Sir Patrick Stewart in “Star Trek: Picard”
LOS ANGELES—“We had visitors on the set [of “Star Trek: Picard”],” Sir Patrick Stewart said in our interview with him in LA. “LeVar Burton and Michael Dorn came to visit us on the set. I am confident that we will be seeing them at some point in the future. And of course, Jonathan Frakes directed two episodes. When Jonathan is directing, you’re always having a good time because he’s a terrific director and an absolutely delightful person.
“These people are my oldest and strongest connection with Hollywood. Though, not right away, but in April of 1987, my life changed almost overnight. Not a corner of my life was untouched by my coming here to Hollywood and beginning work on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’ And so, having these people with me yet again is thrilling.”On how has his life and work changed since the last time he donned Picard’s uniform in the movie, “Star Trek: Nemesis,” the actor shared, “The most significant aspect of my life certainly in the last 10 years was that I met my wife (Sunny Ozell). I’m happier and prouder than I’ve ever been. She was filming herself last night. She’s not an actress; she’s a singer. Her second album is due out next month. She was filming a video last night to accompany the release of her new album. Sunny has had a huge impact on my life.
“As far as work goes—I’m now going back quite a long way—I used to be very good at faking it. Actually, and I mean this with the greatest respect, that’s a very English actor thing to do. We are terrific fakers. I mean, dazzling. Laurence Olivier was a brilliant faker. And thrilling to watch. I followed in his and other people’s footsteps.
“But as time has gone by, I’ve begun to see that there is another approach. And other actors have illustrated this. That there is an internal, private creative life, which we all possess. That is what I try to explore more and more now. So, it’s not about performance, but about living.”
Sir Patrick has a deep friendship with the openly gay Ian McKellen, who officiated his wedding with Sunny. Sir Patrick beamed as he answered what he and his BFF do when they meet: “I was with Ian a week ago. Ian gives quite famous New Year’s Eve parties. This one was a modified version of his New Year’s Eve party because there were far fewer people than usual. He said he wanted it to be quieter.
Isa Briones (left) and Harry Treadaway in the series —PHOTOS COURTESY OF CBS TELEVISION STUDIOS
“I’ll tell you frankly what we do when we meet, because we don’t see one another often enough. I kiss him on the mouth, I hold him and embrace him, and we stay like that for quite a while because it feels like I’m coming home. Then, we’ll sit down and just catch up. He is a brilliant and delightful person. Sensitive, warm, funny and unlike me, highly educated. He always tells me that I have too big a hang-up about my lack of education, because I left school when I was 15. And it wasn’t an academic school I went to at all.”
On the possibility that “X-Men” could fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sir Patrick, whose other iconic role is Professor Charles Xavier, dished, “I met with Kevin Feige a couple of months ago and we had a long conversation. There have been suggestions, which include Charles Xavier. Here’s the problem. If we had not made ‘Logan,’ then yes, I would probably be ready to get into that wheelchair one more time and be Charles Xavier. But ‘Logan’ changed all that.
“James Mangold, who was our extraordinarily brilliant director and one of the significant writers on that screenplay, created for Hugh Jackman and myself a world utterly unlike anything that had been in ‘X-Men’ before. There was Hugh driving, a nasty, shitty old limo around El Paso in order to make some money to keep Charles Xavier in medication.
“It was a fantastic experience making that film because I was with Hugh every moment, every day. Part of the time with Dafne Keen. She was 11 years old then, an extraordinary talent. And in that horrible truck that we made so much of the movie, there were just the three of us—Dafne, Hugh and myself.
“So, a tiny anecdote—the first time that Hugh and I saw the film in public was at the Berlin Film Festival, where the movie premiered. Shortly after the death of Xavier in that film, then as Wolverine himself, Logan is getting deeper into being so vulnerable, I was getting very emotional. But I kept a hold of myself because we were sitting in the middle of this cinema.
“Then I saw Hugh, who was on my left, his hand came up (shows how Hugh wiped away a tear). I thought, damn it, the bugger’s crying. Oh, let it out, Patrick. So, we both sat there sniveling. Then, Hugh took my hand and we held hands in the last seven or eight minutes of the film because there were so many things we were upset about.
Sir Patrick Stewart —PHOTO BY RUBEN V. NEPALES
“We were moved by the story. We were moved by one another. But also, because we both made that decision—we were saying goodbye to our characters, as well. So, it was not just the deaths of those two men in the franchise, but also it was goodbye to our being part in them, as well.”
Our beloved Sir Patrick is celebrating a milestone this year. He’s turning 80 in July.
“I am pretty certain, and I cannot speak too much about this, that a lot of my 80th year will be taken up with ‘Star Trek: Picard,’” he said. “That feels perfectly appropriate to me. I’m happy to be doing that.”
Breaking into a grin, Sir Patrick disclosed, “There will be a party. My wife has been in the process of organizing that for some time now. The first party will be here in Los Angeles, because this has become very much the center of a certain side of my life. Then there will be one in London, too, because that’s where Ian is at the moment, and he’s got to come to my 80th birthday party, as I went to his.
“But by the time we wrap ‘Picard,’ I’m going to be ready for the stage again. That’s all I ever wanted to do in the beginning—just be up onstage with some wonderful text to speak. Preferably Shakespeare, but there are plenty of other good writers, as well. That was one of the transformations in 1987, when I came here, when cameras, television and films took over my life much more.
“But the theater remains a passion for me. There is one thing that no movie, no television production, can give you—that is the experience of a live audience every night.
“Whenever I get the chance to talk to audiences, I will say to them, ‘Please understand that you have a role to play when you come into the auditorium of the theater. You’re not passive. You contribute to what we experience. That’s why every single performance is different and unique.’”
“So, I will tell audiences, ‘What you are watching has never been seen before. And will never be seen again. Because you are in the auditorium. And you make up part of the experience.’
In the meantime, we’ll watch for the invite to his 80th birthday party in the mail, we teased him. “Good idea,” Sir Patrick quickly replied with a laugh.
E-mail: rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/nepalesruben