Patrick Stewart Says Gene Roddenberry Never Liked Him As Jean-Luc Picard

Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard is one of the most beloved characters in Star Trek. Indeed, the way the actor conveys his humanism, diplomacy and intelligence has led many to consider him the epitome of Star Trek‘s philosophy and morality. But, as it turns out, original creator Gene Roddenberry didn’t want Stewart to get the role, didn’t have a good relationship with him and never understood why he was so well liked.

The story came out in a recent roundtable in which Stewart participated. Here, he revealed his awkward first audition for the part, explaining:

Producers Robert Justman and Rick Berman disagreed, pushing for Stewart to get the role against Roddenberry’s complaints. According to Stewart, though, even after settling into the job, Roddenberry was never happy with him.

Still, he clearly respected Roddenberry and tried his best to form a relationship with him. But those efforts amounted to a single lunch.

Roddenberry died in 1991 and never saw how much the Star Trek community embraced The Next Generation crew and particularly, Patrick Stewart. Perhaps if he’d seen some of his best episodes he might have come around, but I suppose we’ll never know. For now, though, the character lives on (albeit now as some kind of robot) and his adventures will continue in season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, which will probably land in late 2021/early 2022.

Source: TrekMovie.com

Source: wegotthiscovered.com