Stewart investigated new aspects of captain
Actor closes another ‘Star Trek’ chapter as ‘Picard’ concludes
As the august space voyager Jean-Luc
Picard, Patrick Stewart commanded the Starship Enterprise on and off across seven seasons of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” four feature films and, after a twodecade pause, three seasons of “Picard.” It’s a role he took only because he was assured by confidants that “The Next Generation,” which required a six-year contract, wouldn’t run a year, freeing him to return to England and the theater.
The final season of “Picard,” which recently concluded on Paramount+, brings down the curtain on the character and, in bringing back most of the original show’s cast, “The Next Generation” saga as well.
This interview with Stewart, 82, has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: How different was it playing Picard in “Picard”? A:
Oh, so different. I turned it down at first. And then I thought about the offer and decided I would do it, but I made two conditions. I didn’t want to wear a uniform, and it must not be a series that is fundamentally a sentimental reunion of “The Next Generation.” And they agreed to that. And I think the first “Next Generation” character who came on the show was Jonathan Frakes (as Will Riker) and then in Season 2, Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Troi, was also in it.
And to my great pleasure, I enjoyed having them back on the soundstage. We’ve all aged, all of us. I mean, Michael Dorn (who plays Worf ), whose hair is white! And Jonathan with his grizzled gray beard.
And me, of course, with my hollowed cheeks and exhausted appearance.
I think it was (producer) Alex Kurtzman who said, “Look, 20 years have passed, and in those 20 years, surely a lot has happened to you, Patrick. I know enough about your life to know there have been upheavals and changes. Surely, the same has happened to JeanLuc Picard. What might those things be?” Well, I actually invented a whole story about those missing years; this may sound a little pretentious, but to create that past, which I assume will never, ever be known, was very intimate, and it influenced me when we began shooting “Picard.” Because I knew he had needs, longings, desires that were not being fulfilled. Disappointment that things had not gone the way he had hoped.
Loneliness. Separation from these people he had loved and admired.
There are moments when I look at scenes in “Picard” and think, “Poor guy, (laughing) he looks terrible. He’s having such a bad time.” That wasn’t my intention, but that was what was being communicated. Anxiety, stress, irritation. I never yelled as Picard — I mean, I may have done — “The line must be drawn here!” (pronounced “hee-yah,” much-memed dialogue from the film “Star Trek: First Contact”), for which I was made fun of for decades. Actually, there was one like it in the last episode, and I thought,
“At least, because there aren’t any more episodes, nobody will be making fun of me.” We made fun of one another a lot.
Q: Were there any kinds
of scenes you particularly enjoyed or didn’t enjoy playing? A:
I have to admit that when we got into Season
5, 6 and 7 (of “The Next Generation”), there were days I wished I could be doing something different — when you do 178 episodes, there’s bound to be repetition. And there were some things about “Picard” I was uncomfortable with, when I thought it was nudging its way toward being a reunion show.
But there were not many. And the way the show has been directed, and lit, and staged, it’s so impressive. So many times I feel I’m watching a movie and not a TV series.
I looked forward to those scenes where Picard was not just anxious but actually frightened. Or confused. Or not knowing what to do. I got great satisfaction out of playing
those things, because they allowed me to investigate, and release, aspects of Jean-Luc that had really never appeared in “Next Generation.”
Q: What do you think you brought to the character that wasn’t necessarily on the page? A:
Well, I very quickly came to understand that “Star Trek” was not naturalistic television.
And there was a sort of formality about being the captain. I was the captain of a starship, and I sat in the center seat, and I had assistants on either side of me and people running the ship down there in front, and it very much reminded me of numerous Shakespearean situations I’d been in onstage. And I thought, “That’s how I should regard this role, as if it were ‘Henry IV,’ ” which is about brave men. And very quickly I got to know the cast.
Q: Does that family of actors reflect on the family of characters? A:
I think so, yes. Your use of the word “family” is, in fact, very accurate. That is what we became. If you add Whoopi Goldberg, who joined us in the second season, and John de Lancie, who came in as Q. We became so close, and that’s grown over the years.
… I (recently) watched (“Picard”) Episode 9 of Season 3, and … (the next morning) I watched the final episode. There had been a little conflict about how it should end, and the script we held when we started shooting had an ending I was thrilled by — I thought it was absolutely perfect — I can’t tell you what it was — and then when we were shooting, a problem occurred. It was the last day and, oh, it was getting so late, and we had so much to do. And I said, “We can pick that up any time, it’s only me involved.” We never did it. So the ending I loved was never filmed. Instead, it was one I wasn’t happy about — until (that) morning.
Q: Until you saw it. A:
The impact that the final episode had on me was unexpected and almost overwhelming. When it finally finished, I had to call out for my wife and go give her a hug because I felt so deeply connected with what I’d watched.
The way the series ends is wonderful. And I so badly thought it was totally wrong when we shot it. But the director and producers, in particular Terry Matalas, who directed it, his instinct was absolutely right, and my instinct was only protective, whereas he was going deeper into what made me feel (that) morning the whole effect it had on my life and career, this show.