Self-portrait of an actor
While Patrick Stewart likely thinks of himself as a “serious actor” known for his work with the Bard on stages across the globe, he’s perhaps most well-known for his nerdy roles across three generations.
For Gen X kids, he’s the original Gurney Halleck, the War Master for House Atreides in David Lynch’s (under-appreciated) “Dune.” To the Millennials, he’s first and foremost, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise-D and scourge of the Borg. Finally, to Gen Z, he’s Professor Charles Xavier, the wheelchair-bound mutant leader from a half-dozen Marvel-inspired films.
Yet, fans spanning these generations will find little coverage of these cinematic adventures in his memoir “Making It So.”
The first mention of any work sci-fi fans are familiar with doesn’t come until more than 250 pages in. What comes before all that, however, is gripping, well-told, and vital to understanding who the man behind the characters is.
Stewart’s life has enough elements of tragedy to make it worthy of the Shakespearean dramas that captivated him as a young, would-be actor. Given my affection for this man I’ve never met, some parts were difficult to read.
Still, Stewart’s wry wit and, even more surprisingly, compassion in his prose was captivating. It’s as if a longtime acquaintance suddenly decided to bare his soul over a cup of Earl Grey, gone cool and forgotten as he recounts his upbringing and path to the stage and screen.
While there’s not much focus in the book on Stewart’s famous roles, most of it is devoted to his journey with acting and art. It’s not hyperbole to suggest that acting saved his life.
Stewart spares no details of the abuse his father visited on his family, particularly Stewart’s mother. While slightly more charitable to himself, the sins and failures of his adult life, particularly as a father, are laid bare in equally unflinching detail. It makes the moments the story veers into familiar cinematic and televised territory that much more exhilarating.
Redirected pain
Our old friend, who’d survived abuse and failed marriages, was able to redirect his pain towards something beautiful and, through his iconic portrayals of American cultural icons, something truly lasting. There are plenty of joyful stories, too, about his successes and, more importantly, the friendships he made along the way.
At the 2024 Saturn Awards, the cast of “Star Trek: Picard,” including Stewart, took home coveted awards for its final season. Season 2 of that show featured a story in which Jean-Luc Picard had to reconcile what he saw as his culpability in his mother’s fatal struggle with depression. It’s a downer of a story for fans of phasers and warp speed, for sure.
Yet, knowing that Stewart himself held onto guilt for the abuse he witnessed his mother survive deepens his already-moving performance in a truly profound way. It’s enough to make fans hope that Picard’s journey to self-forgiveness was shared by the actor through some kind of dramatic osmosis.
Fans of “Dune,” “Star Trek” or the X-Men may want to read “Making It So” for stories about their favorites, but what they get is something deeper and more profound. It’s not that Patrick Stewart fled to the stage and screen in some desperate attempt to escape his real life. The depth at which his not-so-famous years are revealed adds layers of meaning to performances and characters that already meant so much.
How he scraped and struggled to “make it” as an actor — and how things like fame and financial security came much later than fans might expect — areas thrilling as any performance.
It shouldn’t surprise sci-fi fans everywhere that a man who’s spent the past 40-odd years speaking into a camera and the hearts of fans would be adept at telling his life story in his own words. “Making It So” is enough to make even the biggest Trekkie think perhaps Mr. Stewart has another career in him still — as a writer.