Entertainment

Patrick Stewart on Star Trek return and friendship with 'cheeky' James McAvoy


First it was a younger Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies and then the possibility of playing a young Picard in Star Trek.

No wonder then that Sir Patrick Stewart, 79, joked he’s feeling paranoid about Scots actor James McAvoy, 40.

He said: “He wants to play every young version of everything I do.”

Glaswegian James first played a younger version of a Patrick character in 2011’s X-Men: First Class.

The older actor had starred as the founder of the X-Men since the franchise’s ­original film in 2000.

In all, Patrick played the role in seven X-Men movies but this year he will return to the character he’s best known for – Captain Jean-Luc Picard from the TV and film spin-off Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Last January, when Patrick posted a photo on social media showing an early read-through for the new Picard TV series, James trolled him, posting: “Need a flashback guy? I’ve got previous experience and will work for autographs.”

Of course James, who has played Professor X in five movies, is joking about Picard, and Patrick is a big admirer of the Scot.

Star Patrick Stewart in a scene from new series Star Trek: Picard

Patrick said: “He is a brilliant and talented actor and a very delightful, very funny and cheeky person.”

It had seemed Patrick had reached his final frontier as Captain Jean-Luc Picard but almost 20 years on from his last mission, he is back.

The result is Star Trek: Picard, a 10-part series available from January 24 on Amazon Prime.

It is not a sequel but a new chapter for the captain of The Next Generation era of the USS Enterprise.

Patrick said: “Honestly, I didn’t want to be Picard again. I was going to turn the show down but there is no negative aspect to that.

“It’s just that in the seven years that we filmed 178 episodes and then four movies, I strongly felt that I had given everything I could to the franchise and to the role of Picard.

“To go back or to continue it at that point would have been pointless. It was in my past.

“Then I listened to the writers and asked if they’d put everything they said on paper so I could study it.

“They sent me 35 pages. I read it and all I wanted to know was how unlike this Jean-Luc would be to the Jean-Luc of old.

James McAvoy and Patrick McAvoy appear together at Comic Con 2013 in San Diego

The answer was a lot, so it felt like I was taking on a new role, not reviving an old one.

“Picard is not a sequel. It’s part of the growth of the Star Trek franchise.”

It’s the first Star Trek show or movie to centre on just one character.

But the Yorkshire actor, whose career began with the Royal ­Shakespeare Company in the 70s, is adamant that Picard isn’t all about him.

He said: “For all my career, which is now in its 60th year, I have always been drawn to a company – a group of people with a common goal of working, socialising and having a good time together.

From the beginning of Next Generation in 1987, I have always described the cast, then and now, as an ensemble. It’s not about me, it’s about unity.”

Spock and Captain James T Kirk have become part of the fabric of culture – there aren’t many Star Trek characters you remember from all the subsequent shows.

But Picard’s is one.

The Next Generation was the first TV spin-off starring Stewart and was followed by Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise and the latest Discovery, which began in 2017.

In 2009, the show was given a film reboot with a prequel Star Trek starring Chris Pine as Kirk.

Patrick said: “I think that is an ­illustration of the power of the ­franchise and the Next Generation.

“I’ll never forget in the second season of the show when Whoopi Goldberg joined us.

She had just won an Academy Award and I said, ‘Why would you want to do a syndicated science-fiction show when you are an Oscar winner?’

She told me this little story about her childhood when she watched the original Star Trek series.

“She would see the character of Uhura and she would tell herself, ‘Well, one of us made it.’

I found that so potent and remarkable. In a multitude of similar ways, that’s what Star Trek is all about. It means so much to millions of people.”

Perhaps drawing on his own ­boundless energy to keep working, Patrick reintroduces his most famous character far away from Star Fleet, living a quiet life on Earth looking after his Chateau Picard vineyard in France but, deep down, regretting his decision to give up his days among the stars.

An intervention by a mysterious visitor brings a dangerous kind of salvation, with Picard called back into action and on the trail of some long-lost and much loved friends.

As well as Number One the dog, Picard also introduces a new crew, each as diverse as any of Star Trek’s casts from down the years.

Some old faces also make a return.

Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a promo pic for upcoming show Star Trek: Picard

But back to the dog. Speaking at a promo day for Picard, Patrick said: “That was my idea, largely because my wife and I are passionate about pit bulls.

“So I said, ‘If there is a dog, it must be a pit bull.’

In addition to our pit bull, whose name is Number One by the way, we have some other members of Next Generation, Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna) and Brent Spiner (Data).

“The whole cast is wonderful and they enlighten the first season.”

As much as Patrick loves home life with his third wife, American singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, 41, the star is as dedicated to Star Trek as he was back in the 80s and 90s, as illustrated by his hopes for a second season of Picard.

And Patrick is still using what he learned on stage in his TV role.

He said: “There was one thing that certainly carried over from my years on stage in theatre into Next Generation and that is that there are no pockets in tights and there are no pockets in Star Trek uniforms.

“That meant that I already knew how to just stand and just be. In this series you will see that I hardly ever take my hands out of my pockets.”

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