MAKING SPACE
PATRICK STEWART AND ISA BRIONES TELL US WHY THEY’RE SO EXCITED TO BE IN THE NEW STAR TREK SERIES…
The announcement of a new Star Trek series always carries with it a lot of pressure – especially when it focuses on an iconic character such as Jean-luc Picard. Fortunately, after just one episode, it was clear that this was no quick cash-in, but a rich and thoughtful revisit – something very important to star Patrick Stewart…
“I do feel quite protective,” Patrick tells Inside TV. “There have been several things I’ve been asked to do which I have declined because I felt they were not authentic, and, for me, that’s vital in the creation of a science-fiction world.”
The release of the series has also been a relief for co-star Isa Briones, but for another reason – the pre-publicity showed her playing Dahj, but (spoiler alert) Dahj perished in episode one, and the character she plays for most of the series is actually Dahj’s twin, Soji. Now the secret’s out, she can relax…
“It’s been driving me crazy!” exclaims the actress. “People have been saying, ‘It looks as if Dahj and Narek have an interesting relationship’, because they didn’t know who they were watching in the trailer, and in my head I’m like, ‘Ew, that’s my sister!’ So I’m excited that I can finally talk about it!” For Patrick, the compelling part of signing up was the portrayal of Picard at a later stage in his life…
“I was excited by the opportunity to work on a different kind of person,” shares the actor. “Someone who had been changed by his experiences in the 18-year gap between our last feature film and the present day.” Patrick also tells us that when he was first cast in the role back in the 80s, he experimented with playing the French-born Picard with an accent to match, but (thankfully) decided against it.
“I did some taping using a French accent – it was ghastly!” he chuckles. “I’ll tell you what I recorded: ‘Space – ze final frontière…’ It was a very good thing that we didn’t do it!”