William Shatner feared he wouldn't be able to put his children through college when 'Star Trek' was cancelled.

He said: "It was devastating. It was all very comfortable by that point. This place that I come to every morning, leave in the evening and a cheque comes every week. And now you're taking it away from me? My five-year mission was to put my children through college!"

Reflecting on the series, he added: "What worked best was the story and our characters' position in the story. What didn't work were many of the effects.

"As cheap as you think it looked, it was worse. I'd pull down the jersey and it would rip, the sets shook and the lights would wink on and off. It was very, very primitive by our standards now. But then, all that really mattered to me were the words, because a film story is done in close-up. And everything else is extraneous. I knew that the words would carry. They were wonderful."

And the 'Star Trek Generations' actor also revealed how Gene Roddenberry, who created the original Star Trek television series, sold him the part.

He shared: "Horatio Hornblower in space. Gene took a lot of ideas from that series, but mainly the five-year mission and a little ship with its doughty group of explorers.

"I wasn't part of the first Star Trek pilot. An actor by the name of Jeffrey Hunter was part of it. NBC decided not to buy it. But they tried again. So Gene asked me to come aboard ... Kirk is the essence of a hero ... Heroes, classical heroes have the look of eagles. They are looking beyond the immediate problem and into the future. That was Kirk."

Meanwhile, William really enjoyed stepping behind the camera for 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'.

Speaking to Empire magazine's August issue, which is out now, he added: "I loved it! Directing's great. It is one of the great human endeavours."