- Patrick Stewart said on “The Late Late Show” that he didn’t think he would be on “Star Trek” for long.
- He said his agent told him that “Star Trek: The Next Generation” would only last six months.
- Instead, the series ran for seven seasons, and Stewart appeared on his own spin-off show.
Legend of “Star Trek” Sir Patrick Stuart he said he originally thought he would be playing Jean-Luc Picard for six months when he took on the role.
Stewart has portrayed the character in numerous series and movies over the course of 35 years, beginning with the 1987 series. “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.
Since 2020, the 82-year-old actor has also starred in its own spin-off with a much older Picard, which has just aired its final season.
While appearing on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” on Wednesday, Stewart said he was reluctant to star. “The Next Generation” because he had to sign a six-year contract.
“I couldn’t accept what I had assumed”, stuart saying. “I had one or two connections on television and I said, ‘What do I do? I just found out I had to sign a six-year contract.’ There was a list of plays I had to do. Shakespeare lined up and I said: ‘I can not do this'”.
The English actor continued: “My agent said, ‘Look, you know you can’t revive an iconic show. You can’t. It’s not going to work, so come here. Do a dozen episodes, maybe less, and make some money. “. the first time in your life and go home. That was the prediction for me: six months, no more.”
During an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” in 2020The “X-Men” star said he was turning down the chance to reprise his “Star Trek” role in “Picard” because he had publicly said he would not return as the character.
“I attended the meeting… very distinguished people, and I didn’t want to just say, ‘No, come in.’ I don’t do that anymore. So I went to the meeting to explain to them face to face why I couldn’t do it… and then,” Stewart said, implying they were able to persuade him to change his mind.
On “The Late Late Show,” Stewart said that after becoming famous for playing the captain of a spaceship, real-life airplane captains began inviting him into the cockpit of flights.
“In the beginning, I was continually invited to the flight deck once the plane was up and flying,” Stewart said. “It happened once when I was at the controls and you won’t believe it…I was in the flight deck of the Concorde and what I did was I pushed the middle two buttons of the four buttons that activated the engines in supersonic mode.” .”
The British Airways Concorde is a Franco-British supersonic airliner of the 20th century.
All three seasons of “Star Trek: Picard” are available to stream on Paramount+.
