After Star Trek
In 1979, Takei co-wrote the science fiction novel Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe with Robert Asprin.
Takei's autobiography, To The Stars, was published in 1994. At one point, he had hoped to make a film or telefilm based on chapters dealing with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, of which he had personal experience.
In January 2007, Takei began appearing on Heroes, as Kaito Nakamura, a successful Japanese businessman and father to one of the main characters, time/space-travelling Hiro Nakamura, who also happens to be an obsessive fan of Star Trek. In the first episode in which Takei appears, "Distractions", the license plate of the limo he arrives in is NCC-1701, another reference to the Star Trek series. He appeared in all four seasons of the show.
Takei appeared on the first episode of Secret Talents of the Stars, singing country music, but was not selected to proceed to the next stage. However the point became moot as the series was abruptly cancelled after the opening episode.
In 2008, Takei appeared on the 8th season of the reality TV series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! on the British ITV television network. He lived in the Australian bush for 21 days and nights, doing tasks along with fellow campers to gain better meals and survive eviction from the show. His politeness and calmness made him popular with the other campers. Out of 12 participants the British public voted him into 3rd place behind 2nd placed Martina Navratilova and winner Joe Swash.
In 2009, Takei appeared in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars as the Neimoidian general, Lok Durd, the first time a leading actor from Star Trek worked in a Star Wars production. In April that year, he voiced a fictitious version of himself in the NASA animated short "Robot Astronomy Talk Show: Gravity and the Great Attractor", part of the web-series IRrelevant Astronomy produced by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Takei (and his husband Brad Altman) appeared in a documentary short titled George & Brad in Bed (2009) that profiled their relationship and was a guest on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!.
In 2010, Takei recorded a series of public service announcements for the Social Security Administration to help promote applying online for benefits.
In 2011, he appeared with husband Brad Altman in All Star Mr & Mrs, a show on ITV in Britain presented by Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton.
Takei was one of the celebrities in the 12th season of The Apprentice. He was fired in the third episode, which aired on March 4, 2012.
Takei was featured with Martin Sheen and Jamie Lee Curtis in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play 8—a staged reenactment of the federal trial Perry v. Brown that overturned California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage—as William Tam. The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.
In 2012, Takei starred in the musical Allegiance, which Takei described as his legacy project. The show is based on Takei's own experiences and research into the Japanese American internment of World War II and premiered at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. Allegiance debuted on Broadway on November 8, 2015, to mixed reviews. The Guardian said it was "unexceptional though often affecting"; Deadline called it "a triumph of a rare sort, shedding light in a dark corner of our history with uncommon generosity of spirit". The New York Times praised the "well-intentioned and polished" play for tackling a difficult subject while trying at the same time to entertain its audience, but said Allegiance "struggles to balance both ambitions, and doesn't always find an equilibrium". The Associated Press said Allegiance tries to tackle internment camps, discrimination and war, "but does so unsuccessfully in a bombastic and generic Broadway musical". Variety wrote, "In their sincere efforts to 'humanize' their complex historical material, the creatives have oversimplified and reduced it to generic themes." The Hollywood Reporter said "the powerful sentiments involved are too often flattened by the pedestrian lyrics and unmemorable melodies of Jay Kuo's score". USA Today called Allegiance "as corny as Kansas in August and as obvious as Lady Gaga on a red carpet. But darned if it won't get a grip on your heartstrings."
In 2013, Takei was a guest judge in the TBS reality show King of the Nerds, in which he is one of three judges of the Cosplay Competition.
Beginning September 17, 2013, Takei hosted Takei's Take, a web series reviewing consumer technology in a manner for viewers over 50 years in age. The series is produced by AARP.
Takei made an appearance in issue no. 6 of Kevin Keller where the titular character cites Takei as one of his heroes. Upon reading about Kevin with his partner, Takei decides to travel to Riverdale and surprise Kevin. Takei also wrote the foreword for the second volume of the Kevin Keller comics.
Takei appeared in the viral video for Bonnie McKee's song "American Girl" lip syncing the lyrics to her song.
Starting in 2013, Takei became spokesperson for Rooms To Go, an American furniture retailer. He was seen in a series of television commercials where he used his famous "Oh Myyy!" tag line.
In January 2014, Jennifer Kroot's documentary film about Takei, To Be Takei, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He also participated in Do I Sound Gay?, a documentary film by David Thorpe about stereotypes of gay men's speech patterns.
In 2015, he produced a YouTube mini-series It Takeis Two featuring himself and Altman, described as a "parody-scripted reality series" that also includes Internet culture. The series ran for nine episodes.
In early 2017, Takei was featured in television commercials promoting the restaurant Pizza Hut.
In February 2010, Takei and Altman became the second same-sex couple to appear on the British game show All Star Mr & Mrs, losing to rugby player Phil Vickery and his wife Kate.
On July 16, 2019, Top Shelf Productions released They Called Us Enemy, a 208-page graphic novel memoir that focused on his family's internment in a World War II concentration camp. It was co-written with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker. The book received an American Book Award in 2020. He narrated the documentary Who's on Top? in 2020. In June 2021, dean of the United States Air Force Academy Brig. Gen. Linell Letendre announced that They Called Us Enemy, which details both Takei's struggle with internment and understanding of American democracy, would be part of the Academy's new reading initiative for cadets. On February 23, 2022, Takei was the NCLS Kickoff speaker at USAFA, elaborating on his book and how his past influences his future.
On April 16, 2024, Crown Publishing released Takei's children's book memoir titled My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story, in which Takei recounts how his family was forced to leave Los Angeles after Japan's attack upon Pearl Harbor, and forced to live in a series of concentation camps. The book is illustrated by Michelle Lee, whose artwork was based not only the text provided by Takei via his memories, but also from the research she did at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, on whose board Takei served as a member, her meetings with the museum's education director, who gave her access to the museum's archives. The book was praised by Kirkus Reviews, which dalled Takei's story "an unflinchingly honest, child's-eye view of these events", which Kirkus noted, Takei deftly told for the sensiblities of its young audience, in which he "interweaves moments of levity and escape: movie nights," and in which, Kirkus wrote, "His parents’ courage shines through, too."
On June 10, 2025, Top Shelf released Takei's second graphic novel memoir, the 336-page It Rhymes with Takei, in which Takei again collaborated with Scott, Eisinger, and Becker to recount his personal journey from closeted actor to coming out on October 27, 2005 at age 68, after which he became an international gay icon.Kirkus Reviews called the book "a heartwarming journey that, yes, goes boldly where few men have gone before."
