Sir Patrick Stewart is a prolific actor with decades of experience on stage and on screen. The actor is known for his role as Professor X in Fox Studios’ X-Men films. He even reprised the role as a variant in the MCU’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. However, his most noted role is Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Stewart played the role of Captain Picard for seven seasons of the show and even reprised the role in four films. The actor then went on to return to the role years later in Star Trek: Picard. Stewart mentioned that he never got used to the international fandom the series gave him and even refused to attend Star Trek conventions back in the day.
Sir Patrick Stewart Did Not Attend Star Trek Conventions At The Height of His Fame
Sir Patrick Stewart was a noted actor in the theater circles before he became an international icon with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons, the character was known for his morals, which were a welcome change from the original show’s Captain James T. Kirk.
Stewart’s Picard became an irreplaceable part of pop culture, with the show itself gaining a strong fanbase. The characters also reprised their roles in four films produced at the time. Picard was so popular that a new generation of Star Trek shows after its success on Netflix also included a sequel named Star Trek: Picard, with Stewart reprising the role.
While most stage actors found it hard to adjust to the level of stardom television gave them, Patrick Stewart revealed that he simply did not accept the fame and found that to be a good way to cope with it. He also reportedly initially refused to attend any conventions at the time. He said to The Guardian,
It’s not that I found it difficult. I just initially refused to acknowledge it. Throughout the first season of The Next Generation, I was continually getting these invitations to attend something called ‘conventions’. And my reaction was no because that had nothing to do with what I was trying to achieve: I wanted the show to have an impact on screen, not me standing on a platform talking about it.
However, the actor was finally convinced to attend one convention in Denver, which reportedly had 3,000 fans in attendance. Stewart mentioned that after the experience he agreed to make a few appearances every season.
Sir Patrick Stewart Was Not Going To Return For Star Trek: Picard
Sir Patrick Stewart spent almost a decade playing the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and became synonymous with the role. The actor’s likeness became a popular meme during the initial days of meme culture. Stewart mentioned to The Guardian that he spent so much time in character due to a lot of his morals aligning that he never knew where he stopped and Picard began.
Hence, the actor had to initially decline the opportunity to return to the role when Star Trek: Picard was pitched to him. The actor said that he was going to gently let them down after a meeting as he wanted to give that courtesy. However, things changed after the pitch. He said,
I took a look at the names, and there were Academy Award and Pulitzer prize winners. So I thought the most courteous thing to do would be to have a meeting to tell them face-to-face why I was going to turn them down…but reading those 36 pages convinced me that there was enough new stuff to explore.
After knowing that the series would explore newer avenues with the character after his retirement from the position, Stewart was intrigued enough to consider it and has been playing the role for all three seasons of the show.
Star Trek: Picard is available to stream on Paramount+.
