Patrick Stewart explains why he was glad he didn't get his big break as Jean-Luc Picard until he was 47
The veteran actor has just released a memoir, Making It So
Back in 1987, one of TV's greatest reboots, Star Trek: The Next Generation, premiered on the small screen. At the time, the show's 47-year-old star, Patrick Stewart, was described by the Los Angeles Times as "an unknown British Shakespearean actor."
"It was somewhat discouraging to me at the time because I'd done no series television, certainly not in Hollywood," Stewart, 83, tells Q's Tom Power in an interview.
"But the whole feeling about it changed when the next morning, I arrived at my trailer — which was a very modest trailer, not a first class leading actor trailer that we eventually had — and pinned to the door of my trailer it said in large letters, 'Beware: unknown British Shakespearean actor.' Oh, it didn't take me long to work out this was the fun and games of Brent Spiner, who, of course, played Data, the android."
That's one of the stories Stewart shares in his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, which traces his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to his acclaimed stage triumphs, to his legendary work onscreen.
When it comes to his iconic role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Stewart writes, "I am glad that my TV and film career didn't take off until I was in my forties."
"I think by then I was mature enough not to be overwhelmed by the experiences," he tells Power, adding that he didn't feel ready for worldwide fame during the entire first season of The Next Generation.
"The work that I do has been my life, and it has harmed me and harmed relationships that I've been in because it took precedence over everything — even my own family — and that's no good. But I think I'm now at a point where I can do my job and not become lost in it and fixated with it, but remain open."
Stewart recalls a day when he lost his temper on set and lectured his Star Trek co-stars for joking around too much during rehearsals.
"One of the actresses said, 'Oh, Patrick, come on. We've got to have some fun sometimes.' And I said, 'We are not here to have fun! Bullshit.' And then the year that followed, the second season, when I think we did 26 episodes, I very quickly became the leading disrupter of rehearsals.
"In fact, I do remember saying to The Next Generation cast one day when we were all assembled there, 'OK, I've got a piece of instruction for you, right? Pay attention.' And I said, 'Everybody is responsible for one big laugh every day. Right? And I mean that, seriously, there will be punishment.' You know, it's been a crazy and fabulous life, but my life now is happier than it's ever been. And I feel very, very lucky and fulfilled."
The full interview with Patrick Stewart is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Patrick Stewart produced by Ben Edwards.
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