Patrick Stewart (‘Star Trek: Picard’): ‘At the end, I regretted nothing’ [Complete Interview Transcript]

Latasha Ford and Marcus James Dixon
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During a recent Gold Derby video interview, senior editor Daniel Montgomery and contributor Tony Ruiz spoke in-depth with Patrick Stewart (“Star Trek: Picard”) about his Paramount Plus sci-fi drama, which is eligible at the 2023 Emmys. Watch the full video above and read the complete interview transcript below.

While the final season finds Stewart’s iconic character, Jean-Luc Picard, in the comfort of working with his old crew, the admiral is far from comfortable. He deals with the sudden discovery that he has a grown son (Ed Speleers) with Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) that he must protect from Vadic (Amanda Plummer), a vengeance-seeking Changeling hell bent on capturing Picard’s son.

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“It was in every sense, an extraordinary experience,” Stewart revealed about his three-season return to the world of “Star Trek.” The legendary actor later added, “And although I had serious doubts to begin with, at the end, I regretted nothing.”

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Daniel Montgomery: I’m Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery here with my colleague Tony Ruiz and Star Trek Picard star, Sir Patrick Stewart. Now, this third and final season of the show brought back the original cast of the Next Generation, but did you have any initial concerns about making sure that reunion felt really organic and true to the characters as possible?

Patrick Stewart: Oh, I had many concerns, and fundamentally they centered around should I really do this at all? Because Next Generation had been such an iconic series that I didn’t want to risk the impact of that, which it still has. I mean, it grows in worldwide observation. It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. I think there are millions and millions and millions all around … I mean, for instance, it wasn’t shown in China for a long time, Star Trek. But now it is, and I get lots of responses filter through to me from China, and I was actually in Beijing about three years ago, and I found I couldn’t go out on the street alone. I was so recognizable there. But once I began talking with my producer and producer writers, Akiva and Alex and Michael Chabon, and then finally with Terry, I began to see that what we could achieve … I’m sorry, that was Terry Matalas, I should have said that. What we could have achieved was all there and was better than I could have anticipated it would be. And for me, the fascination was, it wasn’t the Jean-Luc Picard that I had filmed for seven years in the series and then followed that with four feature films because time had passed. And I can’t remember whether it was Akiva or Michael, perhaps Alex, who said to me one day, “Look, what’s happened to you in the last 20 years? Have you changed? Have you had new experiences? Do you feel the same way about the world as you did back then?” I said, “No, no, not at all.” He said, “Well, that’s exactly the situation that Picard is in. He doesn’t either. He’s not the same person.” And right away, that was my cue to begin investigating what he might have become.

Tony Ruiz: And in terms of what he might have become, I mean, obviously the central crux of this third season is him becoming a father and grappling with what could or could not have been. Did those scenes, because they’re asking something new of you in terms of the character, did those scenes ask something new of you from an acting perspective?

PS: Yes, they did, because although this was a form of experimentation, I was trying to leave my mind as open as possible, never to close anything down, and not always to be certain what I was going to do, have question marks over things until we were in front of the camera, not necessarily with it rolling. But of course, cameras don’t roll anymore, do they? But I’m still stuck with that language. And so there was an improvisational aspect to it, which I think paid good results. And because everybody had it, the rest of the crew of the Enterprise and John de Lancie as Q, he had that too. It was in every sense, an extraordinary experience. And although I had serious doubts to begin with, at the end, I regretted nothing.

DM: And so much of these three seasons of Picard has been about Jean-Luc coming to terms with his past, with his trauma with the Borg. What was it like to bring that full circle with the Borg Queen and how that has also affected his son?

PS: Well, it was not artificial what we did in those respects. And indeed, there were moments when Picard had no idea what to do, didn’t know what the hell he should be doing next. And of course, his conflict with Commander Riker, which we had not seen before, was disturbing, disturbed me when I watched it. But it was elements like that that gave this adventurous new series its special quality as well as the extraordinary design and camera work and writing and directing and producing. It was of great value to me.

TR: You mentioned the whole conflict with Commander Riker, and I feel like one main love stories, particularly this season, is actually between John-Luc and Will, of really that friendship, seeing how that friendship has gone through all of these different iterations and even finding new beats to play in that. How much conversation did you and Jonathan Frakes have about exploring these new dimensions of their relationship?

PS: Of course, we talked about it a lot. Jonathan and I have talked to one another for 30 years, and in fact, we’re having lunch next week because Jonathan has, “Things I want to talk to you about, that I want to say.” And it’s very, very satisfying to have a relationship like that. So we did, we examined what the alternatives were, what the possibilities were, and we said, “Look, let’s just get it on its feet and have a bang at it and remain completely open to what might happen, and see what does happen, what comes about.”

DM: And one of the new relationships that your character has on the show introduced the season is Captain Shaw, played by Todd Stashwick. And what’s interesting about that character is he’s willing to stand up to Picard and criticize Picard in ways that a lot of other people aren’t. How is it creating that dynamic on the show? And seeing someone who is Picard’s equal in that sense, is not as impressed by him.

PS: His work was extraordinary from the very beginning. It happens to me and has done so all my career that I find myself working with an actor or actors and actresses, and I get so intrigued by what they’re doing, so fascinated that I forget what I have to do. I get so caught up in something spontaneous and real and coming out of the inside of them, not artificially, superimposed on the outside. And that was the case with him and with Amanda too. I mean, that was some of the most extraordinary scenes that I’ve ever played.

TR: For me, and I think for a lot of fans of the show, I think one of the dramatic high points of the season was the return of Ro Laren. And those scenes between you and the great Michelle Forbes are … Both of them are right and both of them are wrong. It’s so well written and so well acted. Was the charge between you and Michelle, was it palpable in those scenes?

Patrick Stewart: Oh yes, absolutely it was. But we didn’t have very much, and that made me sad. I had loved working with her on Next Generation, and I would’ve liked to have had more, more involvement, but what she brought to it was extraordinary, and we’ve lost it.

DM: And one of the great aspects of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Picard and all aspects of all Star Trek series has been the crafts. So I’m wondering what your relationship has been both in addition to the people in front of the camera, what’s your appreciation of the people behind the camera, all those sound people and makeup artists, everyone who has made the show possible and who have gotten so much recognition?

PS: From the very beginning of Next Generation … Well, I say from the very beginning. No, once I was growing to understand with each episode of season one that we shot, what this series was about and what it required, I became determined that the answer for the biggest questions was ensemble, ensemble, ensemble. There was no leading actor or leading actors and then supporting actors, everyone. And that didn’t mean only the performers, but the designers and the costumers and the camera people, and the crew, and our producers, and our directors were a group. We were all an ensemble. And I clung onto that through Picard as well. And that’s something which I think Terry and Alex appreciated that I always wanted to share and to be shared with about their feelings. And we disagreed about certain things. There were conditions that I’d made before we began shooting Picard, and they were not the conditions that might have been opposed by Alex and Akiva and Terry. But we made it work, and we went around it and talked about it, and then just set it loose in front of the camera and I’m very proud of that.

TR: One of the hallmarks I think of this last season particularly, and in all three seasons of Picard, has been the humor. There’s a level of humor that I’m thinking specifically of you talking about how much you missed the carpet when you get back to the Enterprise D. Was that humor, was that something that you wanted there to always be, or was that something that came from the producers? Where does that come from?

PS: I think it grew from an acorn of impulse that was in the cast in the very beginning, and it’s now well known that I called a company meeting, the actors, and told them they were misbehaving and that they were taking up too much time with fun and games and improvisations. And that was when Denise Crosby said, “Oh, come on, Patrick, we’ve got to have some fun.” And I said, “We are not here to have fun.” And it still remains an embarrassment to me. And of course, they made fun of me right away that there was laughter on the stage, and I was so offended that I stalked off to my dressing room. But I learned so much from that experience, and I was the one who came up in the second scene with the notion that each one of us, each one of the regular permanent cast should be responsible for one big laugh a day. And that was a rule. So come on guys, no pressure. And that’s how it was. And of course, with people like Marina and Brent on board there was a lot of laughter. And Dorn too, Michael became bolder and bolder than he had been in Next Generation.

DM: And of course, in season three, you’re walking back onto this recreation of the bridge of the Enterprise D. Were there a lot of emotions that came with that, just kind of being in that setting again, and with those people again?

PS: It was not a sentimental emotion, but it was pleasure being reminded of what had been home for us. I mean, come on. We spent a minimum of 12 hours a day on that set. I mean, I saw more of that set than I did of where I lived at my own home, Los Angeles. And I remember walking alone around the set. I waited until people had gone off to do other things or whatever, and I just wandered around and sat in the captain’s chair and let myself drift back, and it was nothing but pleasant and satisfying.

TR: I want to just ask you, you’ve had this long career on stage and in film and television, and you’ve got a book coming out, and I’m curious at this point, is there something that you have left that you haven’t done, that you’re dying to do something, like on stage, a Shakespearean role? Is there something that’s still on your bucket list?

PS: Oh, yes. Lots. The problem is I’m no longer a young man, and my stamina is very important, and I have been looking at a major Shakespeare play on and off for the past few weeks.

TR: Oh, please say Lear, please say Lear.

PS: Might be right. But you might be right. Because I’ve never done it. I was in the play once. I played Cornwall years and years and years and years, decades ago. But I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ll work on it. I’m actually looking for something very contemporary. I would like to find work of the present day. I spent so much of my career, whether it’s been Shakespeare or Star Trek, living either in the past or in the future, but not now, right now. And there’s so much going on in this world and so much that is bad, bad, bad. And here in the United States and in the United Kingdom as well, and Europe as well as the Far East. But I’d also like to do more comedy. I’ve always loved comedy and rarely ever been offered it. I don’t know why. Maybe I’m just too gloomy and pretentious to be thought of as a … But I’ve done some and they’ve been popular and enjoyable, but I really would like to find a really fine, provocative, shocking, outrageous comedy series to perform.

DM: Now, one last question I wanted to know, as for Picard now, do you feel like you’ve closed the book on this character, or is there a scenario you can imagine where you would revisit him again?

PS: Yes, I would like to make a Picard film. I think that everything we did, particularly in the last series, season, not series, in the last season, was a great launch pad for a possible Picard style movie. And I think this is a good time to do it, and it could have a really great impact worldwide. And then we can pull the curtain. But we are moving into such difficult times and troubling times with the writers’ strike, which I support 100%. Oh, it’s essential that adjustments are made to contracts and deals, because otherwise it’s all just become artificial intelligence and not what it has always been. So, we’ll see. My one obsession is I must stay well. And so that’s what I do which is why in a few minutes I shall be hitting the road outside.

DM: Well, I want to congratulate you on season three of Picard, the whole series. I would love to see a Star Trek Picard movie. I think we’d all love to see King Lear as well. So we wish you the best of health and success with everything to come. Thank you so much for talking with us.

PS: Well, thank you very much, Daniel. I appreciate it. This has been so much fun.

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