It's hard to believe that William Shatner -- Captain James T. Kirk, T.J. Hooker, the guy from Rescue 911 -- is an old man now. But at 77, Shatner says his life has never been better.

And it's not just because of all the free All-Bran.

In an interview with CTV.ca from his home in California, Shatner discussed growing old and the great existential questions, the art of humour, the streets of Toronto and that upcoming movie called Star Trek.

Shatner recently released his autobiography "Up till Now" upon the world. He chronicles growing up in middle-class Montreal to doing live television in New York, and his rise to fame in Star Trek, and then his eventual fall from grace. And then his rise again as "Trek" hit the big screen in the 70s and starring in another hit show, "T.J. Hooker", in the 80s. And then his falling off the radar in the early 90s only to . . . oh, you get the idea.

"I made a decision to write the book because I think of it like a legacy to my kids and grandchildren," Shatner told CTV.ca. "Life is fragile enough but as you get older it becomes even more fragile, so I thought I better do it now."

It's hard not to compare Shatner's thoughts on growing old with the character he is currently playing on television -- Denny Crane from "Boston Legal". For those unfamiliar with the show, Shatner's performance has been nothing less than shockingly good -- he's won two Emmy Awards for it already.

His character, a brilliant but eccentric lawyer, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and has been trying to experience all of life's pleasures before losing the ability to enjoy them.

Shatner on being Shatner

But Shatner says he is completely satisfied with his lot in life. In fact, he can't think of anything he'd change.

"I'm in such a contented arena of my life at this moment, I keep waiting for the bubble to burst. I'm happily married, my children are healthy and are a couple of miles away, plus my grandchildren are here," he said.

"I'm physically active, I ride a lot of horses . . . and my dogs are beside me and I got a really comfortable home. I'd rather stay home than go someplace. And I've got a great job. I've been so blessed by everything in these last few years that I can't imagine wanting anything else.

"There isn't a part I want to play. I've got the best part of someone my age going and I've got all kinds of interesting things coming up."

I pause at this moment to let the reader know that Shatner does sort of. Talk a bit. Like this, but it's not as exaggerated as it is on . . . television.

"I'm going to be able to leave my wife and my children comfortable when I die, so that's good," he continues.

And finally, "I'm older than I ever expected to be," he finishes.

How old did Shatner expect to make it? Oh, "about 42," he says.

That would have been before the great Shatner transformation. At 42, Shatner would have been best known for Trek -- but also for his um, 'inspired' career choices -- including the only movie filmed entirely in the made-up language of Esperanto and his 1968 album "The Transformed Man."

That's the concept album that mixes spoken word covers of the Beatles and Bob Dylan with dramatic readings of Shakespeare, set to bombastic music. Only Shatner could have recovered from the critical response -- let alone make another album in 2004 called "Has Been" -- which was critically revered.

How does he find himself in such a wide variety of projects? He provides a refreshing answer -- whatever is "fun" and pays him.

"You get an inordinate amount of money for very little amount of work and that has an appeal," he says. "You try to balance one with the other -- things of great interest and things that you find difficult to turn down because the money is so good."

The post-post ironic Shatner

Since 1997, Shatner has carved a self-mocking public personality that transcends both art and business, into something completely his. From his Priceline.com and All-Bran commercials, to his role as an off-kilter Bill Shatner in the 1997 film "Free Enterprise" and the numerous reality shows, Shatner, a senior citizen, has somehow managed to become the spokesperson for 'Generation Irony'.

The Stratford-trained actor best known for his over-acting, all of a sudden turned out to a self-aware comedian, which makes one wonder if Shatner was always in on the joke.

"There's a fine line between reality and amusement and what people would take seriously and what they would take as amusing -- and if you can refine that line to a hair's breadth, than it becomes interesting for me the performer and you the viewer," Shatner says.

"I think I worked on that a bit," he deadpans.

So, is that goofy Shatner we see playing himself and showing up for a comedy special called "The Roast of William Shatner," close to the actual man himself?

"This sense of comedy, which is the opposite of saying I'm funny -- it's almost metaphysical -- you can't quite put your finger on it, but when you see it you know it," he says. "I can't be anything else but me but you can exaggerate aspects of your personality and it is in that area of exaggeration that I think there's comedy."

"You're ultra real as compared to trying to be funny."

At 77, Shatner has never been more busy and in demand. He credits his longevity to his health and luck.

"I think luck -- and I believe its luck and not divine purpose but some people might ascribe it to that -- is a huge component in anyone's life, yes, you have to be ready when you get lucky and you have to make your own luck...but at the same time there is the fateful fall of the stars and when they align that's good and when they are in chaos it's bad and you can do nothing about it."

'Up till Now' boldly goes

Shatner's autobiography, written along with David Fisher, is a rarity among celebrity tomes -- it's very funny, although the self-referential humour can come off like self-absorbance if you don't "get" the Shat. Mid-sentence Shatner will jump off-topic, telling the reader about something for sale on his website, or mentioning that he made a new "friend" on Myspace. Plus, the last line of his book is so outrageously funny you are warned not to read it in public.

But "Up till Now" is also refreshingly honest and packs an emotional punch. Early on Shatner touches on his loneliness and despair living on Toronto's Jarvis Street as a young man while doing work for CBC Radio.

In the book, he said for years after he left Toronto, his biggest worry was he would fail and end up back on Jarvis Street.

"I don't know if that ever goes away. That may not stay with you on a daily basis but I think once you've been traumatized by any of these things -- poverty, loneliness, grief, even food poisoning -- your body reacts to thing that poisons you and you are traumatized by it for a long time," he says.

"You never lose the sense of jeopardy and the lack of feeling of security. That's a constant balancing act, even as you get older and get to accumulate some money."

Shatner on the new Star Trek

At the very end of the interview, Shatner talks about "Star Trek", specifically the new movie that he's not in.

The film -- the 11th in the series -- is a prequel or reboot (depending on what source you read) that will feature Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and all the beloved characters from the original series -- but played by different actors.

Only Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, is returning from the original cast. 

The film is being directed by "Lost" mastermind J.J. Abrams. Last year, Shatner expressed some dismay that he wouldn't be in the movie, even telling The Associated Press that it didn't seem like a "wise business decision."

The (lame) death of Kirk in the seventh Trek film in 1994 was certainly no obstacle to Shatner, who has revived his own career from the thralls of death too many times to count.

But Shatner hardly seems angry at the supposed snub now, if anything he seems disappointed.

He said that he caught Abrams' feature film directorial debut, "Mission Impossible III", the other day on television and that made him feel a tinge of sadness about not being in the new Trek film.

"I was amazed at what a wonderful director J.J. Abrams is and he's going to make a wonderful movie," Shatner says. "I was just disappointed I'm not in the movie... because it is going to great."

'It was fun'

While Shatner says that while he's certainly not going to turn down any interesting projects, he can't think of anything he wants to do.

"If there's something I really wanted to do, I just get up and do it. There's nothing preventing me," he says.

That sums up his career pretty nicely -- Shatner has just gone and done it. Critics may have laughed at his choices but deep into the third golden age of his career -- Shatner has laughed loudest and last.

"A varied career that seems somewhat unlikely," is what Shatner would put on his career's epitaph. I believe Spock would call that a "highly logical" conclusion.