Sir Patrick Stewart was a different sort of icon for different generations. To my generation, he was Professor X, aka Charles Xavier. This was a role he only took on in the twilight of his life, but certainly not his career. But for those older, he will always be Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek films and shows. It was during his final stint at Picard that the stage-and-screen icon spoke to Hindustan Times. In a chat in February 2022, Sir Patrick talked Picard, acting in his 80s, and how he still remained driven to find and do more work, particularly on stage.
‘Live performance has the biggest impact on me’
The conversation started on a bright note. To this day, Sir Patrick remains one of the few Westerners to get my name right, with the perfect pronunciation. He laughed as I pointed it out, and chalked it down to his theatre training. Before he became Picard, Sir Patrick was a Shakespearean actor, known for his powerful performances on the West End and later Broadway. And even after transitioning to the screen four decades earlier, the actor still saw the stage as his first love.
“I have to be honest that it is live performance that has the biggest impact on me. When you are in a theatre in front of an audience, it doesn't matter if it's 20 people sitting or 2000 - they are all there in the moment. And one of the things that actors like and focus on is being in the moment themselves. Every time that curtain goes up, it is a different show because it's a different day,” he said.
Deep Dive
Why did Patrick Stewart return as Jean-Luc Picard after nearly 30 years?
Did Patrick Stewart plan to retire from acting?
What kind of acting work did Patrick Stewart still want to do?
On returning to Picard at 80
Sir Patrick first played Picard in 1987, reprising him in a number of films and TV shows over the next decade. So, it did come as a surprise when he reprised the role almost 25 years later in Star Trek: Picard, the Amazon Prime Video series.
{{/usCountry}}Sir Patrick first played Picard in 1987, reprising him in a number of films and TV shows over the next decade. So, it did come as a surprise when he reprised the role almost 25 years later in Star Trek: Picard, the Amazon Prime Video series.
{{/usCountry}}Sir Patrick said he almost didn’t return. “I just wanted to tell them face-to-face that I was not going to accept their offer. I felt I had explored everything there was to explore about the life of Jean-Luc Picard. They (the producers) said to me, 'Well, Patrick, 30 years have passed since you last put on the captain's uniform, and 30 years will also have passed for Jean Luc in the stories we want to tell, and he will be in a different kind of world than the one we saw him in Star Trek: The Next Generation'. And I was intrigued by that,” he recalled.
He was 80 when he returned as Picard, filming three full seasons over the course of the next three years. It was intensive and gruelling, yet the veteran actor found it rewarding. “I have been filming every week for the last year and a bit because we did seasons two and three literally back to back. For a man in his 80s, it has been a challenging time, but I have been very well looked after. They are taking good care of me, and I have enjoyed every moment of it,” he told us back in 2022.
Also read: A hearty Stew: Patrick Stewart on acting, labour unions, and his new memoir
‘There is work I very much want to do’
Avengers: Doomsday, which releases in December, will mark the late actor’s final screen appearance. Before this, he had a cameo in Riz Ahmed’s Bait. Even in his 80s, Patrick Stewart remained active and prolific. In 2022, he summed up his approach to acting in his final years when he said, “There is other interesting work out there that I very much want to do, including, hopefully, at some point, returning to Shakespeare.”
Patrick Stewart dies at 86
Patrick Stewart died on Wednesday in Los Angeles, following "a brief and poignant journey" with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy Body Dementia, spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said. He is survived by his wife, Brooklyn songwriter and singer Sunny Ozell, along with two children: a daughter, Sophia, and a son.