Shatner To Boldly Fill In For Reeve In Video
A locally-produced equestrian safety video that was to be narrated by Christopher Reeve will now use the voice of actor William Shatner.
Shatner agreed to complete the narration after Reeve broke his neck during a riding competition last month.
Like Reeve, Shatner is an avid horseman who first discovered equestrian sports as an adult. Shatner even rode one of his own horses in the film,”Star Trek: Generations.”
“It’s gone from super to out-of-this world,” said Jean Gulden, referring to the pair’s respective action roles as heroes Superman and Capt. James Kirk.
Gulden is the Valley resident who produced the video along with the Washington State 4-H Foundation and WSU Cooperative Extension.
Gulden said the rest of “Every Time … Every Ride” was finished before Reeve’s injury. The narration was supposed to have been completed the week after the Virginia horse-jumping event where Reeve was thrown from his horse.
At first, Gulden wasn’t sure if she could find another celebrity to volunteer on such short notice. But she said Shatner’s staff was “brought to tears” after viewing a pre-production copy of the video.
“That’s a good sign, because they see this kind of stuff all the time,” Gulden said, referring to Shatner’s work as host of the “Rescue 911” television program.
The video, which promotes wearing helmets while horse riding, features testimonies from people injured from not wearing protective headgear - or in some cases, the people they left behind.
The project is now finished, but some uncertainties remain. Gulden said the Screen Actors Guild requires that anyone using one of its members in a production contribute to that member’s pension and health benefits. That’s a little tricky in this case, since “Every Time … Every Ride” won’t be sold for profit.
She said Shatner’s staff has tried to make the arrangement as easy as possible.
The video should be ready for national distribution in about three weeks. But after a major injury involving narrator No. 1 and red tape surrounding the use of narrator No. 2, Gulden isn’t making any promises.
“The hang-ups have been bizarre,” she said. “There’s been too many details involved to be absolutely sure.”
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