone interview.
"I'm having the best time entertaining myself and hopefully three or four other people."
Shatner's roles in "The Practice" and its spinoff, "Boston Legal," earned a couple Emmys and a Golden Globe in recent years but he's not sticking to conventional prime-time TV, and has given himself time to explore some of his more experimental ideas.
One of his latest projects - which is taking him back to Stratford, Ont., next week, where he launched his career in the mid-1950s acting in Shakespeare productions - is the documentary "Gonzo Ballet."
The film is a behind-the-scenes look at an unconventional ballet production in Milwaukee that was spawned from his equally unorthodox 2004 album "Has Been."
The out-there but well-reviewed album largely consists of Shatner's spoken word compositions written with Ben Folds and performed with the likes of Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Brad Paisley and Aimee Mann.
Shatner said he never expected that ballet would work its way into his expansive oeuvre of work but was thrilled with the final product.
"It was great just making the album but hearing the audience's reaction (to the music) was stupefying," he said.
"And seeing the reaction to the film, as I have on a couple of occasions, is a fun audience adventure."
While the out-of-left-field project could create more fodder for comics who like to poke fun at the oft-joked about actor, Shatner said he's fine with being a punchline.
He's exercised in enough self-parody to encourage more of it and proudly adds that his TV roast - in which he was honoured and mercilessly ribbed by the likes of Jason Alexander, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman and Ben Stiller - got an Emmy nomination.
"You better join them rather than fight them, I guess," he said.
"As an actor - a personality, I guess - moves further and further out into the stratosphere of being looked at, people don't remain neutral ... when you're exposed they have an opinion about you and they express their opinions and it's best to just go along and enjoy the moment rather than worrying about it - and that's what I've done."
Shatner said he has no real news on whether he might be considered for the next "Star Trek" movie, although he'd be interested if the script made sense. Director JJ Abrams has said he wanted to involve Shatner in the last movie but decided against it since his inclusion would conflict with the franchise's original storyline.
"I think the problem they have is getting the character I played into it, and the physical change I've had in 45 years, and how do you rationalize it in the story - I don't know," he said.
"If they should write a decent involvement in the story to what I would do, I would certainly consider it."
Shatner will be in Stratford on Thursday for the Canadian premiere of "Gonzo Ballet" at the DocFest Stratford festival.http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gY5brT31OpYeffb8U9LKzIjWOBFw
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