Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

‘Star Wars’ vs. ‘Star Trek’ — a Jewish Celebrity Smackdown

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” set to open in theaters on December 18 (!!!), the age-old — or, you know, 38 years old — ”Star Wars” vs. “Star Trek” debate is raging more strongly than ever.

The Millenium Falcon or the Enterprise? Luke Skywalker or Captain Kirk? Han Solo or Spock? Darth Vader or Kahn? Droids or Klingons?

It’s enough to make some people’s blood boil. Take William Shatner — when the first “Force Awakens” trailer was released back in October, the “Star Trek” star to let the internet know exactly where he stands on the question.

Well, that settles the question. Or does it? Where do other Jewish celebrities stand on the issue? We’ve assembled the ultimate battle of the Star nerds to find out.

Image by Lior Zaltzman

Some notes on the chart:

STAR WARS

Carrie Fischer and Harrison Ford automatically fall under “Star Wars,” for obvious reasons. Seth Rogen, Howard Stern and Seth Green have all publicly declared their allegiance to the franchise (though none so permanently as Rogen, whose character in “Fanboys” sported a full back tattoo of Jar Jar Binks). Joseph Gordon-Levitt won his place on our list (and in our hearts) for his red carpet Yoda costume.

Sarah Silverman, Adrien Brody, Liev Schrieber, and Rachel Weisz all took turns naming their favorite characters in this Vanity Fair video (Han Solo is a popular choice).

As for Daniel Radcliffe, under those Harry Potter glasses lies a true believer in The Force.

STAR TREK

Well, we know what William Shatner thinks. Leonard Nimoy (may his memory be a blessing) was slightly more tempered in his views.

Mila Kunis is a die-hard Trekkie and she doesn’t care who knows it. MTV once challenged Ben Stiller to a “Star Trek” trivia face-off. He won. And if you’ve ever watched “South Park, you’ll know creator Matt Stone loves to leave Trekkie nuggets for fans to find.

We let “Star Trek” have Mel Brooks, but really —  like J.J. Abrams, who directed both the recent “Star Trek” reboot and “The Force Awakens” — he belongs to both categories. “Spaceballs” is as much a tribute to George Lucas as one to Gene Rodenberry.

As a bonus, Trekkies can claim President Barack Obama, who gave a Vulcan salute to Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura in the orignal series). The salute, made famous by Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, is based on the gesture performed during the “Shekhinah” blessing in Judaism, which Nimoy remembered from his childhood.

“People don’t realize they’re blessing each other with this!” he once told The Washington Post.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.