'I began to realise I didn’t quite know where Patrick left off and Jean-Luc began' : Life according to... Star Trek's Patrick Stewart

Sir Patrick Stewart explains why he has returned to his most famous character, Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard, after nearly 20 years.

How alike are Jean-Luc Picard and Patrick Stewart?

Picard and Patrick became very close friends. There was a point, certainly I think by halfway through the second season of Next Generation, that I began to realise I didn’t quite know where Patrick left off and Jean-Luc began, that we had merged. And I was comfortable with that, because I didn’t have to sit and brood who the man was and what he’d had for breakfast, to play a scene on the Enterprise.

What made you return to the character after 18 years?

For many years, any suggestion I might revive it in different formats and contexts, I passed on immediately, straight away, without hesitation. Not because I wasn’t proud of what we did on Next Generation – I was, and I loved all the people I worked with very much. But I thought I’d said and done everything that could be said and done about Jean-Luc and the Enterprise and his relationship with the crew. But when I found myself sitting in front of the new show’s writers and producers, they at once began to talk about the new series in a way that was unexpected.

Patrick Stewart as Picard in the new series

What appealed to you about this new series?

What I liked about the proposal that (executive producer) Alex (Kurtzman) and the team made was the world of the federation had changed, and was no longer the secure, trustworthy, reliable place it had been, that there were other interests and so forth. And that was one of the major things that convinced me I should look seriously at reviving this.

One of the themes of the series is trust. Who do you trust?

There are individuals I believe in. For instance, I believe in David Miliband, who is now running the International Rescue Committee from New York – and ought really to be running the UK. But you know what happened there… There are some of the contenders for the American presidency whom I have great respect for, though I also have profound anxiety that it’s not going to turn out the way I would like it to turn out.

Do people tell you what Picard and Star Trek mean to them?

The most affecting communication I ever had was from a police sergeant in Las Vegas, who wrote me quite a long letter about his life and how much he loved the job. But, he said: “There are days when I come home when what I’ve seen and heard and witnessed is so unpleasant, I feel at times close to despair. And when I feel that I go to my shelf and I take down a tape of Next Generation and my hope returns”, which was lovely.

Star Trek: Picard is available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video