“It was a pleasure to have known and worked with him.”
Malcolm McDowell portrayed one of the most infamous Star Trek villains to ever go up against the crew of the USS Enterprise-D: Dr. Tolian Soran.
In 1994, McDowell reunited with his friend and fellow Shakespearean Company actor Patrick Stewart in Star Trek Generations. And following the announcement of Sir Stewart’s death on Wednesday, Oct. 28, McDowell wrote the following tribute on his official Instagram account.
“I’ve known Patrick since we were both members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1965. He was always a massive talent but had to come to the United States to make his talent appreciated by a larger audience. He was wonderful as Picard, which always slightly amused him.”
McDowell, who included a photo (below) of the first time Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart) met Dr. Tolian Soran (McDowell) in the 1994 feature film Star Trek Generations, continued by writing the following in his social media tribute.
“But it also granted him the freedom to do work that he wanted to do. Most memorably would be his Macbeth. He will be missed by all his colleagues and fans around the world. It was a pleasure to have known and worked with him. RIP”
McDowell, who went down in Star Trek history for having portrayed the villain that killed Captain James T. Kirk, spent the later part of Generations playing one-on-one scenes with Stewart, which were chalked full of tense moments and wonderful dialogue.
The first of The Next Generation films may not have had the same impact on audiences as many of TNG’s best episodes did. However, the movie did provide a wonderful actor to bounce banter back and forth with Stewart, which Star Trek fans will never forget.
Unfortunately, at least for Dr. Soran, Captain Picard gets the better of the Generations' villain, who does not survive to threaten the crew of the Enterprise another day. It was a win, in that good triumphed over evil. However, it was a loss that Malcolm McDowell only appeared in that single Star Trek film.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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