Last night Patrick Stewart was a guest on the Tavis Smiley talk show on PBS, primarily promoting the PBS premiere of Hamlet. But he did talk a bit about his time on Star Trek, including recalling a recent cast reunion. Details and video link below.
Stewart talks about Trek, Knighthood, balding and Shakespeare
Stewart was the guest for the full show, so there was around 22 minutes with the actor. To watch the full interview go to PBS.ORG.
CLICK: WATCH PATRICK STEWART ON TAVIS SMILEY AT PBS.ORG
Here are some excerpts:
Patrick Stewart on what he most associates with his time on Star Trek:
Laughter largely. A few weeks ago I came into L.A., and it just so happens that every one of the principle cast members of Next Generation was in town, and I had something to celebrate, so I got everyone together and we sat down for dinner, all of us. Some brought their wives and partners with them, and my memory of that evening, apart from good food and wine, was laughter. And it remains the dominant sense memory of those days on the set of the Enterprise, was laughing – sometimes uncontrollably. Directors would go on their knees – I had seen it happen – and say "please guys, say the lines seriously, once." And we would say "hey, roll the camera, we will do it seriously. If you don’t roll the camera, we are just going to fool around." I am painting a grossly exaggerated picture of what life was like, because we worked very hard and very seriously, and I am really proud of that series.
Stewart on if it is cool being "Sir" Patrick Stewart
I think it just might just be the coolest thing I have ever done. And it is very recent. So when I hear someone use the title, which I do not expect or ask for, I turn around and look who they are talking to, because it is a little bit uncomfortable.
Stewart and Smiley also discussed hair loss at length, and Stewart recalled a story of how a director and friend forcibly removed his comb over at a young age, making him embrace "being himself."
Below is a clip, just on the discussion about the hair, but go to PBS.ORG to see the full interview.
Sir Patrick in Hamlet on PBS
PBS airs Hamlet, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart on April 28th at 8PM. More info at http://pbs.org/gperf. Here are some clips and interview with Patrick Stewart about Hamlet.
Splendid. Splendid. Carry on. :)
Would be great to see the TNG cast all together again, even if its not as the TNG crew.
Make it so!
Great interview! I really enjoyed what Patrick said about hair loss. Better to skip the toupee.
Sir Patrick Stewart always has interesting things to say. I’d gladly listen to him read from the phone book or talk about shades of grey. :-)
“Some brought their wives and partners with them”
partners ?
My best friend has a comb-over—-it looks awful!
Engage!
“Resistance is futile!”
So glad they said NO to hair for Picard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/drama/images/claudius11_gall.jpg
nuff sed?
…to baldly go where no mane has gone before.
Great interview!
The fact that he managed to get all the TNG cast together is amazing! Now add some costumes, some cameras and a script and another day in paradise for star trek fans is created.
I think they should go where no man has gone before.. back on TV!
Yes I will dare to say it: BRING THE TNG SHOW BACK WITH THE SAME CAST.
I believe it would work in many levels and it would certainly make the whole industry to reinvent its ways. I think it needs unconventinal thinking anyway. Imagine..
It would have been interesting to hear and watch Stewart’s reaction if Smiley had cited William Shatner as a hair replacement example.
He seems like he would be really nice to just hangout with and talk to for hours about nothing and everything. I have so much respect for SIR Patrick Stewart.
So, he was a socialist? Wonder what his current views are.
Whenever Patrick says he loves star trek and is proud of his contribution, I love him even more.
I wish bill could take a cue from Sir Patrick.
Great interview, would love to see Sir Patrick on stage.
THey better put SIr Patrick/David Tennant’s Hamlet on iTunes!!!!
OK, it’s official. Being an actor on TNG was one of the coolest jobs in the world.
He still looks very much like Captain Jean-Luc Picard after all these years.
I mean, you can tell he’s aged since the first season, but he looks sufficiently like the way he looked 23 years ago so that there really isn’t any cognitive dissonance in casting him as Picard today.
The same cannot be said for Gil Gerard, for instance, since he looks very different today than he did when played Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).
Interestingly, Stewart is a few years older than Gerard.
BTW, just found an image of Stewart with hair (don’t know if it was a wig):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/drama/images/claudius11_gall.jpg
Ensigns of Command scene. Marvelous.
I watched it the other day and was laughing hysterically.
It’s just absolutely bloody brilliant what Stewart did on that show.
That scene encompasses it all.
The BEST!!!
Nuff said, bless him…I love Sir Patrick AND Jean Luc Picard
Both brought me into Star Trek 20 years ago
Sir Patrick Stewart Capt juan luc Piccard. No differance he made the character his! And a great guy too!
Gil Gerard suffered some challenging Health issues. Its common that health problems often take their toll on ones outward appearence and cannot be helped. From what I’ve seen Gil is holding his own. More power to him also
23, that’s true. Good points. Gerard seems like a nice guy. We all have our issues and it’s great he’s confronted and overcome them. I wasn’t making a comment about him, specifically; he was just one example of the typical person who actually does age. Stewart is actually something of an exception.
Another exception is the actress Betty White, who, again, looks very similar to her days on the Golden Girls, and, beyond that, not spectacularly different from her appearance on the Mary Tyler Moore show.
People age and their appearances do change. That’s just a fact of life, as we both would agree, I think.
i already have hamlet on dvd, i bought the region 2 instead of waiting for region 1.
Bill Shakespeare is 400 plus years old and still lookin’ great!
Totally as a publicity stunt or a way to raise funds for a charity, The Shat and Mr Stewart should get together and do a short run of Shakespeare. I know we make jest of Mr Shatner’s acting and his over-the-top caraciture of himself, but Bill can be as good as Patrick if you’ve ever seen him perform the material.
“Per chance to dream…”
Great interview! I loves me the interwebs.
@20: That’s a wig. Apparently, he’s been bald since he his early 20’s or so.
Man, I haven’t seen I, Claudius in ages… :)
Thanks, 28. Tres interessant.
Sir Hot of Hottness on Hotshropshire-by-the-Hot
@29: No problem. And if you haven’t watched I, Claudius yet, you really should. He’s absolutely terrifying in it.
Someone should have done Shatner the same courtesy re his hair.
A friend should have plucked that dead woodchuck from his head and have him be “his true self”
I think Bill is a great actor but watching him in movies I always find myself drawn to the toupe
#5 Obviously the word “partners” refers to significant others but aren’t officially married. It doesn’t mean their gay, it doesn’t mean their not gay. It’s just the terminology these days.
33 “these days” ??
been that way for quite a while.
still, its a term i dislike.
Brent Spiner is… well, don’t ask, don’t tell…
@33.
“Partners” is typically used to refer to a gay person’s boyfriend or girlfriend. Why Sir Patrick did not simply say “they brought their husbands, wifes, girlfriends and boyfriends”, or something to that extent, is beyond me. Saying “partners” is an instant suggestion that someone is gay. Don’t tell me it’s not. A man doesn’t get married to a woman and say “Hello, this is my partner, Linda”, etc. He says “This is my wife”.
My family has a gay couple who comes to Thanks Giving every year, and they address each other as partners as well, which is the tip-off. They don’t say, “This is my friend, So-and-so”, they always say “partner”. So it’s basically announcing their sexual orientation. Uncomfortable to say the least…