Sir Patrick Stewart: I Almost Turned Down Captain Picard on Star Trek

The Great Creators with Guy Raz

Sir Patrick Stewart is beloved for his portrayal of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Next Generation and its spinoff films. But Patrick was 47 years old when he took that life-changing role... and he almost turned it down! He sits down with Guy to talk about the extraordinary life that led to Picard: his working-class upbringing, how he learned to tame perfectionism on stage and embrace his own dark side when playing "horrible" men, and why he wants to focus on comedy in the final chapter of his career. Sir Patrick has written a memoir about his life and career called "Making It So".

Links from this episode:

• Star Trek: Next Generation - Picard's best speeches
• Shakespeare play The Winter's Tale
• Patrick playing Macbeth
• Picard memes (CNET)
• Patrick's Instagram
• Patrick's memoir, 'Making It So'

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