Patrick Stewart was going to turn down Star Trek: Picard

Patrick Stewart was going to turn down Star Trek: Picard.

It was going to be a real hard time doing the show without Patrick Stewart, eh? Stewart recently sat down with National Public Radio in the U.S. and revealed to them that he had no interest in anything more to do with Star Trek or Jean-Luc Picard. He had walked away from it, just like he had retired from the X-Men franchise sometime later. Picard was done, Stewart was out.

It was time for a new chapter.

That was until one fateful day when he took a phone call and promised to hear out a pitch that would see Picard return to the television screens as part of CBS All Access’ streaming service. Talking to NPR, Stewart said;

"Star Trek had taken over my life. I got to a point … when I felt that I had said everything that I wanted to say about Jean-Luc Picard and his life on the Enterprise. This may sound somewhat arrogant. but … I wanted to meet with these brilliant people face to face to tell them why I was going to say no to their show."

The content that was pitched to him was so good, Stewart remarked that he felt a tingle down his spine while listening to the pitch meeting. That wasn’t the only thing that made this a lock, apparently, Stewart got some form of creative control. He would be part of the scripting process and given the ability to let his voice be known about what Picard would and wouldn’t do. Essentially making Stewart matter more to the production than ever before.

While Stewart, nearly 80, remarks that it’s harder to learn lines than ever before, he also isn’t as afraid to be bolder on-screen.

"I’m braver than I was when I was 35. I am not averse to risk-taking and I don’t judge myself. I used to do that so much. … That gets in the way of spontaneity. … So I’m braver now than I was when I was much younger."

With the second season of Star Trek: Picard promised, fans of the series will be able to see more of Stewart and Picard, while watching them have more adventures than ever thought possible.