Sir Patrick Stewart starred as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which gained a huge fan following and introduced the franchise to a whole new generation. The show made Stewart a huge star, who was only known for his stage work until then. He went on to play the role of Professor X in the X-Men films.
Stewart reprised his role as Picard in the films featuring the TNG cast. The actor reportedly tried to have a rewrite of the script of the film Star Trek: First Contact and brought in his own writer. However, things did not go as planned and the best Star Trek film remained untouched.
Patrick Stewart Brought In His Own Writer To Rewrite Star Trek: First Contact
Patrick Stewart is known for his impeccable discipline in his craft, which reportedly made him the perfect candidate to play the diplomatic yet assertive Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor reportedly shouted at the cast in the initial days of shooting due to their lethargic way of working, which encouraged them to be better at their craft.
Though the star eventually became accustomed to the way of working, he still reportedly wanted some rewrites and hence, brought on his own writer for the film Star Trek: First Contact. Though writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D Moore had drafted a script, Stewart wanted a rewrite, which led to producer Rick Berman letting go of them for Stewart’s writer.
However, the new writer reportedly did not work out for the team and they had to let him go, leading to some awkwardness between the actor and the crew. Moore mentioned to THR,
There was a point where Patrick wanted some rewrites of his scenes, and he pressed Rick to bring on his own writer to do that. Rick did it, and Brannon and I were not happy. I wasn’t particularly aggrieved about it, but then, that didn’t work out.
The new rewrites were reportedly thrown out and Moore and Braga were brought back in.
Patrick Stewart And The Star Trek Crew Had An Awkward Confrontation
Star Trek: First Contact is often regarded as one of the best films of the franchise. The film featured the TNG cast and saw Jonathan Frakes make his feature directorial debut after the script was reportedly rejected by Ridley Scott and John McTiernan (via ScreenRant). Many fans still consider it to be one of the greatest films of the franchise, behind only to The Wrath of Khan.
However, the filming process was reportedly marred by one experience where Patrick Stewart’s writer was fired by the crew as they were unimpressed with the work. Despite the awkwardness, the actor reportedly had an interesting response to the ordeal. Writer Ronald Moore mentioned,
I remember Patrick at the outset just said something like: ‘It’s good to see you. I hope that we can all move on from the things that have happened, and now let’s just concentrate on the work.’
And I took that in the spirit it was given: [He] wants to move on from this, he’s not going to apologize outright, but he kind of is apologizing. And it was never spoken of again. So we just moved on.
The film was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Makeup and received a great opening upon release.
Star Trek: First Contact is available to stream on Hulu.
