Finally, wrapping our Star Trek: Picard interviews is the man himself, Sir Patrick Stewart. It was an unbelievable joy to speak with him about Picard, both the show and the character. Sir Patrick has a warm and charming presence. No stranger to the stage, small or big screen, Stewart has had a long and storied career. From Macbeth, to Dune, to A Christmas Carol (both stage and TV for this one), to X-Men, to Star Trek, he’s an actor that’s done it all. Here’s what he has to say about reprising his role of Jean-Luc Picard.
Striking the Nostalgia Balance
In a world of reboots, sequels, and adaptations, there’s a fine line between leaning into nostalgia and breaking new ground. Some do it really well, some…well…not so much. Here’s what Sir Patrick had to say about walking that line.
“There is one condition with the work we’re doing now, which is that an absolute understanding that 32-33 years that have passed since I took off the Captain’s uniform for the last time. That time has also passed for Jean-Luc Picard and Commander Riker and Deanna Troi and everyone. Therefore, it’s not just aging, it’s comprehension, it’s understanding, it’s compassion, it’s being brave enough to change one’s life by linking it to another person. All these things, which most of them have happened to me, so we’re not looking at Jean-Luc Picard in the future, we’re actually looking back over the last 30 years as well. We’re doing both things, in fact.”
Star Trek: Picard definitely walks that line well, in no small part due to Sir Patrick Stewart’s performance and care for the character he plays.
A New Lease on Life
At the end of season one, Picard got a literal new lease on life, and a new android body to go along with it. Here’s what he had to say about putting away his brokenness and taking on his newfound perspective.
“I think he has put a lot of that aside. His new understanding is one related to individuals and close relationships with people. He is understanding that his childhood was not resolved in the way that he’s always believed it was. That he had a misunderstanding about what happened within his family that between his mother and his father and himself. And this, I think, is one of the primary reasons that lead him to join Starfleet because then you escape. Joining Starfleet is a big running away, while at the same time, putting yourself in the firing line for HUGE experiences to happen to you, so it’s both.”
“It’s denying one thing and embracing something else, so that’s been the fundamental heartland of this new Picard. It’s the same man because it’s Patrick Stewart! I’ve undergone some changes and I’ve had some drama in my life–good things and not so good. But it all has fed into being Jean-Luc Picard, and I love it. I love that we have come back to present-day Los Angeles! I didn’t have much to do in those sections but it gave me enormous pleasure to be blending 400 years from now with the present day.”
A Story in Three Parts
During the interview, a comparison was drawn between Star Trek: Picard and Sir Patrick Stewart’s A Christmas Carol in that season one was focused on the past and season two seems to be focused on the present. The question was then raised about season three possibly focusing on the future. Here’s what he had to say.
“I’ve never quite heard this expressed in the way that you have. I think it’s unique, and yes, you’ve put your finger onto something that’s very important. And why the number 3 has become critical to the kind of work that we’re doing. I have 8 more days of filming. That’s all. I’m eager for it to come around because I badly need a rest. We’ve just done 13 months of continuous work. Which has been challenging, but here we are. We’re almost there. But it’s all been made doable and continually interesting because we were not just dealing with the future. But looking at the past and how the past has made us into a certain kind of person who may not be authentic, who might just possibly be fake or a phony or lying to himself. That’s all part of what we’re doing in a more personal sense with Star Trek in these two seasons.”
I look forward to this exploration with great glee.
An Old Adversary or an Old Friend?
Finally, I was able to ask Sir Patrick Stewart something I’ve been pondering since we got the news that Q would be joining our cast of new and returning characters this season. I asked, “In Jean-Luc’s previous interactions with Q, he’s often served as humanity’s advocate. How does that change now that Jean-Luc is an android?” Here’s what he had to say.
“Yes, I think that this android element is really irritating. [laughs] I actually managed to find one spot, one little corner where I could let it out. It’s about learning to live honestly, authentically, not hiding, not denying, but being open and accepting about how you live. And Guinan is the one significant person who has brought that into Picard’s life, but so has Q. There have been little tiny details, threaded into Q’s character and the scenes that I played with him. Which have been in part, Q confessing something about himself or admitting something about himself.”
“And the impact that Q has had on Jean-Luc becomes greater and greater with each episode, and I found that to be wonderful. When John and I shot our last scene and the director announced that it was goodbye to John, I found that we were both of us, with tears in our eyes. In a sense, we were still being Q and Picard. Those tears represented history, but at the same time, the closing of the sheer delight of working with someone like John de Lancie who brought so much to every single moment and every single shot that we did. Every scene that we rehearsed and it was over and it was very, very moving for everyone on the set that day. It was the feeling that everyone had primarily about John de Lancie.”
A Heartfelt Response
I admittedly got a little choked up with that response. Both of these actors have played a significant role in my fandom life, and not just in Star Trek. While I was late to the party on Trek, I better knew Sir Patrick as Professor X in the X-Men films. As a lifelong comics fan, I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role so well (I’ll give James McAvoy a pass as a fantastic young Xavier).
As for John de Lancie, before I met him as Q, I better knew him as Dr. Quest in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, which was my favorite cartoon in middle school. I credit that show for at least 50% of the reason I have a Master’s degree in science fiction. It warms my heart to know that these two men have interjected so much care into their roles. I can’t wait to see them together again.
Hailing Frequencies are Open
Thanks very much to the folks at Paramount+ for inviting Fangirlish to participate in these roundtables, and a big thank you to Sir Patrick Stewart for his time and thoughtful responses. I am so grateful to have met you and to have seen my head next to yours in the Zoom call. Be sure to check out all of our interviews with the cast and crew of Star Trek: Picard and set your hailing frequencies to our #StarTrek tag for every bit of Star Trek coverage here on the site.
Season Two of Star Trek: Picard will air on March 3, 2022, on Paramount+.
