Patrick Stewart was teased about First Contact line

Patrick Stewart was a different Picard on First Contact

Patrick Stewart had spent seven seasons as the no-nonsense captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as in the follow-up movie, Star Trek: Generations. He was diplomatic, unflappable, and confident in his abilities as the commanding officer. Rarely, if ever, did he lose his cool aboard the ship…until Star Trek: First Contact. According to Patrick Stewart, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, the movie gave Captain Picard the opportunity to step outside of the norm and embrace feelings that had been simmering inside of him since he’d been assimilated by the Borg in the part one season three finale, The Best of Both Worlds.

Every fan of the movie knows the famous line Picard shouts when he is being challenged by Lily. “The line must be drawn here.” Stewart said he got some teasing after he said the line, not because of the words themselves, but because of the extra vowel sound he added in one word. Here. Instead of saying it like it’s pronounced, the actor said “hee-yah,” which fans assumed was because of his accent. He said he knows the word is “here not hee-yah,” so his pronunciation gave his fellow actors a reason to poke fun at him.

First Contact gave Patrick Stewart a chance to embrace rage

Stewart’s role in First Contact brought out a different aspect of Captain Picard. We’d seen him lose his temper at times and even break down, but First Contact gave him something different. As Stewart said, “it was an opportunity to illustrate what we rarely saw of Jean-Luc Picard. Him in a rage. In a fury. Not able to contain his feelings.”

And in all fairness to Stewart, who says everything perfectly when they’re in a rage? At any rate, the line has become internet-famous with memes galore. And it probably wouldn’t have had the same impact if the actor had said it differently. We much prefer hee-yah!