George Takei recalls his first day on Star Trek

Stephen Colbert is a well-known nerd (he may in fact be one of the most knowledgeable Lord of the Rings superfans in the world), and so he could barely contain his excitement when he had George Takei on The Late Show Thursday night to discuss the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Colbert wanted to know what Takei’s first day on the show was like, and how legendary creator Gene Roddenberry originally explained the concept to him.

“I can’t forget that day, it was very special,” Takei said. “We all met for a cold read in a conference room, and Gene Roddenberry and the studio executive Herb Solow were seated up front. We were all introduced, and then Gene explained to us what Star Trek was all about. He said that the Starship Enterprise was a metaphor for Starship Earth, and the strength of this starship lay in its diversity coming together. The acronym was Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, IDIC. We were each to represent different parts of the planet working together, seeing a common challenge that we have, confident of our problem-solving abilities, our genius for invention and innovation, we were going to boldly go where no one had gone before.”

Watch the video below.