--- description: The star is the subject of a new documentary title: George Takei To Be Takei Movie Interview: Star Trek, Facebook, Oh My image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta118b8db6c89251e/6986a05406f2c11186330652/george_1280.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # George Takei: 'Being Optimistic Is Ensuring Your Success' by [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/) and [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) Aug 21, 2014 4:00 PM CUT  George Takei talks to TIME about his new documentary, 'To Be Takei' George Takei talks to TIME about his new documentary, 'To Be Takei'Diane Tsai—TIME by [Diane Tsai](/author/diane-tsai/) and [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) Aug 21, 2014 4:00 PM CUT There’s a Japanese word that shows up repeatedly in the new documentary, _To Be Takei_ (Aug. 22) about the life of George Takei: “gaman.” “Gaman translates into English as ‘to endure with dignity, or fortitude,’” the _Star Trek_ actor tells TIME. Gaman was, he says, a source of strength for Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps during World War II — and he would know. Takei spent his childhood, up until almost his 9th birthday, in such a place. Even after the internment ended, the young Takei found himself in a hostile world, where housing and employment for Japanese-Americans were scarce, and his family, penniless after the war, lived on Skid Row in Los Angeles. And gaman continued to prove necessary as Takei got older. When he became an actor, his first roles were ones he regretted even before filming them, stereotypical Asian caricatures he says his agent convinced him were worth it for the visibility. And, even after his acting career was established, he faced different struggles as a gay man — first with concealing his sexuality, later with getting the right to marry. But he endured. As he tells TIME, he did so with a smile. “I think being optimistic is ensuring your success. If you start out saying ‘I’ve got this problem or I’m angry at that,’ you will not succeed,” he says. “My father said, ‘Be confident of who you are, but also work hard to be the best that you can be.’” It’s clear by now that his optimism is well-founded. The science-fiction devices he used on _Star Trek_ have become reality (except, he notes, for the transporter), he’s married, he’s enjoying a major wave of popularity — and, of course, he’s the star of a movie about himself. “The future,” he says, “is today.” [_Read more about George Takei in this week’s TIME_](http://time.com/3153333/to-be-takei-means-theres-no-such-thing-as-oversharing/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3064460/george-takei-gaman-optimism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3064460/george-takei-gaman-optimism/"},"headline":"George Takei: 'Being Optimistic Is Ensuring Your Success'","datePublished":"2014-08-21T16:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:34:08.202Z","description":"The star is the subject of a new documentary","url":"https://time.com/3064460/george-takei-gaman-optimism/","keywords":["celebrities","movies","Documentary","video","Star Trek","George Takei"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta118b8db6c89251e/6986a05406f2c11186330652/george_1280.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Diane Tsai","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta118b8db6c89251e/6986a05406f2c11186330652/george_1280.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"George Takei TIME Interview","caption":"George Takei talks to TIME about his new documentary, 'To Be Takei'","creditText":"Diane Tsai—TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3064460/george-takei-gaman-optimism/","name":"George Takei: 'Being Optimistic Is Ensuring Your Success'"}}]}] ```