William Shatner Had ‘Apprehensions’ About Super Bowl Raisin Bran Commercial Making Fun of His Name

William Shatner wasn’t too sure about starring in a Super Bowl LX commercial that made fun of his last name in a way that he claims he used to spark fights with other kids when he was growing up.

In the commercial, which is intended to highlight how Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is high in fiber, the legendary Star Trek actor, 94, teleported across the country delivering the cereal to people in need. Everyone refers to him as “Will Shat,” playing on the natural pun of his shortened last name sounding like the past tense of a certain expletive.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a story published on Sunday, February 8, Shatner revealed that he couldn’t tolerate the joke as a child and he was reluctant to reference it now as an adult.

“I haven’t lost those apprehensions,” the Twilight Zone star explained. “I mean, I used to get into fights when I was a kid in the locker room. They’d kid me about that. I’d say, ‘Don’t call me that!’ and I’d fight them. It was a sore spot as a child. And then adults stopped doing it. But it lurks, and for them to find it was, in itself, a kind of discovery.”

Shatner eventually agreed to do the commercial after some chats with the people at Kellogg, who revealed how they planned to do the spot.

“To their benefit, the advertising company started off with my name, and I kept saying, ‘Can you do that? Does that mean it’s me sitting on a toilet?’ So we worked on refining what was in decent taste, if not good taste, about what is amusing about going to the bathroom,” he explained.

Shatner said he would wait to see the ad until the Super Bowl.

“I generally avoid watching myself. And I thought it’d be fun ’cause I’m having a Super Bowl party,” he said. “And I’ve overloaded my room, which seats about 20 people, and I got a large screen and we’re gonna watch the Super Bowl. And there’s a lot of food and it’s gonna be joyful with friends. And then this commercial, presumably, will come on.”

The clip ends with Shatner leaping off the top of a car and turning into a pile of Raisin Bran boxes when he lands. Despite priding himself on doing his own stunts earlier in his career, Shatner revealed that he left that particular movement to a stunt double.

“No, they cut before I jumped off, put a stunt man in there and looked vaguely like me, and then cut rapidly to me on the table,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Movie magic. It was seamless.”