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In his memoir “Chicago Days, Hoboken Nights,”author Daniel Pinkwaterdetails an eerie and confusing event from his young adult years. The writer remembered going to a tiny museum, which wasn’t very busy, and it featured an actual mummy on display. The museum was small enough that there wasn’t any security near the mummy, allowing visitors to touch it if they wished. Oddly, there was a sign next to the mummy that said, “PLEASE DON’T TASTE THE MUMMY.” Pinkwater couldn’t figure out why such a sign was there … until he realized that he … he also felt like tasting the mummy. Pinkwater leaned forward and stuck out his tongue, influenced by some strange impulse.
A security guard stopped the author just as he was about to lick the mummy, pulling Pinkwater out of his trance. He inquired with the guard if that was a major issue, and the guard clarified that, indeed, individuals frequently entered to lick the mummy. (Maybe this will be)a storyline element in “The Mummy 4.”)
The purpose of this story is to highlight that we occasionally experience extremely unusual impulses that we can’t understand. This was definitely true for Walter Koenig on the set of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979. In that film,Koenig took on his “Star Trek” character as Pavel Chekov once againand appeared with a new addition to the franchise, Indian model and actor Persis Khambatta. The latter actor played the role of Ilia in the film, a Deltan characterized by a hairless head. In his 1980 biography”Chekov’s Enterprise,”Koenig acknowledged that he had a strange impulse — while testing the makeup and costumes for the film — to kiss his co-star on the top of her bald head. Not in a sexual or romantic manner, but simply because … well, just because.
Read more: The 15 Most Debated Star Trek Episodes Ever Created
Walter Koenig suddenly felt a desire to kiss Persis Khambatta’s bare head.
Koenig documented his time on “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” through a daily journal, and his entry from August 2, 1978, was particularly strange. He wrote:
Today, we conduct a fitting test for costumes and makeup. Does the individual match the makeup? Does the costume suit the person? Does the makeup complement the costume? Will everything coordinate well? Will everyone be comfortable?
10:30 a.m. I find Persis in the makeup room. I notice her bare head. Not completely bald. Just exposed. Fascinating, mesmerizing. I want—no, I need—to kiss it. She says, ‘Of course,’ in the manner a mother would respond to her nine-year-old’s hesitant request for another cookie.
In contrast to Pinkwater’s experience of tasting a mummy, Koenig’s desire to kiss Khambatta’s bald head was fulfilled. However, Koenig felt immediate embarrassment. He speculated that a woman as attractive as Khambatta probably regularly encountered strange requests like his. Koenig also noted that the experience was:
Not quite what I was expecting. God only knows what I was hoping for! It’s a rough, spiky head with an Egyptian #8 base [makeup] on it.
Koenig ultimately decided that peculiar cravings, such as wanting to kiss a bald head, might be best kept in the “yearning” stage. It’s preferable to contemplate unusual bald head kisses rather than, as he put it, “have makeup on your teeth.” Khambatta never spoke about the incident with Koenig, so her thoughts on the kiss remain unknown. Koenig has since appeared in six more “Star Trek” films and continues to give interviews. Regrettably, Khambatta died in 1998 as a result of health issues linked to smoking.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.