Exclusive Interview — Rod Roddenberry talks Star Trek and His Father’s Legacy

Tai Freligh interviews Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, about his father’s centennial…

August 19th would have been the 100th birthday of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. As part of a centennial celebration of Gene and the Star Trek franchise, Tai Freligh had the chance to talk to his son Rod Roddenberry, who also happens to be the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment.

Rod Roddenberry has devoted his life to carrying on his father’s legacy, and his radical vision of a diverse and inclusive world — which Gene depicted through the philosophy he imbued in Star Trek, including a cast with a multi-ethnic crew and putting one of the first interracial kisses on the TV screen. Additionally, he previously narrated and executive produced the documentary TrekNation, where he explored the positive impact of his father’s iconic franchise has had on people’s lives.

In the interview, they talk all things Star Trek, including deep discussions on what the Star Trek philosophy is and what it means today, about a potential reboot of the Earth: Final Conflict series, and which Star Trek show is Rod’s favourite and why. Check out the video interview here…

Roddenberry Entertainment were kind enough to provide some archival photographs of Gene Roddenberry, which you can find here…

The centennial celebration of Gene Roddenberry encompasses a number of activations and initiatives that are called #thinkTrek and can be found here. This includes #talkTrek, #seeTrek, #beTrek, and #makeTrek.

We thank Rod Roddenberry for taking the time to chat with us. He can be found on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and his website.

Tai Freligh is a Los Angeles based writer and can be followed on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram and can be found on his website too.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT