This Is What Patrick Stewart Remembers From The One Time He Stormed Off Of The Set Of 'Star Trek'

TV & Film

Oct 6

On October 3, Sir Patrick Stewart released his autobiography, Making It So, and its corresponding audiobook. One clip of his reading was released on YouTube where Stewart discusses how he felt like none of his Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates were taking their roles seriously. It was the first time he had been an actor in a filmed production, his background being on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Stewart recalled his very first take on the set, in which he had no lines, but did have to cross in front of Jonathan Frakes. After the shot, Frakes commented, “Wow! So that’s what they call British face acting!”

While Patrick Stewart was considered the senior actor on The Next Generation set, he later remarked that he was “scared and outside of [his] comfort zone.” Compared with the seriousness and sterility of the British theater he was used to, suddenly Stewart found himself among “castmates [that] doubled over in laughter when they flubbed multiple takes” and that had a tendency to ad-lib funny additions to their lines. As the first season went on, he felt like his fellow actors treated the whole thing as a joke. One day, Stewart demanded that the cast take the filming more seriously, especially in due respect for Star Trek: The Original Series. Denise Crosby tried to remind him, “We’ve got to have some fun sometimes, Patrick.” Even so, Stewart replied, “We are not here, Denise, to have fun.”

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Of course, they didn’t take the meeting seriously either, leading Patrick Stewart to storm off set to his trailer. After giving him space for a little bit, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner gently explained that, while maybe the cast was goofing around a bit too much, the actors certainly didn’t deserve the “pompous declaration” from Stewart. Looking back, Patrick Stewart and his co-stars now find the whole ordeal hilarious. He remembers vividly that Frakes and Spiner “were so wise and tactful in educating me” on the charm of episodic filming. By the end of season one, he eventually felt comfortable on set and held his colleagues in very high esteem. He admired how Frakes was always “relaxed, with a twinkle in his eye,” even approaching his acting style in a similar fashion.