“Star Trek” shaped his life: Patrick Stewart turns 85 – Forever Jean -Luc Picard

In the coming year, Patrick Stewart is said to be seen again in his second known role in the cinema. According to reports, the British actor reports to the Marvel blockbuster “Avengers: Doomsday” again into the role of Professor Xavier, which he has played several times in the “X-Men” films since 2000 and most recently in “Doctor Strange in the multiverse of Madness”. Fans reacted enthusiastically to the announcement.

However, the most famous role of the renowned Shakespeare actor remains that of the Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard, which he initially took over in the TV series “Spaceship Enterprise-the next century” (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) and later in several cinema films and a spin-off series. Whether Stewart, who celebrates his 85th birthday on July 13, will play the captain again.

100 dollars and a happy coincidence

It is particularly thanks to the fact that he got the role in 1986 in 1986. When the line-up for the series was sought, the trained theater actor was currently in the USA. There he helped a friend of the University of California in Santa Barbara to a public lecture in which he read passages from Shakespeare. He supposedly got $ 100. On this day, one of the “Star Trek” CO producers, Robert Justman, was sitting in the audience.

Justman was immediately certain that he had found a captain and informed “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry. It should have been skeptical at first because he wanted a physically strong guy with full hair. But he invited Stewart, who had so far had no idea about “Star Trek”. When the Brit spoke for the role, he convinced with his presence, deep voice and expression also Roddenberry.

“I wasn’t interested in science fiction at all,” said Stewart in the interview of the “Los Angeles Times”. “What I found interesting was that it took place in front of the camera and in California.” It also lifted him into a new salary class. “I couldn’t believe what my salary should be per episode – unimaginable. I couldn’t imagine that, and frankly I had never strived for.

An unknown person as a spaceship captain

When the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D flew over the television screens for the first time in September 1987, Stewart was 47 years old and most spectators in the United States were not a term at all. Finally, he had played in two well -known films that were shown internationally – each as a supporting actor in John Boorman’s fantasy film “Excalibur” (1981) and David Lynch’s science fiction epic “Dune – Der desertplanet” (1984).

So far, Patrick Stewart has not been a well -known name in Great Britain. He had completed guest appearances in series and smaller productions – for example in 1967 as a fireman in an episode of the eternal soap opera “Coronation Street”. But he had been on the theater stage full -time.

Stewart, who was born on July 13, 1940 in the English village of Mirfield in West Yorkshire, was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1982. His teacher had awakened the love for the theater when Stewart was eleven or twelve years old. “He pressed a copy of Shakespeare in my hand and said:” Now imagine it and in front of them “,” said Sir Patrick gratefully when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010. “None of it would have happened without this man.”

Picard role is a curse and blessing

As the first British actor to become the main actor at “Star Trek”, was a blessing and curse for Stewart. In 15 years, Stewart turned seven TV relays and four movies. He became world famous through the role, but she also limited him. Because everyone in him saw only Picard, the offers were limited for other interesting parts.

He took over supporting roles in the comedy “La Story” with Steve Martin, the action film “Death Train” with Pierce Brosnan – and as King Richard im Klamauk “Robin Hood – Helden in tights”. But he remembered most only as Captain Picard-until he worked as a professor Xavier in the “X-Men” films from 2000.

Stewart, who is married to the American Sunny Ozell, stood on the theater stage again and again. At London’s West End, he shone with his close friend – and groomsmen – Sir Ian McKellen in Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” in 2016. His cult status as Captain Picard also attracted “Star Trek” fans to the theater.

TV comeback as a Jean-Luc Picard

In 2017, Patrick Stewart surprisingly returned to the screens when Jean-Luc Picard-in the dark spin-off series “Star Trek: Picard”. After three seasons with a grand finale, he finally said goodbye to the iconic role, with which he had hardly warmed up at first.

“It took a long time,” he confessed in the interview of the “La Times”. Today, however, the 85-year-old looks back on “Star Trek” with gratitude. “It is the biggest thing that ever happened to me.”