Shatner interviewed in GQ (via @saniac):
Resistance is futile, of course. You aren’t in Shatner’s presence ten minutes before he reverse-engineers your emotional state; first, you adopt those conversational rhythms of his—everywhere, the jelly!—and then, by God, you start to feel the enthusiasm of your words, an enthusiasm inevitably heightened by your knowledge that this is WILLIAM TIBERIUS FUCKING SHATNER! you are dealing with, the most meta, the most absurd, human being in Western Civilization, and you fall in love with that meta-absurdity, the bonanza of impunity and laughs it generates.
When I did The Immortals recently, the director and I had three shortcuts for line readings: Clarkson, Blessed and Shatner.
As if anyone who saw the show needed that explained to them…well, except to distinguish the Clarkson from the Shatner!
Oh, not fair. There was a clear difference. At least in my own mind.
I suppose…I mean, a Clarkson reading of a line would be more along the lines of ‘[pause][pause][pause]…in the WORLD’, as opposed to a Shatner ‘[pause] IN! [pause] THE! [pause] …WOOOOOOOORLD…’
You got it. It’s a lot more subtle than the casual observer might think.