William Shatner is 95 years old, still working, and currently the face of one of the most creative marketing campaigns in the direct selling industry. The partnership with LifeWave started as a single short film and has grown into something considerably bigger.

LifeWave will be making two more short films with Shatner alongside fellow Star Trek franchise stars Jeri Ryan, known as Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager, and Jonathan Frakes, who played William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. That expansion from a one-off video to a full series tells you the original campaign performed well beyond expectations.

How It Started

LifeWave launched the original “World’s Oldest Intern” video in November 2025, featuring Shatner taking on his first-ever internship at LifeWave, where he explores the company’s innovations in health and wellness and discovers its Welcome Center, a space designed by Doug Drexler, the Academy Award-winning production and visual effects designer behind multiple Star Trek films.

The Star Trek connection was not accidental. LifeWave founder and CEO David Schmidt was a huge Star Trek fan as a kid, and it played a significant role in his desire to become an inventor. When Schmidt decided to build a world-class headquarters for LifeWave, he hired Drexler specifically to design the space. Bringing Shatner in to tour that facility was the natural next step.

The original short film has now surpassed two million views across YouTube and social platforms. For a direct selling company, that kind of organic reach is extraordinary. Most MLM promotional videos never leave the distributor network. This one crossed into mainstream entertainment territory.

What Shatner Says About His Health

The partnership works because Shatner is not just a celebrity endorser reading from a script. He is genuinely vocal about health and longevity in his own life.

At 95, Shatner has made health a major priority and has spoken openly about his motivation. “I don’t want to die,” he said. “I’m looking at 95. Are you kidding me? I want to stay healthy and functioning.” He has described leading a clean lifestyle, saying he essentially does not drink or smoke.

Shatner told E! News that despite his age he feels both energized and focused. “I don’t know what 95 feels like,” he said. “Every time I hear the number 95, I go, who? Who’s 95 here?”

That authenticity is what makes him a credible face for a wellness company. He is not pretending to be young. He is leaning into 95 and making it look like something worth aspiring to.

The Casting Call

LifeWave announced a national casting call contest in April 2026 inviting fans across the United States to appear alongside Shatner, Ryan, and Frakes in the next installments of the series. The contest, titled “Boldly Go from Fan to Co-Star,” will select two winners, one for each episode, to participate as extras in productions filmed at LifeWave headquarters in Draper, Utah during the week of May 13, 2026.

Applications ran through April 28, with winners announced between April 29 and May 2. No professional acting experience was required. Applicants submitted a 15 to 30 second video explaining why they wanted to be part of the films.

The casting call was a smart community engagement move. It turned passive viewers into active participants, generated user-created content in the process, and gave distributors a shareable moment that had nothing to do with a product pitch.

Why This Campaign Matters for the Industry

Most direct selling companies approach celebrity partnerships the same way: get a famous face, put them on stage at convention, film a testimonial, post it on social media. LifeWave took a different approach entirely.

They built a cinematic universe around their own headquarters, cast a genuine Hollywood legend whose personal brand aligns with longevity and vitality, brought in an award-winning set designer to make the environment visually compelling, and structured the whole thing as entertainment rather than advertising.

The result is content that people watch because it is enjoyable, not because they are already in the LifeWave ecosystem. That is a fundamentally different top-of-funnel approach than anything most MLM companies attempt.

For distributors, the Shatner campaign is a recruiting and prospecting tool that does not feel like a recruiting and prospecting tool. Sending someone a two-minute video starring Captain Kirk is a very different conversation opener than sending them a compensation plan.

LifeWave figured that out, and the two million views say it was the right call.