George Takei’s ‘Star Trek’ Integrity: The Self-Destruct Button Story

On the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise, as it was seen on the original 1966 run of “Star Trek,” Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) was most often seen seated at the Conn station, where he piloted the ship. Sulu was rarely the centerpiece of “Star Trek” episodes – he later lamented that Sulu never got a family – but he was often in frame, pressing buttons and flipping switches with a determined look.

For many fans of the series, Takei, while not credited in the opening credits, was an indispensable member of the show’s ensemble. He was consistently present and his piloting skills were always needed. Takei managed to infuse Sulu with a lot of character, and there are subtle but noticeable elements to his performance. He delivered memorable side-eye and projected a distinct personality. When he finally had action scenes, the character was enriched even further.

Takei also lent a note of verisimilitude to his role by inventing a system for how the buttons on his station worked. He internally decided that certain buttons correlated to specific actions on the bridge, and he would consistently press the same buttons when given an order, such as taking the Enterprise to warp. This system once led to a disagreement with a director.

The Self-Destruct Button Incident

In the book “Star Trek: The Oral History: The Original Cast,” Takei recounted a story of how he had to explain to a director that he couldn’t push a certain button for a shot. The button the director wanted him to push, according to Takei, was the self-destruct button. As Takei related:

“There was one director who wanted me to hit a button near the top of the panel, just for the camera effect, but that’s not where warp one, two, three, four, or impulse power is. We got into a very involved discussion about it. He kept saying, ‘This is science fiction, I just necessitate it for a shot.’ So to persuade him away from that, I told him that was the button we used last week to implode the engines. There are certain conventions and you just can’t break them.”

Takei’s dedication to maintaining continuity and the internal logic of the show is commendable. While close-ups of Sulu’s control panel are infrequent, stock images available on sites like Getty Images reveal a grid of unlabeled light-up controls. Though likely a prop created by a CBS set designer, the panel appears to require specialized training to operate. Takei clearly kept this in mind when manipulating the panel while in character.

Takei’s Continued Career

As of February 2026, Takei is 88 years traditional and remains one of the few major actors from the original “Star Trek” still alive. He continues to act, recently taking on a voice role in an episode of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Paramount+ is currently streaming many classic episodes of “Star Trek.” Takei also recently appeared on stage in the musical “Allegiance,” which is based on his own experiences being interned in Japanese internment camps by the American military in the 1940s.