Patrick Stewart got the Christmas celebrations rolling by joining TikTok.
Sir Patrick Stewart has a large social media following: 3.5 million followers on Twitter, 1.6 million on Instagram, 6 million on Facebook, and now, he’s already attained over half a million followers since he joined TikTok two days ago.
Stewart welcomed his followers to his new channel then proceeded to read from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and just as he did during the height of the pandemic when he read Shakespeare’s sonnets on Instagram, he doesn’t just read a story. He shares it with enthusiasm and adds to the drama of the opening line: Marley was dead: to begin with.
Stewart previously played the lead character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol in the 1999 movie of the same name which is a must view for fans of the actor and Dickens’ work.
Not surprisingly, Patrick Stewart amassed a large number of followers in a short amount of time.
Fans, upon discovering the thespian had joined the social media platform, flocked to follow him, with some saying they’d never followed anyone so quickly in their lives.
Stewart captioned his first video, which, at the time of this writing already had over 14,000 comments and close to 31,000 shares, by inviting fans to enjoy the first day of twelve days of mini-readings from A Christmas Carol, adding that the book has meant a great deal to him in his life.
My first TikTok!? Please enjoy day one of 12 days of mini readings from A Christmas Carol, a novel that’s meant a great deal to me in my life. Cheers! #AChristmasCarol #12DaysOfChristmas #PStewTok
For those of you who haven’t joined this social media channel and have no interest in joining, Stewart is also sharing his readings on his Instagram channel. And if you’re looking for more of Stewart reading A Christmas Carol, he narrated the entire book in 1991, and though no new copies are available, you may be able to score a used copy on CD for less than $35.00.