On June 2nd, 2010, Patrick Stewart received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his contribution to the theatre. Although he is best known as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek:TNG, he has been a notable stage actor during his 50-year acting career. Apart from his role on Star Trek, Patrick Stewart has been in several of my favourite movies such as Dune.
I was looking at IMDB this morning and found a little trivia factoid that said that when he first arrived to do Star Trek TNG, Patrick didn’t unpack his bags for six weeks because he was convinced that he was going to be fired!
“When it first started, I didn’t think that I would survive beyond the pilot. I did not unpack; I didn’t see the point. I thought the producers would come to their senses and realize they’d made a grave error in casting me. I was certain that I’d be on my way back to London…Eventually, it became clear to me that not only wasn’t I going to go away, the series wasn’t going to go away. I stayed, and have relished every moment.” (On his initial belief that he would be fired from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987)).
IMDB also notes that he’s been friends with Brian Blessed since childhood, another actor that I admire. (Who could forget Brian as King Richard IV in Blackadder I?)
