George Takei on Celebrity Apprentice Season 12: The Japanese American National Museum, the Medieval Scroll, and an Invitation to Jean-Georges

George Takei said it plainly: "Both the strength and the weakness of American democracy is in the fact that it's a people's democracy — it can be as gr…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

On February 29, 2012, NBC held a press conference call for Celebrity Apprentice Season 12 with host Donald Trump alongside contestants Tia Carrere and George Takei. Premier Guide Miami's Daedrian McNaughton was on the call and asked Takei directly about the medieval herald moment. This piece focuses on Takei — his charity, his father's summation of American democracy, the scroll improvisation, and the invitation he extended to Trump at the end of the call.

Both the strength and the weakness of American democracy is in the fact that it's a people's democracy — it can be as great as the people can be, but it can be as fallible as people are.

The Japanese American National Museum — and the weight of history

Takei has served the Japanese American National Museum since its founding and chaired its board from 2000 to 2004. On the call he described the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II with the measured gravity of someone who has told the story many times and still feels its full weight. "Simply because we happened to look like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor — and we're Americans, you know, of Japanese ancestry — we were summarily rounded up with no charges, with no trial. The pillar of our justice system, due process, was totally ignored. Our constitution was violated. And we were put into 10 barbed wire internment camps." He described his own experience as a child — different from his parents' — and the years of conversation with his father that followed. "To summarize what my father said after many, many years of discussion: both the strength and the weakness of American democracy is in the fact that it's a people's democracy and it can be as great as the people can be but it can be as fallible as people are." Trump, listening, said: "That was an amazing story, George, I didn't realize that." Tia Carrere: "It's unconscionable."

Daedrian's question — the medieval herald and the scroll

George, last week when you were on the show and you were being the announcer for the medieval show they kind of presented you as a little bit incompetent about reading, which seems to contradict who you really are. Do you feel that was a fair portrait of you on that show, or do you think that was a little bit misleading about how competent you were?

Well, you know, I'm an actor and we actors when we're in front of an audience don't like to have the script with us. So I tried to get the flow — the very gist of what I'm supposed to do up there. But of course there's that other thing of having to give cues to the people in the light booth. And so when I was kind of improvising along the outlines of the script the people in the booth were finding it difficult to find their cues. So Clay, dear Clay, he made a big thing out of that and he went on and on. Clay tends to be a little bit of a chatterbox critic. And so that got played up a little bit bigger than it really was. I decided all right, the time is limited; we won't have enough time to memorize so I will read it. And I'll read it like a medieval herald. So what we did was we scotch-taped all the pages of the script together and made it into a scroll and made the herald reading off of an ancient scroll.

Tia Carrere's reaction: "Very smart move. Wasn't that clever?" She added: "You just sort of get the gist of it and you go. And if you have to improvise you improvise and you just throw in a few 'there, thy and thine' and then swing a sword or something and it's still exciting for the kids."

On Penn Jillette, Lou Ferrigno, and the art of staying calm

Asked about the previous episode's boardroom tension — Lou Ferrigno's visible agitation when Penn Jillette said he might bring him back — Takei was characteristically measured. "I was kind of surprised that Lou got so agitated by that because it was not the real thing. But Lou I think has a little bit of insecurity because of his hearing." He described Penn Jillette as a genuine gift from the experience: "He's a real hero of mine. One of the gifts I got from this whole experience is meeting Penn. We're planning on having lunch when I make it to Las Vegas next."

On Victoria Gotti, Paul Teutul, and what the show teaches about people

Takei described sharing car rides back to the hotel with Victoria Gotti: "She has that hard façade. She looks like a tough gal which she is. But when you talk with her personally in that very private situation where just the two of you are in the car being driven back to the hotel she's a very interesting person with — certainly we know about her family background but also her sense of entrepreneurialism." On Paul Teutul Sr.: "I had no idea someone who looks like a motorcycle guy could be so successful. But of course it was in the motorcycle business." The lesson he drew: "Always keep an open mind, to not read just the surface and get to know the person that you're with. You might find some great rewards."

Bill Shatner — and the invitation to Jean-Georges

Asked which Star Trek castmate he'd want alongside him to ensure victory, Takei didn't hesitate: "The member of my cast that most personifies that driving, singular focus, competitive spirit — the hunger to win — is Bill Shatner, our Captain Kirk boldly going. I think it'd be fun to see him doing Celebrity Apprentice." Trump: "That's a great idea. He's a great guy. We'll have to remember that." The call's final and most quietly charged moment came after Trump said he kept his political views off the show. Takei: "Now that the show is almost over, next time I'm in New York, Mr. Trump, I'd like to take you to Jean-Georges for lunch and maybe we can discuss marriage equality. I'd like to think that you'd be supportive." Trump: "Okay. That's a good idea, George. You would be the first guy to take me." Takei confirmed the invitation. Trump: "Okay, you have a deal." Celebrity Apprentice airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC.

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